New issue activity remained good with total money raised up 100 per cent to £24 billion
Average daily number of SETS bargains up 58 per cent to 315,000, well ahead of target growth levels
Professional terminals at 90,000 - up 6,000 since August 2005 and 1,000 since June 2006
Commenting on current trading, Clara Furse, Chief Executive, said:
“The very strong trading performance seen in the first quarter of the financial year has continued over the summer. SETS volume growth accelerated despite the summer season, underlining the secular change in equity trading on our markets. Money raised in the primary markets doubled over the period as the Exchange again outperformed its competitors in the market for IPOs. In Information Services the number of professional terminals also showed strong growth.
“The Exchange is thriving as we create increasing value from our world class brand, numerous growth opportunities in the market, and from our new and exceptionally fast technology, against a backdrop of declining costs. The strategic value arising from our market position and the continuation of very strong growth in our core business reinforce our expectation of an excellent trading performance this financial year.”
Issuer Services
With new issues totalling 210 (2005: 272), primary market activity in the first five months of the financial year has been good. In terms of money raised, the year has started well, with the total up 100 per cent to £24bn (2005: £12bn), and July registering the best single month performance in six years.
Over the period there were 33 Main Market new issues (2005: 46), while the average size of a Main Market IPO increased to £475 million (2005: £353 million). The growth of companies coming to AIM continued apace with 177 new issues (2005: 226).
The Exchange continued to attract international companies to its markets, with seven international new issues on the Main Market (2005: 8) and 48 on AIM (2005: 46). Over the period there were a total of 141 IPOs on the Exchange’s markets, more than double the nearest other major exchange, and more than on Nasdaq and NYSE combined.
The total number of companies on the Exchange’s markets at 31 August 2006 was 3,205 (2005: 3,012), of which 1,579 were on AIM (2005: 1,292).
Broker Services
The first five months of the financial year saw a continuation of substantial growth in both value and volume traded. Total equity bargains increased 34 per cent to 44.7 million (2005: 33.4 million), principally driven by continued growth in SETS volumes. The average number of equity bargains per day was 429,000 (2005: 315,000), an increase of 36 per cent, and the total value of equity bargains rose 25 per cent to £2.5 trillion (2005: £2.0 trillion).
The growth in trading was driven by the high levels of activity on the electronic order book. Average daily SETS bargains increased 58 per cent to 315,000 (2005: 200,000), exceeding growth on all other comparable cash and derivatives exchanges. New monthly records were established during the period, with trading remaining strong throughout the summer. This strong growth in SETS bargains reflects the continuation of structural changes in equities trading, including black box or algorithmic trading and the impact of derivatives-based business hedged in the equity market. SETSmm, the hybrid electronic order book, continued to grow strongly, averaging 67,000 bargains per day (2005: 27,800).
The total value of SETS bargains increased 47 per cent to £624bn (2005: £425bn), while the average value of a SETS bargain decreased slightly to £19,000 (2005: £20,000). The average yield per SETS bargain reduced to around £1.40 (2005: £1.48).
The number of off book bargains decreased seven per cent to an average of 42,000 bargains per day (2005: 45,000), while the daily average number of international bargains for the period rose to 73,000 (2005: 71,000).
Information Services
The number of terminals receiving real time Exchange data has shown further good progress, increasing 10,000 to 107,000 compared with the same time last year (31 August 2005: 97,000). The number of terminals attributable to higher yield professional users was 90,000, an increase of 6,000 on the previous year (31 August 2005: 84,000) and up 1,000 on the end of the first quarter (30 June 2006: 89,000).
Proquote, the Exchange’s provider of financial market software and data services, increased to 3,200 screens, up 400 on same time last year (31 August 2005: 2,800).
