![]() London Stock Exchange Group plc Annual Report 2025 ![]() Strategic Report Approval of the Strategic Report is provided in the Director’s report on page 104 LSEG at a glance 1 Group highlights 2 Our investment case 3 Chair’s statement 4 Chief Executive Officer’s statement 5 Executive management team 6 Market trends and our response 8 Our purpose and strategy 10 Our business model 14 Key performance indicators 16 Divisional review: Data & Analytics 20 Divisional review: FTSE Russell 22 Divisional review: Risk Intelligence 23 Divisional review: Markets 24 Chief Financial Officer’s review 26 Financial review 28 Sustainability 37 Board engagement with stakeholders 47 Section 172(1) statement 50 Principal risks and uncertainties 52 Financial viability statement 56 Governance Complying with the UK Corporate GovernanceCode 58 Corporate governance introduction 59 Board of Directors 60 Corporate governance report 64 Report of the Nomination Committee 72 Report of the Audit Committee 76 Report of the Risk Committee 80 Directors’ Remuneration Report 82 Directors’ Report 104 Statement of Directors’ responsibilities 109 Financial Statements Independent Auditor’s Report 111 Consolidated income statement 118 Consolidated statement of comprehensive income 119 Consolidated balance sheet 120 Consolidated statement of changes in equity 121 Consolidated cash flow statement 122 Notes to the consolidated financial statements 123 Company balance sheet 180 Company statement of changes in equity 181 Notes to the Company financial statements 182 Additional Information Alternative performance measures 194 Glossary 197 Investor Relations 199 Disclaimers 200 Contents Make more possible ![]() LSEG at a glance What we do LSEG is a leading provider of financial markets infrastructure and data products, delivering capabilities in data, indices and analytics, capital formation, trade execution, clearing and risk management. Our solutions enable customers to access liquidity, manage risk and make informed decisions across global markets. Our business Our purpose and values Our strategy Our four business divisions – Data & Analytics, FTSE Russell, Risk Intelligence and Markets – provide customers with a comprehensive solution suite spanning the entire trade lifecycle and data value chain. Data & Analytics Open platform delivering trusted data feeds,analytics and workflow solutions, empowering customers to turn insights intoaction across trading, investing and riskmanagement. FTSE Russell Global benchmarks, indices and data solutions covering a range of asset classes, supporting portfolio construction, asset allocation, and risk and performance analysis. Risk Intelligence Trusted screening, identity verification and fraud prevention solutions that enable organisations to meet regulatory and compliance obligations and mitigate risk offinancial crime. Markets Venues and platforms to raise and transfer capital through capital issuance and secondary trading, alongside a comprehensive suite of clearing and post-trade services, enabling customers to access liquidity, manage risk and optimise resources. We drive financial stability by operating businesses that are of systemic importance, fundamental to the financial ecosystem and that serve our customers’ critical needs. We empower economies by helping ourcustomers to raise capital, support employment, innovate and access global financial networks, across multiple asset classes. We enable customers to create sustainable growth by providing the tools and data that enable financial markets to manage risk and make informed investment decisions. Underpinning our purpose, our values – Integrity, Partnership, Excellence and Change – guide how we work with customers, partners and each other. We are a global, multi-asset class financial markets infrastructure (FMI) and data provider, serving our customers across the trade lifecycle. Our business is defined by aclear set of strategic differentiators: – We are trusted to deliver services meeting business-critical needs. – We build and maintain deep partnerships with our customers. – We support an open ecosystem. – We offer integrated solutions including AIfunctionality. – We operate an AI-enabled data machine and distribution. For more detail on our strategy – refertopages 11 to 13. For more detail on our purpose – refer to page 10. For more detail on our divisions – refertopages 20 to 25. Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report 1London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Group highlights 1 Continuing operations. 2 Recoveries relate to fees for third-party content, such as exchange data, that is distributed to customers. They represent low margin pass-through revenues and are offset in cost of sales. We exclude recoveries in our performance commentary when trying to convey the best sense of underlying business performance. 3 Adjusted figures exclude the impact of any non-underlying items. For more information on the criteria that constitute non-underlying items, refer to page 194. 4 Includes benefit from the Post Trade Solutions transaction. 