London Stock Exchange sees profits jump
London Stock Exchange (LSE) Group has seen its profits before tax jump 17 per cent to £446m for the year ended 31 March 2014.
Reported revenue rose by 50 per cent to over £1bn, with organic revenue growth climbing across all business segments.
The proposed final divided has been hiked by 4.5 per cent to 20.7p per share, while the total dividend for the year rose 4.4 per cent to 30.8p.
The LSE expect substantial rewards from the LCH.Clearnet transaction to work through over the next year, while the upbeat economic outlook and changing regulatory landscape are cause for optimism.
"I am more optimistic than ever that our truly unique position as the only global open access market infrastructure player, which works in close partnership with its customers across all of our businesses", said chief executive Xavier Rolet
On Tuesday, the LSE emerged as a potential bidder for Seattle-based asset management firm Frank Russell investments, in a deal that could see it tap investors for cash.
Parent company Northwestern Mutual life insurance started exploring the potential sale of Russell in January, following the decision that the firm was not one of its core assets.
Although there was no confirmation of any formal bid, LSE said that it is considering the merits of the purchase and is in talks with Northwestern Mutual.
Northwestern Mutual bought Frank Russell for just over $1bn (£594m) in 1999, and the firm was valued earlier this year at $3bn.
The insurance company aims to sell both the investment management services, valued at £600m, as well as indexes, valued at $2.4bn, which hold a total of $259.7bn in assets altogether.