LSE claims lead over the continent

CLARA FURSE, chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, today declared it was doing much better than European rivals as she revealed pre-tax profits rose by 9% to £48.2m in the first half.

'Deutsche Borse has reported a fall in revenues and Euronext is expected to do likewise while we have managed a satisfactory performance against a tough background,' she said.

Revenues rose by 5% to £126m in the six months to September.

The number of companies coming to market soared, with main market listings up from 18 to 30 and those on Aim jumping from 76 to 184. However, lower charges and the fact that Aim firms pay the Exchange just £4000 to join rather than as much as £250,000 for a main market listing meant revenues from listings fell by 11%.

Broker services revenues rose by 11% as more trades went through the electronic Sets system.

In a sign that City employment has stabilised, the number of LSE screens used by professionals fell by just 1,000 to 80,000.

A one-off £5m profit from the sale of the old Stock Exchange Tower countered the fact that operating profits were 6% lower at £39m.

The dividend rises from 1.4p to 2p and is likely to be 6p for the year.