London Stock Exchange Group plc<\/p>\n
Preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2025<\/p>\n
A year of strategic and financial delivery: strong growth, significant product innovation, improving margins and cash flow; \u00a32.8 billion returned to shareholders; positive outlook<\/p>\n
David Schwimmer, CEO said:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have achieved another year of very strong financial performance, driving continued top line momentum through significant investment in our product right across the business, bold strategic choices and an enduring focus on partnership with our customers. Our unmatched combination of trusted data and infrastructure is translating into deep customer engagement: in Q4 alone, major financial institutions signed long-term contracts worth \u00a31.9 billion to access our leading data and workflow. With our LSEG Everywhere data strategy, we are positioning ourselves as the partner of choice for licensed, trusted data as the use of AI in decision-making scales \u2013 and we are seeing very positive signs of adoption. In Post Trade Solutions, we have aligned ourselves strategically with key customers through their investment in the business.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough the transformation of our systems and the use of AI and other technologies, we continue to deliver material operating leverage, with earnings growth significantly exceeding revenue growth. Given our strong cash generation and balance sheet, we also accelerated returns to shareholders in 2025, buying back \u00a32.1 billion of our shares as well as growing the dividend 15%. Today we\u2019re announcing our plan to execute a further \u00a33 billion of share buybacks over the next 12 months.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very excited about the opportunities ahead of us: with our leading, trusted data, ongoing investment in product innovation and the depth and breadth of our customer relationships, we are very well positioned for continued growth.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
Reported2025 \u00a3m2024 \u00a3mVariance %Constant currency variance %Organic constant currency variance %Total income (excl. recoveries)8,986\u00a08,494\u00a05.8%\u00a07.6%\u00a07.1%\u00a0Recoveries1360\u00a0364\u00a0(1.1%)1.0%\u00a01.0%\u00a0Total income (incl. recoveries)9,346\u00a08,858\u00a05.5%\u00a07.3%\u00a06.8%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Reported2025 \u00a3m2024 \u00a3mVariance %EBITDA4,365\u00a03,945\u00a010.6%\u00a0Operating profit2,127\u00a01,463\u00a045.4%\u00a0Profit before tax1,969\u00a01,258\u00a056.5%\u00a0Basic earnings per share (p)238.4\u00a0128.8\u00a085.1%\u00a0Dividends per share (p)150.0\u00a0130.0\u00a015.4%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Adjusted22025 \u00a3m2024 \u00a3mVariance %Constant currency variance %Organic constant currency variance %Operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation and impairment(3,711)(3,560)4.2%\u00a04.2%\u00a03.5%\u00a0EBITDA4,523\u00a04,148\u00a09.0%\u00a012.3%\u00a011.8%\u00a0EBITDA margin50.3%\u00a048.8%\u00a0Operating profit3,506\u00a03,165\u00a010.8%\u00a014.7%\u00a014.3%\u00a0Earnings per share (p)420.6\u00a0363.5\u00a015.7%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Financial highlights<\/p>\n
(all growth rates are expressed on an organic, constant currency basis, unless otherwise stated)<\/p>\n
Total income (excl. recoveries) +7.1%; +5.8% on a reported basis<\/p>\n
Broad-based growth: Data & Analytics +5.0%; FTSE Russell +7.3%; Risk Intelligence +11.7%; Markets +8.9%<\/p>\n
ASV3 growth at December 2025 +5.9%; adding a number of new KPIs relating to growth and retention<\/p>\n
Improving profitability: Adjusted EBITDA +11.8%, margin +150bps, constant currency margin +210bps. EBITDA +10.6% on a reported basis<\/p>\n
Strong adjusted earnings growth: Adjusted EPS +15.7% on a reported basis to 420.6p, driven by revenue growth and increased efficiency. Reported EPS +85.1%<\/p>\n
Excellent cash conversion: equity free cash flow \u00a32.4 billion, combining good profit growth and reducing capital intensity<\/p>\n
Strategic progress<\/p>\n
LSEG Everywhere: agreed trusted, AI-ready data partnerships with leading platforms including Anthropic, Databricks, Microsoft, Open AI, Rogo and Snowflake, based on MCP4 infrastructure<\/p>\n
Significant innovation across the Group: launch of Open Directory with Microsoft; approval of Private Securities Market and first trade on Digital Markets Infrastructure; development of DigitalAssetClear; and private markets indices partnership between FTSE Russell and StepStone<\/p>\n
Strategic transformation of Post Trade Solutions with investment from 11 leading banks for a 20% stake<\/p>\n
