The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG.L) is seeking to buy back £750m ($897m) worth of shares from investors as it posted a jump in pre-tax profits.
LSE said it would seek shareholder consent to buy more of its own stock from the Blackstone and Thomson Reuters consortium from which it acquired Refinitiv in January 2021 for $27bn.
“In addition to our existing share buyback, we are today announcing plans to seek shareholder approval for a buyback directed towards the Blackstone/Thomson Reuters consortium’s stake, which will benefit all shareholders,” LSE chief executive David Schwimmer said in a statement.
Shareholders will cast their vote on the move at the annual general meeting this year, which Schimmer argued will “benefit all shareholders”.
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LSE plans to carry out the directed buyback by April 2024, subject to approval from investors.
Thomson Reuters, the parent company of Reuters News, owned about $5.6bn worth of LSE shares as of Jan 31st.
The parent company of London’s bourse said pre-tax profits had jumped 38.8% to £1.24bn last year, up from 894m the previous year, as total income rose 19.6% to £7.428bn.
The figures exclude various costs linked to the acquisition of data giant Refinitiv in 2021, in a deal that made the consortium LSE’s largest investor.
“LSEG has had a strong year, successfully integrating Refinitiv and significantly improving its performance, while also delivering strong results in our capital markets and post trade businesses. Our strategy is working,” Schwimmer added.
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The firm said it sees constant currency revenue growth at 6% to 8pc this year.
The board declared a total dividend for the full year of 107.0 pence a share, compared with 95 pence a share in 2021.
Article courtesy of Pedro Goncalves. Published 10:20am on Yahoo Finance on 2nd March 2023. Original article here – FTSE 100: London Stock Exchange plans £750m share buyback from Refinitiv investors (yahoo.com)