Stock Exchange profit tops £34m

THE MARKET turmoil created by the 11 September terrorist attacks in the US has underpinned a solid jump in profit for the London Stock Exchange, enabling it to overcome the impact of a collapse in capital raisings.

Fresh from its defeat in the battle for London futures market Liffe, the LSE reported an 18% rise in underlying operating profit to £34.2m for the six months to 30 September.

The broker services division, which revolves around trading on its Sets system, performed strongly. Trading volumes set records in September as a result of the shares sell-off that followed the attacks and the rally late in the month.

But the result was dragged down by the issuer services arm, which includes initial public offerings, and by the information services unit, where the number of LSE terminals on issue fell from 111,000 to 109,000.

The Exchange was last week beaten by continental exchange Euronext in the race to take over Liffe. 'Following our recent approach to Liffe, we are disappointed that its board did not share our bold vision for the future,' said LSE chairman Don Cruickshank. 'However, we are engaged in other opportunities to broaden the scope and scale of our business, both organically and through corporate acquisitions.'