The London Stock Exchange, which has fought off four takeover attempts in two years, has beaten forecasts with a 55% rise in annual profits on the back of strong trading volumes and cost cuts.
Europe's largest share market said operating profit before exceptional items was £185.6m for the year to March 31, up from £120.1m the year before, on 20% higher revenue of £349.6m.
'Trading remains strong, with positive momentum carrying forward into the current financial year,' chief executive Clara Furse said in the results statement.
The LSE said the number of trades on its electronic order book, SETS, rose by 58% to 353,000 a day in the year, before jumping 64% in April to 465,967.
The exchange has spent four years investing in technology to create the most efficient trading system to win business in an increasingly competitive market, and this culminates with the launch of its new trading platform, TradElect, in June.
The LSE faces competition from a group of big investment banks which are developing a new trading platform called Project Turquoise to compete with exchanges.
The LSE fended off a hostile £2.7 billion bid from Nasdaq Stock Market in February. Nasdaq, which holds a stake of 30% in the LSE, had offered £12.43 a share. There has been little contact between the two parties since.
