LSEG Improves Outlook After Profit Rises, Plans $936 Million Buyback

By Najat Kantouar

London Stock Exchange Group raised the lower end of its full-year guidance after first-half pretax profit rose, and said it would launch a share buyback of up to 700 million pounds ($935.8 million).

The stock-exchange and financial-information company now expects constant currency earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization margin growth of around 1 percentage point. It previously guided for the margin to grow within a range of 0.8 to 1 percentage point.

It now anticipates organic constant currency growth in total income excluding recoveries of 7% to 7.5% compared with the previously guided range of 6.5% to 7.5%

In the first half, pretax profit rose to 1.28 billion pounds from 991 million pounds for the same period a year earlier.

Total income excluding recoveries rose to 4.80 billion pounds from 4.49 billion pounds, boosted by growth across its key segments. Its data and analytics unit posted 5.1% growth, while its markets division notched a 12% increase.

Recoveries primarily relate to fees for third-party content, such as exchange data, distributed directly to customers.

Analysts had forecast total income excluding recoveries at 4.795 billion pounds.

The board declared an interim dividend of 55 pence a share, up from 47 pence a share a year earlier.

Write to Najat Kantouar at najat.kantouar@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 30, 2026 03:05 ET (07:05 GMT)