London Stock Exchange Group plc (LSE) reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter results on Thursday, with total revenue increasing 6.4% and growth across its data, analytics, and market operations businesses. The group raised its full-year profit margin outlook.
Total revenue, excluding recovery charges, rose to £2.22 billion from £2.12 billion a year earlier, about 1% above expectations.
Gross profit rose 4.8% to £2.02 billion. The group said it now expects its EBITDA margin to expand by approximately 100 basis points in 2025, reaching the upper end of its previously forecast range, and will receive an additional 100 basis points from the revised SwapClear revenue-sharing agreement.
CEO David Schwimmer said the company continued to perform well during the period.
“We continued our strong momentum in the third quarter, driving growth across all our business lines. We are also improving profitability and expect our EBITDA margin to reach the upper end of our guidance range by 2025,” Schwimmer said in a statement. “Over the past few months, we have significantly accelerated our strategic progress, driving the long-term growth potential of the business.”
Revenue grew across all divisions. Data & Analytics grew 4.9%, led by 3% growth in Workflow, 6.6% growth in Data & Sources, and 7.7% growth in Analytics.
FTSE Russell Indexes grew 9.3%, and Risk Intelligence grew 13.9%, driven by demand for screening and verification services. Markets grew 6.3%, led by 9.9% growth in Fixed Income, Derivatives & Other, and 9.2% growth in OTC Derivatives.
Jefferies called these results strong, noting that the quarter’s strong performance was underscored by an increased margin outlook and a newly announced share buyback program. London Stock Exchange Group reported a 6.7% increase in “total revenue (excluding recovery charges), including M&A charges,” while a 3.2% increase in cost of sales resulted in gross profit growth exceeding revenue growth.
The group said it would repurchase another £1 billion worth of shares before its full-year results in February 2026.
This follows the completion of a £938 million buyback, bringing the total planned over the past 12 months to £2.5 billion.
As part of a broader recapitalization, the London Stock Exchange Group sold a 20% stake in its post-trade solutions business to 11 global banks for £170 million, valuing the unit at £850 million.
The group also increased its SwapClear revenue share by £1.15 billion, with £250 million arriving by 2026. The group said these changes will improve margins by approximately 100 basis points and increase adjusted earnings per share by 2-3% by 2025.
This quarter, the group expanded its collaboration with Microsoft to integrate market data into Microsoft 365 Copilot and develop a trade routing network using Azure.
The group also partnered with Rogo, Databricks, and Snowflake to expand access to AI-driven financial data.
Jefferies maintained its “buy” rating on London Stock Exchange Group with a target price of £115, citing revenue growth and improving profitability.
The brokerage cited improved EBITDA margins and capital returns as key achievements for the quarter.
London Stock Exchange Group reiterated its full-year outlook for organic constant-currency revenue growth of 6.5% to 7.5%, capital expenditure of approximately 10% of revenue, and free cash flow to equity of at least £2.4 billion.
