LSEG once again led their capital markets results with Tradeweb’s successes in H1 2024. Total revenue of £880 million, up 13.4% year-on-year (YoY), was “primarily driven by fixed income, derivatives and other”, its report stated. In turn, that business area “principally reflects activities at Tradeweb”.
Revenue in this space grew by 23.3% year-on-year, LSEG said, recording £635 million in revenue over the first six months of the year. This was offset only slightly by results in foreign exchange, the only area of capital markets to take a tumble over H1 with revenues falling by 2.3% to £125 million.
Equities saw modest growth, up by 3.4% YoY to £120 million. Average daily trading volume increased by a more notable 10.3% in secondary markets, reaching £4.3 billion. This increase was the result of improved market conditions, the group reported, with CEO David Schwimmer commenting in a media call that recent changes to FCA listing rules have had an impact here.
The reforms came into force earlier this week, removing the need for shareholder approval to carry out related party transactions and bringing in a commercial companies category for equities shares.
Companies can already see the positives of the new regime, Schwimmer affirmed; “It is helpful, and it is effective. [It is] very well received and having a positive impact”. He went on to say that he expects to see improvements in the UK’s initial public offering (IPO) market over the next year thanks to the shift, as well as from changes in the wider political landscape and further capital market reforms from the UK Government.
“I feel pretty good about the pipeline and the direction of travel,” he said.
On these further changes, Schwimmer stressed the potential for reforms in the pensions space. “I expect that there will be a robust, healthy discussion around that,” he said, drawing attention to questions around the consolidation of funds and conversations around where the capital of pension funds is being directed.
Commenting on the firm’s overall results, Schwimmer concluded: “We have finished the first half strongly, maintaining our momentum in Q2 with every business line contributing to revenue growth. This reflects the strength of our proposition, the improvements we have made to our products and the depth of our relationships with customers.
“We are also delivering efficiency improvements, with underlying margin improving year-on-year despite ongoing investment, and we expect this trend to continue. We look forward to further progress in the second half of the year, and are reiterating all of our medium-term guidance.”
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