Frenchman Xavier Rolet replaced Clara Furse of the Netherlands as chief executive of the London Stock Exchange today under a cloud as Europe's largest stock market posted a deep annual loss.
The LSE reported a loss after tax totalling £338m sterling, hit by costs linked to its merger with Borsa Italiana. The net loss for the 12 months up to the end of March compared with profit after tax of £168.3m the previous year.
The LSE reported a 17% rise in operating profit, excluding one-off costs, and said revenues jumped almost a quarter to £671.4m.
'We have performed well, with revenue up 23%, reflecting the overall resilience and diversification of our business, and full year effect of our merger with Borsa Italiana,' said Furse.
'We have also made very good progress in achieving synergies from the merger and will now deliver a further increase in cost synergies to £32m, up by 60% from the original plan,' added Furse, who announced in February her intention to stand down.
Under Furse, the London Stock Exchange merged with Borsa Italiana in late 2007, cementing the LSE's position as Europe's biggest equity market.
In a bid to remain competitive, the LSE has also attracted significant investment from Dubai and Qatar. Originally the pair together owned about half of the LSE though the stake has since been diluted to about a third following the tie-up with Borsa Italiana.
Furse, who steps down after eight years at the helm, ranks among a small band of women who have managed to lead a listed British company and was the LSE's first female chief executive.
The Financial Times earlier this year criticised Furse for overseeing an LSE that had lost ground to global rivals in building a diverse exchange business.
Rolet, meanwhile, has spent the past 25 years working for a number of major financial institutions. He was a senior executive at Lehman Brothers' Europe division between 2000 and 2008, latterly heading up Lehman in France.
Lehman Brothers sought bankruptcy protection last September after frantic talks failed to find a buyer for the $600 billion Wall Street giant and the US government decided not to step in and save it. The collapse of Lehman Brothers as a result of the credit crunch sparked turmoil on financial markets across the world.
Before joining Lehman Brothers, Rolet held senior equity trading positions at Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, Credit Suisse First Boston and Goldman Sachs.
