LSE Says First-Half Profit Rises 19% on Electronic Trading

By Nandini Sukumar

Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- London Stock Exchange Group Plc, Europe's oldest independent market, reported fiscal first-half profit rose 19 percent as financial-market turmoil boosted trading.

Net income for the six months ending Sept. 30 climbed to 81.7 million pounds ($121.65 million) from a restated 68.5 million in the fiscal first half of 2007, LSE said in a Regulatory News Service statement today. That's lower than the 102 million-pound median forecast of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

LSE, which bought Borsa Italiana SpA last year, restated first-half profit for the year-earlier period to include the Italian bourse.

The company will hold a press conference at 11:30 a.m. London time.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nandini Sukumar in London at nsukumar@bloomberg.net.