London Stock Exchange Group profits jump as it hails Refinitiv deal a success
The London Stock Exchange Group said its “strategy is working” today as it posted a jump in pre-tax profits and claimed its acquisition of data firm Refintiv had delivered a boost to to the bottom line.
The parent company of London’s bourse said pre-tax profits had jumped 38.8 per cent to £1.24bn last year, up from 894m the previous year, as total income rose 19.6 per cent to £7.428bn.
LSEG has been on an acquisition push to diversify its business beyond capital markets and stretch further into the private markets space. Bosses said the smooth integration of analytics and data firm Refinitiv, after a 2021 $27bn acquisition, had helped boost the bottom line in the past 12 year.
“LSEG has had a strong year, successfully integrating Refinitiv and significantly improving its performance, while also delivering strong results in our Capital Markets and Post Trade businesses,” LSEG chief David Schwimmer said.
“The resilience of our business model and the quality of our earnings, diversified by customer, geography, product and asset class, and over 70 per cent subscription-based, are becoming increasingly clear.”
The firm said it was also now looking to scoop back shares from a consortium of Blackstone and Thomson Reuters consortium, which is expected to be up to £750m by April 2024.
Shareholders will cast their vote on the move at the annual general meeting this year, which Schimmer argued will “benefit all shareholders”.
Thomson Reuters, the parent company of Reuters News, owned about $5.6bn worth of LSEG shares as of Jan 31st.