Citi stays at 'buy' on LSE Group, expects strength at LCH unit

Citi analysts stood by their 'buy' recommendation for shares of the London Stock Exchange Group, telling clients they still believed that exchanges should be more protected from earnings downgrades than other financials.

To back up their case, they also highlighted the "nice" progress being made by the firm's main exchange business, both over 2019 and the first quarter of 2020.

The latter, they argued, should be a good quarter for the outfit, with end of February data showing that volatility had helped client trades and notional volumes at its LCH clearing arm, Citi said.

Refinitiv on the other hand was judged to have put in a weaker-than-expected showing for 2019.

Even so, on Citi's revised estimates, the shares were now trading on 24 times 2021 earnings, for a small premium relative to European peers but in-line with those from the US.

"We continue to believe nthat exchanges, incl LSE, should be more insulated from earnings downgrades vs other financials."