David Schwimmer, CEO said:

“LSEG delivered strong, broad-based growth in the first half. Data & Analytics is growing faster than it has for many years, with the ongoing improvements to our offering and strengthened customer relationships increasingly reflected in financial performance. Post Trade once again demonstrated the critical role it plays in helping customers manage risk in uncertain markets, delivering outstanding growth. Our Capital Markets businesses also made progress, despite a very strong prior period. LSEG's resilient business model and the quality of our earnings, diversified by customer, geography, product and asset class, position us well for further growth in the second half and beyond.

“Through our multi-year investment programme we are delivering better solutions and higher customer satisfaction, and building a faster-growing, more scalable business. We are progressing well with the implementation phase of our transformational strategic partnership with Microsoft, with customers beginning to see the benefits from next year.” 

Financial highlights

(All growth rates relate to H1 and are expressed on a constant currency basis unless otherwise stated)

Total income (excl. recoveries) up 7.9%; up 11.8% on a reported basis 

Accelerating growth in Q2: Total income (excl. recoveries) up 8.4% vs Q2 2022 

Broad-based growth: Data & Analytics +7.6%, Capital Markets +1.5%, Post Trade +19.2% 

Strong subscription revenue: organic annual subscription value (ASV) up 6.9% at June 2023, consolidating the significant improvements made over the last two years 

Good profitability: adjusted EBITDA up 5.8%. EBITDA and margin impacted by non-cash FX-related balance sheet adjustments. On track to deliver full year adjusted EBITDA margin around 48%³ excluding these items 

Basic EPS -21.2% on a reported basis; adjusted EPS -3.9% to 160.9 pence, impacted by non-cash FX items and higher effective tax rate 

Updated leverage target of 1.5-2.5x operating net debt to adjusted EBITDA (previously 1.0-2.0x) reflecting diversified and recurring nature of the Group's revenues; day-to-day leverage expected around the middle of this range (H1 2023: 1.8x); no credit rating impact anticipated 

Strategic progress and outlook

Full year constant currency growth in total income (excl. recoveries) now expected to be towards the upper end of the +6-8% guidance range 

Other 2023 targets reiterated: adjusted EBITDA margin c.48%³, business-as-usual capex c.£750 million⁴

Connecting our businesses: £107 million runrate revenue synergy delivery at end of H1; FXall/Tradeweb solution for EM debt now live 

Investing in our products: Acadia acquisition reinforces our leading position in Post Trade solutions; new FX Matching platform to launch in H2 

Harnessing the power of AI technologies: AI embedded in many products, incl. new Advanced Dealing solution for FX; partnering with customers as they deploy AI technologies 

Strong start to Microsoft partnership: good progress on product development, Design Partner Programme set up  

Significant shareholder returns: interim dividend +12.6% to 35.7p, £400 million returned via buyback in H1; up to £750 million directed buyback expected by April 2024 

This release contains revenues, costs, earnings and key performance indicators (KPIs) for the six months ended 30 June 2023. Revenues and costs associated with the BETA divestment were classified as discontinued and excluded from the prior period. Constant currency variances are calculated on the basis of consistent FX rates applied across the current and prior year period. Organic growth is calculated on a constant currency basis, adjusting the results to remove disposals from the entirety of the current and prior year periods, and by including acquisitions from the date of acquisition with a comparable adjustment to the prior year.  Within the financial information and tables presented, certain columns and rows may not add due to the use of rounded numbers for disclosure purposes. 

¹Recoveries mainly relate to fees for third-party content, such as exchange data, that is distributed directly to customers. 

²For definition, see page 9. 

³Based on GBP:USD of 1.21 and GBP:EUR of 1.14, excluding Acadia and non-cash balance sheet FX movements. 

⁴ Excludes ROU assets.