LSEG Reports Upbeat 2017 Financials, Amidst Operations Investments

The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has reported its preliminary results for the 2017 year ending December 31. The latest figures highlight a period of strong growth across LSEG’s revenues and income, spurred by greater market activity and a bourgeoning IPO market.

LSEG had originally embarked on a strategy to fully deploy its capital for acquisitions and organic investment in 2017. The result had been multiple growth opportunities and initiatives that appear to have yielded early returns for the group. This includes growth across LSEG’s core business divisions, i.e. its Information Services, Post Trade and Capital Markets segments.

In particular, LSEG’s total revenue was reported at £1.77 billion ($2.47 billion) in 2017, up by a factor of 17.2 percent  yearly from £1.51 billion ($2.10 billion) in 2016. By extension, the group saw its total income climb 18.0 percent on a yearly basis to £1.96 billion ($2.73 billion) in 2017, relative to £1.66 billion ($2.31 billion) in 2016.

Yearly highlights

LSEG saw a number of initiatives throughout the calendar year, helping drive its financials and business. This included a growing level of efficiency afforded via SwapAgent, as a new service was provided for non-cleared products. Moreover, CurveGlobal managed to secure investments for its next stage developments, while the group completed acquisitions of The Yield Book and Mergent, strengthening its data and analytics capabilities.

While 2016 was very lacking in the IPO space, 2017 saw some growth that helped the exchange group. A strong flow of IPOs in London and Italy helped companies raise a total of £44 billion ($61.3 billion) in new and further issues.

Of note, the FTSE Russell delivered a strong 33.0 percent revenue growth in 2017, while LCH OTC revenues were also pointed higher by 21.0 percent year-over-year. Adjusted operating expenses were higher as well, albeit by approximately 6.0 percent year-over-year. This was due mostly to internal growth investments and aforementioned efficiency projects.

LSEG reported an adjusted operating profit of £812.0 million ($1.13 billion) in 2017, compared to £686.0 million ($957.0 million) back in 2016, or 18.0 percent higher. Finally, operating profits were up 47.0 percent on a yearly basis, coming in at £626.0 million ($873.0 million) vs. £427.0 million ($595.7 million) in 2016.