5 Internal reduction of Scope 1, Scope 2 (market), Scope 3 (selected – business travel, home working, commuting, fuel and energy related (FERA)) emissions vs a 2019 baseline. Financial highlights Adjusted financial highlights 1,3 Sustainability highlights Total income growth including recoveries 2 Total income growth excluding recoveries 2 (organic, constant currency basis) Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions 5 +5.5% +7.1% - 66% 2024: +5.7% 2024: +7.7% 2024: -54% EBITDA Adjusted EBITDA margin Sustainable issuers £4,365m  +50.3%  243 2024: £3,945m 2024: 48.8% 2024: 235 Operating profit Adjusted operating profit Female representation at senior leadership £2,127m £3,506m 36% 2024: £1,463m 2024: £3,165m 2024: 41% Basic earnings per share Adjusted earnings per share For a full list of our key performance indicators – refer to pages 16 to 19. 238.4p 420.6p 2024: 128.8p 2024: 363.5p Dividends per share Our financial performance in the year, including the above metrics, is discussed in more detail in our Financial review on pages 28 to 36. 150.0p 2024: 130.0p 2 Strategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Our investment case: all-weather growth With market-leading positions built on trusted partnerships and aligned to attractive long-term trends, LSEG’s highly cash-generative, well-diversified financial model, driven by largely recurring revenue, offers a compelling investment story. For more information on our business model – refer to pages 14and 15. Find out more about our products and services in our Divisional reviews on pages 20 to 25. 1 Based on publicly available information on listed peers. 2 For a reconciliation to statutory free cash flow, refer to our Financial review on page 35. 3 Refers to period between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2025. 4 Includes +100bps benefit from the Post Trade Solutions transaction. How we have positioned our business What this delivers to shareholders We operate in markets that offer long-term, structural growth – All of our businesses operate in addressable markets with a strong growth profile – at least mid-single-digit annual percentage growth or better. – Key drivers include the growing use of data in decision- making, the digitalisation of markets, increasing regulation, capital optimisation, and reputation and risk management. We have strong competitive positions, withscope toimprovefurther – We are a top-three global player in all of our major businesses, and a clear leader in real-time data, interest rateswaps clearing, electronic fixed income trading and counterparty screening. – We are investing at a significantly higher rate than our peers 1 to enhance our products and further strengthen our competitive position. We are highly diversified – by product, asset class andgeography – We have leading data, trading and clearing franchises in equities, foreign exchange and fixed income, and a growing presence in commodities and derivatives. – We provide services in more than 170 countries, with operations in over 60. The combination of our trade lifecycle anddata value chains is unmatched – We are a leader in pre-trade research, counterparty risk management, execution, benchmarking and clearing. – The trade lifecycle offerings enhance the depth and breadth of our trusted data, with millions of datapoints added every second. We increasingly combine the two to develop differentiated products for customers. We are a trusted, long-term partner withan open model – Our data and financial markets infrastructure are deeply trusted to power the processes of major institutions globally; through our partnership approach, we operate and grow critical platforms that are developed in partnership with the industry. – Our LSEG Everywhere AI strategy is a natural extension of our open model, delivering our data in an easy-to-access way to where our customers are working. High-quality and high-visibility revenue – Over 70% of our income is recurring in nature and benefits from long-term customer relationships. Our services are vital to our customers’ businesses. – Our transactional revenue, which comes mainly from Tradeweb and post trade, is very high quality with strong existing positions and long-term growth drivers. Uncorrelated growth – We are not over-exposed to any single macroeconomic or industry measure – be it GDP growth, debt issuance, volatility or equity markets performance. – We have achieved consistent mid to high single-digit organic revenue growth since 2018, despite significant and unforeseen factors – including the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russia/Ukraine war and the rapid increase in inflation and interest rates. Improving profitability and cash generation – EBITDA margin is expanding significantly, with organic improvement of 250bps guided across the three years to 2026, with a further 130bps benefit from the Post Trade Solutions transaction realised over 2025 and 2026. – With capex intensity declining, we are delivering very strong free cash flow, which reached £2.4 billion in 2025 2 . Strong capital allocation track record, driving long-term growth and shareholder value – Our adjusted earnings per share (AEPS) and dividend CAGRs over the last 20 