London Stock Exchange (LSE) wants investors to know it’s leaving nothing to chance. The UK bourse has confirmed that it has contingency plans in the event of a ‘hard’ or ‘no-deal’ Brexit. These plans include “incorporation of new entities in the EU27 and applications for authorisation within the EU27 for certain group businesses”. LCH, the group’s clearing house business, could face increased regulatory supervision from Europe or become subject to other restrictions. Company bosses said they simply “could not rely” on a draft 'Withdrawl Agreement' published in March 2018 which laid out proposed 21-month transition arrangements. The group also criticised a recent government White Paper, which it said failed to look at passporting or mutual recognition when discussing the future for UK financial services.
In the meantime, the group reported a “strong” first-half performance, with double-digit revenue growth across information services, LCH and the capital markets division. That left adjusted operating profit up by more than a fifth to £480m, despite a 5 per cent rise in underlying operating expenses. From a balance sheet perspective, continued strong cash generation helped take the leverage ratio down to 1.6 times cash profits, compared to 1.7 times six months ago.
Bloomberg consensus forecasts currently expect EPS of 173p for 2018, compared to 145p in 2017.
| LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE (LSE) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 4,480p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 15.6bn | |
| TOUCH: | 4,479-4,481p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 4,620p | LOW: 3,612p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.2% | PE RATIO: | 27 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 983p* | NET DEBT: | 42% | |
| Half-year to 30 June | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2017 | 853 | 277 | 50.4 | 14.4 |
| 2018 | 953 | 360 | 71.1 | 17.2 |
| % change | +12 | +30 | +41 | +19 |
| Ex-div: | 23 Aug | |||
| Payment: | 18 Sep | |||
| *Includes intangible assets of £4.6bn or 1,323p a share | ||||
