Press releases 2006

10 May 2006

VALUE TRADED ON SETS UP 52 PER CENT IN APRIL

Trading on the London Stock Exchange during April continued its very strong growth trends. The average daily value of trades on SETS during April was up 52 per cent year on year to £6 billion, while the average daily number of trades increased 42 per cent to 283,908.

Included in the SETS figures, SETSmm and the International Order Book both achieved excellent growth. SETSmm had a record month, with the average daily number of trades up 121 per cent on April 2005 to 57,223, and the average daily value traded up 96 per cent to £476.8 million. On the International Order Book, the average daily value traded increased 211 per cent on April 2005 to £250.6 million and the average daily number of trades increased 123 per cent to 2,469.

In total, the average daily value traded in UK equities was up 40 per cent on April last year to £13.4 billion, while the average daily number of trades was up 36 per cent to 337,145.

ETF trading continued to set new records. The average daily value traded was up 137 per cent on April last year to £71.5 million, taking the total value traded during the month to £1.3 billion. The average daily number of ETF trades increased 177 per cent on the same month last year to 1,327.

The value traded in covered warrants and structured products during the month amounted to £107.6 million, a huge increase on the £12.2 million traded during April 2005.

There were nine IPOs on the Exchange's Main Market in April, which raised £325.8 million between them. This included three IPOs from international companies, which raised a total of £152.4 million. AIM attracted 26 IPOs during April, raising £1.0 billion between them. Of these, seven were IPOs from international companies, which raised a total of £308.6 million.

RNS, the Exchange's service for the dissemination of company news, transmitted an average of 762 announcements per day, up 25 per cent on April 2005. An average of 273 news and results announcements were disseminated each day, representing an 86 per cent share of all company news and results announcements made in the UK.

There were 18 trading days during April 2006, three fewer than April 2005.

For further information, please contact:

Catherine Mattison Press Office +44 (0)20 7797 1222 newsroom@londonstockexchange.com