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’You’ve paid how much? – LSE edition
A few years back, the FSA warned banks to be careful about their choice of code words in M&A deals:
Use appropriate code names to disguise the identities of relevant parties. This only works if the code names are sufficiently different from the names of the relevant parties so their real identities cannot be determined.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Monday,
- Pearson sells 50 per cent stake in FTSE to the London Stock Exchange for £450m — statement and statement.
- France’s Areva to announce big loss; shares suspended pending statement — statement.
The LSE’s call to action
Sadly, the London Stock Exchange’s plan to fix the broken UK IPO market is unlikely to work for the simple reason that it doesn’t really believe there’s a problem.
For companies seeking to raise capital,
The Bank of LSE
As expected the star of the show in Wednesday’s half year figures from the London Stock Exchange was its Italian clearing business.
Income was up 225 per cent on a year ago, as the LSE sweated the margin posted by clients of Cassa di Compensazione e Garanzia (CCG). By that,
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Wednesday,
- LSE says income from its Italian clearing business up 225 per cent from a year ago — statement.
- Icap says expects to meet 2012 forecasts if markets stabilise — statement.
The LSE and the Cassa di Compensazione e Garanzia
What’s one of the fastest growing parts of the London stock exchange?
Answer: its Italian clearing house business. According to Goldman Sachs income from this operation has grown four-fold in only 15 months and it now accounts for as much as a third of group earnings.
If we ran the FTSE 100…
The story so far.
Last week, FTSE Group launched a consultation on the free float rules for its various indices. That followed an outcry from investors concerned about the wave of overseas companies seeking to list on the main market while keeping control out of public hands.
Will someone put the LSE out of its misery?
Required: another corporate mercy killing.
The target?
The London Stock Exchange, which has failed to consummate another deal and now needs to be put out of its misery.
Indeed, Thursday’s price action suggests the market is betting on a bid for the world’s 10th biggest exchange by market value before the year is out:
The second biggest equity market in the world
It’s the UK, which has just over taken Japan according to Citigroup.
A stark contrast to the London Stock Exchange which is the world’s 10th biggest exchange company by market value.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Monday,
- Glencore said to lift IPO price range to 520-550p a share – Reuters.
- Euro slumps to seven-week low after IMF head’s arrest – Reuters.
- London Stock Exchange says TMX has received approach from Maple Group – statement.
The LSE’s IPO pipeline
Topaz Energy & Marine, Russian Helicopters, Edwards Group, Skrill and Chelpipe.
Just some of the companies that have pulled or postponed plans to list on the London Stock Exchange.
And that
The LSE’s giant ball
Two questions: Why? And how much did it cost?
Press release from the London Stock Exchange:
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon George Osborne MP, today launched the London Stock Exchange’s new market open ceremony in Paternoster Square.
LSE under attack
Technologically speaking all is still not well at the London Stock Exchange.
Prices are being disseminated on Monday morning but anyone trying to enter the LSE website via Google gets hit with this message.
The LSE’s millennium bug
The London Stock Exchange has (finally) broken its silence on those migration issues. And surprise, surprise they are not to blame.
The London Stock Exchange’s UK cash markets successfully migrated to the Group’s new ultra-low latency trading platform,
LSE prices oddness, the continuing story
Click to enlarge (image via a friendly source):
Here’s what the text, from the broker TD Waterhouse, says:
Due to technical changes at the London Stock Exchange (LSE) last weekend there is an issue affecting the execution of UK Stop Loss Orders.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Wednesday,
- London Stock Exchange and TMX agree to £3.7bn all-share merger of equals — statement.
- Xchanging warns on profits, scraps dividend, CEO quits, takes £100m goodwill hit — statement.
Trouble at Turquoise… [updated]
Something very murky indeed went on in the London Stock Exchange’s flagship Turquoise trading system on Tuesday.
We know that because the LSE told us (via Reuters):
RTRS-LSE SAYS TRADING DISRUPTION TO TURQUOISE MAY HAVE OCCURRED IN “SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES”
What price Betfair?
What valuation will the market put on Betfair when the online betting exchange lists on the LSE in a month’s time?
Based on the numbers released on Tuesday, a market capitalisation of £1.5bn looks very optimistic.
LSE volume watch
We often hear equity traders moaning about low volumes. But it seems right now they have a point.
Below are the top 10 stocks ranked by volume on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday:
As you can see,
Why yes, August was rubbish
File this one in the (bulging) ‘no one ❤ stocks’ archives.
August in London, according to the London Stock Exchange:
In August, 15.6 million trades were carried out across the Group’s equity electronic order books,
Monday morning fat finger
Fun and games in Kazakh mining group ENRC on Monday morning.
No official explanation yet as to the reason for the spike, but the London Stock Exchange has cancelled all of the opening trades after the uncrossing price surged to £10.99! (For context ENRC shares closed at 841.5p on Friday).
Place yer spread bets
Based on Thursday’s closing prices IG, a spread betting group, is now bigger than the venerable London Stock Exchange — £1.52bn market cap versus £1.475bn.
Dear readers, you can decide what that means.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Friday,
- British Airways reports annual loss before tax of £531m; targeting revenue growth of 6 per cent and break-even at pre-tax profit level in current financial year – statement.
The LSE makes history (updated)
The London Stock Exchange chalked up a fresh milestone on Tuesday – but probably not one its executives will want to remember.
From Bloomberg:
March 23 (Bloomberg) — London Stock Exchange Group Plc’s share of FTSE 100 Index stock transactions fell below 50 percent for the first time in intraday trading as Europe’s oldest independent bourse lost more ground to alternative trading systems.
Another one for the Aim Hall of Shame
H/T to reader Real Limey for this.
Background: Shares in Meldex were suspended in December 2008 as the Cambridge-based drug company told investors it was “seeking to clarify its trading and working capital position”.
Problem at the LSE (now updated seven times)
In addition to Thursday’s LSE share price fall — triggered by concerns about the 20 per cent stake held by Borse Dubai — the exchange is also having some technical issues, which has left many traders flying blind.