Investment banks are celebrating their most lucrative start to the year yet in the Asia-Pacific region with buoyant takeover activity and equity issuance pushing up revenues.

The banks have pocketed an estimated $4.7bn in fees in the first five months of the year, up 30 per cent on the corresponding period last year, according to Thomson Financial, the data provider.The strong start means that 2007 is odds-on to be a record year for fees in the region, topping the $10bn that investment banks earned last year.