Significant shareholder returns: \u00a32.1 billion returned via buybacks in 2025, \u00a3415 million year-to-date and a further \u00a33 billion planned to be completed by Feb 2027; final dividend +15.7% to 103.0p per share5, to be paid on 20 May 2026 to all shareholders on the share register at the record date of 17 April 2026, subject to shareholder approval. The ex-dividend date is 16 April 2026<\/p>\n
2026 guidance<\/p>\n
Organic constant currency growth in total income (excl. recoveries) of 6.5-7.5%<\/p>\n
Constant currency EBITDA margin +80-100 bps<\/p>\n
Equity free cash flow at least \u00a32.7 billion<\/p>\n
Underlying effective tax rate 24-25%<\/p>\n
Medium-term guidance 2027-2029<\/p>\n
We have consistently met or exceeded our medium-term guidance framework we set out in 2023. We are therefore putting in place a new framework for 2027-2029, reflecting our confidence in continued strong progress, as follows:<\/p>\n
Mid to high single digit organic constant currency growth in total income (excl. recoveries) annually, including acceleration in our subscription businesses<\/p>\n
Underlying EBITDA margin to increase by a cumulative c. 150 basis points 2027-2029, as a result of continued strong revenue growth and ongoing operational efficiencies<\/p>\n
Capex declining to c. 8% of total income (excl. recoveries) in 2029 Double-digit compound annual growth rate in Equity Free Cash Flow (\u2018FCF\u2019) per share<\/p>\n
This release contains revenues, costs and earnings and key performance indicators (KPIs) for the twelve months ended 31 December 2025. FY 2025 is compared against FY 2024 on a statutory reporting basis. Constant currency variances are calculated on the basis of consistent FX rates applied across the current and prior year period (GBP:USD 1.278 GBP:EUR 1.181). 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.\u00a0 Within the financial information and tables presented, certain columns and rows may not cast due to the use of rounded numbers for disclosure purposes.<\/p>\n
1\u00a0Recoveries mainly relate to fees for third-party content, such as exchange data, that is distributed directly to customers.<\/p>\n
2\u00a0The Group reports adjusted operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation and impairment, adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and impairment (EBITDA), adjusted depreciation, amortisation and impairment, adjusted operating profit and adjusted basic earnings per share (EPS). These measures are not measures of performance under IFRS and should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for, IFRS measures of financial performance and liquidity. Adjusted performance measures provide supplemental data relevant to an understanding of the Group\u2019s financial performance and exclude non-underlying items of income and expense that are material by their size and\/or nature. Non-underlying items include: amortisation and impairment of goodwill and purchased intangible assets, incremental amortisation and impairment of the fair value adjustments of intangible assets recognised as a result of acquisitions, significant impairment of software and other non-current assets linked to a change in strategy or operating model, tax on non-underlying items and other income or expenses not considered to drive the operating results of the Group (including transaction, integration and separation costs related to acquisitions and disposals of businesses), as well as restructuring costs.<\/p>\n
3\u00a0Annualised Subscription Value (ASV) metric is based on subscription revenues in Data & Analytics, FTSE Russell, Risk Intelligence and data solutions within Markets. Organic, constant currency variance<\/p>\n
4\u00a0Model Context Protocol; open-source standard for connecting AI applications to source data<\/p>\n
5\u00a0ISIN: GB00B0SWJX34; TIDM: LSEG<\/p>\n
Preliminary results investor and analyst presentation, webcast and conference call:<\/p>\n
David Schwimmer (Chief Executive Officer) and Michel-Alain Proch (Chief Financial Officer) will host a webcast presentation on LSEG\u2019s 2025 Preliminary Results for analysts and institutional shareholders today at 10:00am (UK time). This will be followed by the opportunity to ask questions via the conference call line.<\/p>\n
To access the webcast or telephone conference call please register in advance using the following link:<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.lsegissuerservices.com\/spark-insights\/LondonStockExchangeGroup\/events\/c18b7e9e-cf1e-4dc9-9620-ba5e2bb1f71a\/lseg-fy2025-results-presentation<\/a><\/p>\n To ask a question live you will need to register for the telephone conference call here:<\/p>\n https:\/\/registrations.events\/direct\/LON35294409<\/a><\/p>\n Presentation slides can be viewed at\u00a0http:\/\/www.lseg.com\/en\/investor-relations<\/a><\/p>\n The preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2025 have been submitted in full unedited text to the Financial Conduct Authority\u2019s National Storage Mechanism and will be available shortly for inspection at\u00a0https:\/\/data.fca.org.uk\/#\/nsm\/nationalstoragemechanism<\/a>.<\/p>\n