London Stock Exchange Group
plc
Preliminary results for the
year ended 31 December 2023
Continued strong performance:
accelerating growth, significant strategic progress, substantial
returns to shareholders
David Schwimmer, CEO
said:
"2023 was another strong year for
LSEG. We continued our track record of broad-based growth, despite
an uncertain environment, and delivered on all the targets we set
at the time of the Refinitiv acquisition. We also significantly
improved our products and services, further strengthened our
leadership team and made great progress on creating a
high-performance culture throughout the organisation.
"We continue to build the
foundations for sustained, profitable growth across all of our
businesses. In Data & Analytics, customers will shortly be
using the first products from our partnership with Microsoft:
together, we will transform how financial markets participants
communicate, research, analyse data and trade. In Capital Markets,
we are collaborating more extensively with Tradeweb, creating new
avenues for growth. We are also seeing an encouraging IPO pipeline
for the London Stock Exchange. Our Post Trade business is in the
early phase of its next stage of growth, helping financial
institutions manage risk and improve capital efficiency across the
whole trading book.
"We look forward to further progress
in 2024. Our model - global, multi-asset class, and operating
across the entire trade lifecycle - is proven to thrive regardless
of market conditions, and we will continue to invest to deliver the
best possible services for our customers and returns for our
shareholders."
|
Reported
|
2023
£m
|
2022
£m
|
Variance
%
|
|
Constant
Currency
variance
%
|
Organic
constant
currency variance
%
|
|
Total Income (excl. recoveries)
|
8,009
|
7,428
|
7.8%
|
|
8.3%
|
7.1%
|
|
Recoveries
|
370
|
315
|
17.5%
|
|
2.8%
|
2.8%
|
|
Total Income (incl. recoveries)
|
8,379
|
7,743
|
8.2%
|
|
8.1%
|
6.9%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reported
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Operating Profit
|
1,371
|
1,417
|
(3.2%)
|
|
|
|
|
Profit Before Tax
|
1,195
|
1,241
|
(3.7%)
|
|
|
|
|
Basic Earnings per Share
(p)
|
138.9
|
141.8
|
(2.0%)
|
|
|
|
|
Dividends per Share (p)
|
115.0
|
107.0
|
7.5%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Adjusted
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
EBITDA
|
3,777
|
3,550
|
6.4%
|
|
8.6%
|
8.8%
|
|
EBITDA Margin
|
47.2%
|
47.8%
|
|
|
|
|
|
Operating Profit
|
2,862
|
2,728
|
4.9%
|
|
7.9%
|
8.4%
|
|
Earnings per Share (p)
|
323.9
|
317.8
|
1.9%
|
|
|
|
|
Financial
highlights
|
|
(all growth rates
are expressed on a constant currency basis, unless otherwise
stated)
|
|
●
|
Total income (excl. recoveries) up
8.3%; up 7.7% excluding the Acadia acquisition, towards the upper
end of 6%-8% guidance range
|
|
●
|
Broad-based growth: Data &
Analytics +7.3%, Capital Markets +6.1%, Post Trade
+17.4%
|
|
●
|
Good profitability: adjusted EBITDA
up 8.6%. Excluding impact of FX-related items, EBITDA margin of
47.7%, consistent with guidance
|
|
●
|
Adjusted operating profit: up 7.9%
reflecting strong EBITDA growth slightly offset by faster
recognition of depreciation
|
|
●
|
Continued adjusted earnings growth:
adjusted EPS +1.9% to 323.9 pence; basic EPS -2.0% (both at actual
FX rates)
|
|
●
|
Highly cash generative: £1.8 billion
equity free cash flow, 100% cash conversion
|
|
Strategic progress and
outlook
|
|
●
|
Successful integration and
accelerated performance of Refinitiv: 2021-2023 organic total
income (excl. recoveries) CAGR of 6.5%1 at the upper end of
acquisition targets
|
|
●
|
Medium-term guidance set out at the
Capital Markets Day further raises growth aspiration: targeting
mid-to-high single digit organic growth annually, accelerating
after 2024
|
|
●
|
Attractive acquisitions: Acadia
reinforces our leading position in Post Trade Solutions; acquired
full ownership of LCH SA; increased ownership of LCH
Group
|
|
●
|
Good progress on Microsoft
partnership: first products expected in H1 2024, embedding AI
technologies and revolutionising industry workflows
|
