(Reuters) -The London Stock Exchange Group on Thursday announced a share buyback of up to 1 billion pounds ($1.33 billion) for the second half, after reporting better-than-expected first-half profit on strong demand for its financial data services.
The company, which operates the London Stock Exchange and supplies data and analytics to financial institutions, has been broadening its services to meet growing demand fuelled by AI adoption and market volatility driven by global economic uncertainty.
"The first half was marked by a consistent cadence of new product launches, which we expect to continue in (the second half)," CEO David Schwimmer said in a statement, adding that LSEG raised its interim dividend by about 15%.
The company said annual subscription value, which indicates recurring revenue and is closely watched by analysts, rose 5.8% at the end of June on an organic constant currency basis.
Meanwhile, LSEG's markets division recorded growth of 10.7% and the data and analytics business logged growth of 5.1% in the six months ended June.
The company continues to expect organic constant currency growth of 6.5%-7.5% in 2025 for total income, excluding recoveries, but expects improved margins for the year.
LSEG said total income, excluding recoveries, in the first half was 4.49 billion pounds, up 7.8% on an organic constant currency basis. Analysts were expecting a 7.5% increase, according to a company-compiled consensus.
Reuters provides news for LSEG's news and data terminal Workspace.
($1 = 0.7541 pounds)
(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
