London Stock Exchange posts 31% rise in profit
A visitor walks through the main atrium of the London Stock Exchange.

The company, which owns Borsa Italiana and the London Stock Exchange, said discussions with Deutsche Boerse were ongoing over a potential merger which would create substantial revenue and cost benefits.

London Stock Exchange , which is in talks to merge with Deutsche Boerse to create a pan-European trading house, reported a 31 percent rise in full-year adjusted pre-tax profit on Friday.

LSE and Deutsche Boerse said last week they were in merger talks, although New York Stock Exchange owner Intercontinental Exchange has raised the prospect of a bidding war by saying it is considering making a counter-offer.



Adjusted pretax profit rose to 643.4 million pounds ($910.80 million) from 491.7 million pounds a year earlier.

Revenue rose 78 percent to 2.28 billion pounds. Revenue includes both continuing and discontinued operations and excludes unrealised gains and losses for 2014 at LCH.Clearnet.

Analysts had forecast on average full-year pretax profit of 589.01 million pounds. Revenue fell short of forecasts for 2.396 billion pounds, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company proposed a higher final dividend of 25.2 pence per share, implying a 20 percent increase in the dividend for 2015.