London Stock Exchange income increase as "favourable" outlook drives dividend boost

The London Stock Exchange has today announced that it it raising its dividends after its income increased by nearly five per cent in the first half of the year.

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) reported that its total income rose by 4.6 per cent during the period, which it said was driven by good performances across all of its divisions.

The exchange added that the “favourable outlook” supports an increase in interim dividends, which will rise by 7 per cent to 25 pence per share.

This comes as LSEG continues its integration of recent acquisition Refinitiv, a financial market data provider. The company has raised its full year guidance for run-rate cost synergy delivery from £88m to £125m.

David Schwimmer, CEO of London Stock Exchange Group, commented: “LSEG has delivered a good financial performance in the first half of the year, reflecting revenue growth across all divisions.

“We are executing well on our integration plans to deliver the strategic and financial benefits of the Refinitiv transaction.

“Our cost synergy programme is ahead of plan with £77m of run-rate savings achieved at H1 and our revenue synergy programme is on track.

“We continue to invest in projects that enhance our customer offering and deliver a more scalable and efficient business, particularly in Data & Analytics.

“This will support our revenue growth ambitions and lead to further operating margin improvement.

“The reduction of leverage during the period reinforces our strong financial position and, with our mix of world-class assets and unique positioning in growing markets, we look forward to further progress during the rest of the year.”