LSE Q3 income rises on strong clearing; CFO Warren to retire

Third quarter income at the London Stock Exchange rose 12% to £587m driven by a strong performance in its clearing division as it announced the retirement of chief financial officer David Warren.

Gross profit for the period rose 14% to £529m as the company said its planned £22bn takeover of data provider Refinitiv was still expected to complete in the second half of 2020.

Warren said he planned to retire by the end of next year and would continue in his current roles through the close of the Refinitiv transaction.

Chief executive David Schwimmer said the London Clearing House (LCH) unit saw continued strong volumes during the period in both member and client clearing.

“In Information Services, FTSE Russell reported 10% growth as subscription revenues remained strong. Capital Markets also produced a good overall performance against a backdrop of continued challenging market conditions,” he said.

The company, which recently saw off a £32bn from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, said LCH income up rose 19% to £197m driven by 22% revenue growth in over the counter clearing with strong volumes at SwapClear and continued growth in net treasury income, up 16%.

Capital markets revenues increased by 14% to £102m. On a like-for-like basis the increase was 5%, with growth in primary markets and in fixed income trading partly offset by subdued equity markets trading.