London Stock Exchange Group has benefited from the turbulence shaking financial markets, reporting large increases in fees from the frenzy of trading caused by President Trump’s unpredictable policy announcements.
Total income in the three months to the end of March grew by 8.7 per cent to £2.26 billion with some parts of the group reporting record growth as traders tried to exploit the volatility in bond, equity and currency markets and hedge against the risks.
The stand-out unit was the fixed income and derivatives operation within its markets division, which reported a 23.9 per cent increase in income to £394 million. After adjusting for currency changes and acquisitions the increase was 17.3 per cent.
David Schwimmer, the group’s chief executive, suggested that the boom in trading fees had persisted into April. Some of Trump’s most extreme tariff threats and his criticism of Jerome Powell, the US Federal Reserve chairman which roiled markets, took place after the quarter ended.
“Our markets division saw strong broad-based growth against a backdrop of elevated volatility, which has persisted into April, reflecting continuing uncertainty around the outlook for financial markets and the global economy more broadly,” Schwimmer said.
LSEG has mushroomed into one of the world’s biggest securities data, indices and exchanges businesses in recent years, employing 25,000 people in 60 countries. By market value it is now the eighth biggest listed company in Britain, larger than GSK or BP. The London Stock Exchange itself now accounts for less than 3 per cent of revenues.
The volatility has been a net positive for LSEG but some parts of the business have suffered a negative impact. The equities unit within markets reported 3 per cent growth, with strong trading fees offset by the absence of flotations and other primary issuance, which LSEG described as subdued.
Within fixed income and derivatives, Tradeweb, LSEG’s marketplace for bonds and derivatives, reported average daily volume of $2.55 trillion in the quarter, up by 19.1 per cent organically and 33.7 per cent after including a new acquisition, ICD.
Schwimmer said all parts of the business had performed well, with the biggest division, data and analytics, producing 5.1 per cent income growth. FTSE Russell, the division that compiles indices across global markets, posted 9.6 per cent growth.
“Our strong first-quarter performance is testament to the value of our diversified business model,” he said. “We look forward to further progress in the rest of the year, consistent with our financial targets.”
LSEG also confirmed earlier guidance for 2025, saying that it still expected to achieve organic income growth in constant currencies of 6.5 to 7.5 per cent. This included a pick-up in the data and analytics performance and a slowdown to more normal levels at Tradeweb.
By the end of April it had bought back £245 million of shares as part of a total buyback programme of £500 million.
At the company’s annual meeting on Thursday, 30.4 per cent of shareholders who voted opposed the remuneration report. The exchange said it “will continue to engage with investors and “carefully consider any further feedback”.
The shares were down 265p, or 2.3 per cent, at £113.60 in afternoon trading.