|
●
|
Significant shareholder returns: the
Board is proposing a final dividend of 79.3 pence per share, which
together with the interim dividend of 35.7 pence per share paid to
shareholders in September 2023, results in a 7.5% increase in the
total dividend to 115 pence per share. The final dividend of 79.3
pence per share will be paid on 22 May 2024 to all shareholders on
the share register at the record date of 19 April 2024
|
|
●
|
£1.2 billion returned via buybacks
in 2023; plan to execute up to £1 billion of buybacks in 2024, with
intention to acquire this directly from the Blackstone/Thomson
Reuters consortium
|
This release contains revenues,
costs and earnings on a continuing basis, and key performance
indicators (KPIs) for the twelve months ended 31 December 2023. FY
2023 is compared against FY 2022 on a statutory basis. Constant
currency variances are calculated on the basis of consistent FX
rates applied across the current and prior year period. Organic
growth is calculated on a constant currency basis, adjusting the
results to remove disposals from the entirety of the current and
prior year periods, and by including acquisitions from the date of
acquisition with a comparable adjustment to the prior year.
Within the financial information and tables presented, certain
columns and rows may not add due to the use of rounded numbers for
disclosure purposes.
1
Organic, constant currency income (excl.
recoveries) growth, excluding deferred revenue accounting
adjustment in 2021 and 2022, and the impact of Ukraine/ Russia war
in 2022
Contacts: London Stock
Exchange Group plc
Investor relations:
Peregrine Riviere / Chris Turner
ir@lseg.com
Media:
Lucie Holloway / Rhiannon Davies
+44 (0)20 7797 1222
newsroom@lseg.com
Additional information can be found
at www.lseg.com
Preliminary results investor
and analyst presentation, webcast and conference
call:
The Group will host a presentation
and conference call on its Preliminary Results for analysts and
institutional shareholders today at 10:00am (UK time) at its
offices at 10 Paternoster Square, London EC4M 7LS.
There will be a Q&A session at the end of the
presentation for attendees and those dialling in to the conference
call.
To access the conference call or
webcast please register in advance using the following link and
instructions below:
Conference call:
https://registrations.events/direct/LON95410
Webcast:
https://www.lsegissuerservices.com/spark/LondonStockExchangeGroup/events/9ed3534d-ddb8-4bbe-bda5-c561dcbad4ec
Presentation slides can be viewed
at http://www.lseg.com/investor-relations
The preliminary results for the year
ended December 2023 have been submitted in full unedited text to
the Financial Conduct Authority's National Storage Mechanism and
will be available shortly for inspection
at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism.
The results are also available in
full on the corporate website at
https://www.lseg.com/en/investor-relations/financial-results/2023-preliminary-results.
The information in the preliminary announcement of the results
for the year ended 31 December 2023 was approved by the Board of
Directors on 28 February 2024 and does
not constitute statutory accounts as defined in Section 435 of the
UK Companies Act 2006. The financial statements for the year ended
31 December 2022 were filed with the Registrar of Companies, and
the audit report was unqualified and contained no statements in
respect of Sections 498 (2) and 498 (3) of the UK Companies Act
2006. The financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023
will be filed with the Registrar of Companies in due
course.
In
accordance with the Listing Rules of the UK Listing Authority,
these preliminary results have been agreed with the Company's
auditors, Ernst &Young LLP, who issued an unqualified audit
opinion on 28 February 2024 on the Group's Annual Report and
Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2023.
The preliminary results have been prepared on a basis
consistent with the accounting policies set out in the Group's
Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December
2023.