The London Stock Exchange grew operating profit by an impressive 27 cent in the year to £358.5m. But, while the acquisition of a 60 per cent stake in LCH.Clearnet should drive further growth, the shares could struggle as eurozone uncertainty hits financial markets – leaving near-term upside looking unlikely.
Headline profits received a £324.3m boost from recognising the other half of the FTSE franchise that it bought from Pearson, owner of the Financial Times. Even so, all of the exchange's four trading arms performed well, highlighted by a hefty 52 per cent increase in revenue during the period to £228.5m from post trade services. Fee income from primary listings rose 8 per cent to £76.5m, although new issues on the main market fell 17 per cent to 57, while Alternative Investment Market (Aim) new issues fell 12 per cent to 89. Information services suffered a 3 per cent drop in terminals but total revenue here still jumped 27 per cent to £218.9m, thanks to £37.4m additional revenue from its newly-acquired share of FTSE.
Numis Securities expects to upgrade forecasts significantly from its current 2013 estimates of £422.8m of pre-tax profits and EPS of 97.8p.
| LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE (LSE) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 1,013p | MARKET VALUE: | £2.75bn | |
| TOUCH: | 1,010-1,013p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 1,104p | LOW: 751p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.8% | PE RATIO: | 5 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 508p* | NET DEBT: | 37% | |
| Year to 31 Mar | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 546 | 235 | 73.1 | 24.0 |
| 2009 | 645 | -251 | -126 | 24.4 |
| 2010 | 606 | 144 | 33.8 | 24.4 |
| 2011 | 616 | 238 | 56.4 | 26.8 |
| 2012 | 680 | 640 | 194 | 28.3 |
| % change | +10 | +169 | +244 | +6 |
Ex-div: 25 Jul Payment: 20 Aug *Includes intangible assets of £2.12bn, or 781p a share | ||||
