LSEG plc pre-close period update

15/11
31 March 2011

LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE GROUP PLC PRE-CLOSE PERIOD UPDATE

Unless otherwise stated, the following commentary refers to the eleven months ended 28 February 2011 and, where appropriate, to the corresponding period last year. 

London Stock Exchange Group plc ("the Group") today issues a routine update ahead of the close period relating to the year ending 31 March 2011.

Capital Markets

• Strong growth in the number of new issues, increasing 90 per cent to 167, with a more than three-fold rise in money raised by UK new issues to £9.8 billion; total money raised for the year to date stands at £36.4 billion, including £21.6 billion in UK further issues, down on the near record levels last year
  
  
• Average daily value traded in UK equities improved two per cent year on year to £4.7 billion; trading in January and February was stronger than the year to date average at £4.9 billion and £5.0 billion respectively and March is expected to show further growth. Trading volumes at Borsa Italiana were little changed on last year at 252,000 trades per day though are tracking higher in Q4
  
  
• Share of order book trading in UK cash equities for the year to date was 63.4 per cent, having remained broadly stable since the start of the financial year; January and February recorded an average 64.6 per cent (an increase on 63.8 per cent for Q3); in Italy the share of order book trading in the eleven month period was steady at 83.7 per cent
  
  
• Derivatives trading volumes on IDEM increased 12 per cent over the same period last year following a strong H1 performance; in fixed income markets the MTS Cash and Repo markets value traded rose by 13 and 55 per cent respectively and trading volume on the MOT retail bond market increased 16 per cent

Post Trade

• Equity and derivatives volumes cleared in the eleven month period increased one per cent and 12 per cent respectively; open interest increased nine per cent on last year at 4.8 million contracts
  
  
• Year to date average initial margin held rose 51 per cent to €6.8 billion, reflecting the growth in derivative and fixed income trading; average initial margin for January and February was €7.5bn, up seven per cent on Q3, which together with active treasury management will translate into increased treasury income in the final quarter
  
  
• Settlement instructions decreased by 17 per cent in total as OTC settlement volumes decreased; the custody business saw a five per cent increase in value of assets under custody at €3.0 trillion

Information Services

• The number of professional users of UK real-time information remained unchanged from Q3 and since the start of the year, at 93,000, while professional terminals receiving Borsa Italiana data declined slightly, down 1,000 to 138,000 year on year
  
  
• Demand for other information products, including UnaVista, SEDOL, Proquote and FTSE, continued to grow
  
  
• Trading on Turquoise has been encouraging, with integratedorder book (lit) average daily value tradedfor 11 months of €1.1 billion and midpoint (dark)average daily value tradedof €186 million; January and Februaryran above year to date trends, averaging€1.4 billion and €262 million value traded per day respectively for the two order books
  

Technology Services

• Demand for data centre co-location services continues to be strong, with growth year on year
  
  
• In January MilIenniumIT signed a strategic partnership to restructure and develop the Mongolian Stock Exchange; Johannesburg Securities Exchange has announced its intention to use Millennium Exchange and is expected to migrate from TradElect in the first half of 2012
  

Merger with TMX Group

• Last month London Stock Exchange Group and TMX Group announced plans to join forces in a merger of equals, to create a leading diversified international exchange group
  
  
• As set out in the announcement, the merger creates a leading global listings franchise, a group highly diversified across asset classes and geographies with efficiencies for customers, increased scale, a strong balance sheet and considerable growth opportunities
  
  
• Work to achieve shareholder and regulatory approvals is currently underway; the timetable targets shareholder meetings in the summer and completion in the autumn
  

Recent developments

• UK equity trading was migrated to the Millennium Exchange trading system in February, with the new platform running 10 times faster than TradElect and delivering world-leading average latency of 125 micro seconds (99^th percentile)
  
  
• Turquoise announced further details of plans to launch derivatives trading in the next quarter, building a pan-European derivatives business through the creation of ‘Turquoise Derivatives'. This new business will combine with the Group's existing derivatives market, EDX London, and will use TMX Group's derivatives trading technology, SOLA, already being used by EDX
  

Commenting on performance for the period and on recent developments, Xavier Rolet, Chief Executive, said:

"We are finishing the year on a strong note with good trading in recent weeks.   Year to date we have demonstrated robust performance across the Group, with increases in cash equities, Italian derivatives and fixed income trading and consequent growth in clearing operations.  Primary markets activity has been good and both the Information Services and Technology Services businesses are performing well.

"I am pleased with the progress we are making to deliver on our strategic objectives.  Notable recent developments include the successful migration of UK cash equities trading to the Group's MillenniumIT trading platform, with customers benefitting from a substantial uplift in performance, and we have announced further details of plans for the launch of pan-European derivatives trading through Turquoise Derivatives.  

"Of course, we are also focused on the necessary work to reach completion of the merger with TMX Group, which will create a leading diversified international exchange group with exciting opportunities for growth."

The Group expects to announce its Preliminary results for the year ending 31 March 2010 on 13 May 2011.

To download the pressrelease with tables: VISUALIZZA PDF

Further information is available from:

London Stock Exchange Group plc

Victoria Brough                                                                                                     Paul Froud

Media                                                                                                                      Investor Relations

+44 (0) 20 7797 1222                                                                                      +44 (0) 20 7797 3322

Citigate Dewe Rogerson

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