London Stock Exchange Reports Good Q1 After Refinitiv Closing; Increase FVE Following a Fresh Look

London Stock Exchange Group, or LSEG, released its customary revenue-only first-quarter results, the first after closing its landmark Refinitiv acquisition. Overall, performance was good considering multiple moving pieces and difficult comparable bases in many business lines from 2020. Total income, excluding recoveries on an underlying basis, grew 4% carried by almost 5% growth in LSEG’s largest segment data and analytics. Sticking out to us positively was the flat underlying performance in trading and banking solutions, a segment which is the largest pain point for LSEG currently. The post-trade segment had a 1% decline in revenue year over year, which is decent given the high clearing activity and a spike in net treasury income the same period a year ago. Capital markets comparability is low given the high volatility base last year in equities and foreign exchange as well, but fixed income and derivatives trading showed a stellar 13% growth.