London Stock Exchange Group posts rise in profits as data division cashes in
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The London Stock Exchange Group said its “strategy continues to deliver” this morning as it shrugged off a slowdown in equity markets and notched a rise in profits in the first three months of the year.
In a trading update today, the owner of the London Stock Exchange said gross profits had risen 13.9 per cent to £1.8bn in the first quarter, led by a seven per cent surge in earnings in its data and analytics division.
Growth in its capital markets business was weighed down by lingering market volatility this year, with income rising 2.5 per cent to £394m.
David Schwimmer, chief executive, said in a statement that the group’s strategy and a push into data and analytics was paying off.
“Our performance in the first quarter demonstrated the strength of our business model, the improving quality of our revenue and our critical role in the resilience of financial markets,” he said.
“In data and analytics, we saw a further acceleration in Annual Subscription Value growth, reflecting the investments we have made in our services and stronger customer engagement.”
The firm said its capital markets arm was up 2.5 per cent, despite an 11.6 per cent slump in equities amid a quiet quarter in both primary and secondary markets.
LSEG is in the midst of a bumper £750m share buyback programme and said today it had completed the second £250m tranche of the programme, with the final tranche due to be completed by July.