Press releases 2002

27 March 2002

 

PRE-CLOSE PERIOD UPDATE
London Stock Exchange plc

 

Unless otherwise stated, the following commentary refers to the 11 months ended 28 February 2002 and, where appropriate, to the corresponding period last year.

 

London Stock Exchange plc (the "Exchange") today issued a routine update ahead of the close period relating to the year ending 31 March 2002.

 

The Exchange's trading performance has continued to be resilient during a period of economic uncertainty.

 

Broker Services

 

The total number of equity bargains was 46 million, up 28% on the same period last year (2001: 36 million). The increase in average daily bargains from 156,000 to 199,000 was largely underpinned by strong growth in volumes on SETS, the electronic order book. The average daily SETS bargains increased 92% to 69,000 (2001: 36,000).

 

Issuer Services

 

The total number of companies on the Exchange's markets was 2,878 (2001: 2,921) at 28 February 2002. There were 268 new issues on the Exchange's markets in the period compared to 440 in the same period last year, reflecting continuing weakness in the IPO market.

 

The number of companies on AIM, the Exchange's global market for smaller and growing businesses, continued to grow. At 28 February 2002, 638 companies were traded on AIM (2001: 543).

 

Information Services

 

At 28 February 2002, the total number of terminals receiving Exchange data was marginally lower than the previous year (2002: 105,000; 2001: 107,000). Approximately 96,000 terminals were attributable to the professional user base, in line with the previous year (2001: 96,000).

 

Commenting on current trading, Clara Furse, Chief Executive, said:

 

"The Exchange's businesses have continued to perform well during a period of economic uncertainty. We have made notable progress on a number of new initiatives focused on continued growth of our core businesses, including the completion of 12m enhancement to SETS and the development of Extranex, our new global internet protocol network. As a result, we continue to view the prospects for the Exchange with confidence."

 

The London Stock Exchange expects to announce its preliminary results for the year ending 31 March 2002 on 23 May 2002.

 

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More information for Exchange shareholders is available in our Investor Relations section.

 

Further information is also available from:

 

 

London Stock Exchange
Media enquiries	John Wallace +44 (0)20 7797 1222
Investor relations	Ruth Anagnos +44 (0)20 7797 3322
Finsbury
James Murgatroyd / Melanie Gerlis	+44 (0)20 7251 3801