London Stock Exchange announces floatation

The London Stock Exchange has confirmed it is to become a fully listed company by the end of July.

The move has been announced with the group's full-year results to March 31, which reveal a pre-tax profit of £30.4m down from £48.5m, with turnover up 18% to £193.4m.

Earlier this week, a spokesman for the LSE dismissed rumours of a flotation as speculation.

It's thought a listing of the company on its own market would give it a value of more than £1bn.

Last year, the LSE held merger talks with the German exchange Deutsche Borse, only for them to fall through at the eleventh hour.

It then went on to successfully fend off a hostile bid from Sweden's OM Group.

Cash raised from the listing will help the LSE to finance future acquisitions in an ongoing environment of cut-throat takeover battles.

Clara Furse, the LSE's chief executive, says: "During the year, we have worked with our customers to develop and deliver a wide range of initiatives. Over the coming year, this will gather pace.

"As a business we must seek to position ourselves as Europe's leading capital market exchange organisation and exchange service provider, rather than purely as a stock exchange."