years have been 16% and 17% respectively. – M&A has driven significant value over time, through thecombination of major acquisitions, such as Refinitiv, and continued bolt-on deals to enhance our services tocustomers. – We are consistently proactive in deploying excess capital, with £4.6 billion of share buybacks executed since2022 3 . Recurring revenue (as a % of total income incl. recoveries) EBITDA margin expansion (on constant currency basis) Capex (as a % of total income excl. recoveries) Equity free cash flow generatedin 2025 73% +210bps  10.2% £2.4bn 3 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Returned to shareholders via share buybacks in 2025 £2.1bn 2024: £1bn Total dividend per share for 2025 150.0p 2024: 130.0p Chair’s statement Overview LSEG delivered a strong performance in 2025. Total income excluding recoveries was £9.0 billion, up 7.1% on an organic, constant currency basis. Adjusted operating profit grew to £3.5 billion, up 14.3% 1 , with adjusted EPS increasing 15.7% on headline basis, benefiting from strong profit growth as well as lower net finance expenses, the acquisition of minorities in our clearing house LCH in 2024, and ongoing share buybacks. Equity free cash flow rose to £2.4 billion, with EBITDA growth converted to free cash flow as a result of lower capital intensity and effective debt management. Our active capital allocation remains focused on organic investment, targeted inorganic growth and returning surplus capital to shareholders. We completed a significant partnership and investment in our Post Trade Solutions business with 11 leading banks taking a 20% stake. We also completed £2.1 billion in share buybacks in 2025, bringing the total buybacks to £4.6 billion since 2022. The Board is proposing a final dividend of 103.0 pence per share, bringing the total to 150.0 pence per share, a 15.4% increase. Governance The Board aims to maintain high governance and ethical standards. More information is available in our Corporate Governance Report from page 64. In December, Dominic Blakemore and Martin Brand confirmed they will step down from the Board following LSEG’s Annual General Meeting in April 2026. Dominic has served as a Non-Executive Director since 1 January 2020, and Martin has served as a Non-Executive Director since February 2021. I would like to thank Dominic and Martin for their significant contributions during a period of rapid transformation for the Group. Lloyd Pitchford joined the Board in April 2025 as a Non-Executive Director. Lloyd also became a member of the Audit, Risk and Nomination Committees, and will succeed Dominic as Chair of the Audit Committee after the conclusion of the AGM in April 2026. DameElizabeth Corley joined the Board as a Non-Executive Director in December 2025 and became a member of the Risk and Nomination Committees. Our Board aims to meet the diversity goals in the Financial Conduct Authority’s UK Listing Rules and Parker Review. In compliance with the FCA’s Listing Rules, one of four senior Board positions is held by a woman. At the end of 2025, five of 13 Board members were women, meaning we were just below the FCA’s Listing Rules target of 40% for female representation. We are in compliance with the Parker Review, with one of the Board’s Directors having a minority ethnic background. For further information on Board diversity and the appointment process, please refer to the Nomination Committee report, from page 72. As part of our commitment to visit at least one international office per year, the Board visited LSEG’s offices in New York City, in addition to holding conversations in London, to hear from our colleagues and learn about our customers in these regions. The Board also participated in four virtual sessions in 2025 with colleagues from around the world. Sustainability LSEG plays a vital role in the world’s financial system and we are uniquely positioned to help customers meet their sustainability objectives. In 2025, the London Stock Exchange’s Sustainable Bond Market (SBM) celebrated its 10th anniversary. Since its inception, we have helped issuers raise $464 billion through 967 individual issuances of green, social, sustainability and transition bonds. We continued to have impact in the community, through the LSEG Foundation, providing funding to strategic and regional charity partners focused on economic empowerment. This funding has now directly supported over a million people across the world since 2022. We also had record numbers of colleagues volunteering their time this year. You can read more about our sustainability strategy and the actions we are taking to become a strategic enabler and steward of sustainable economic growth in the sustainability section of the Strategic Report (pages 37 to 46). This section also covers LSEG’s approach to climate change and highlights progress against our climate targets. Summary In partnership with our customers, LSEG is reshaping how financial services are built, delivered and experienced, and 2025 has been another strong year for the Group. All of our businesses have strong competitive positions in the markets they serve and we have aligned the Group to benefit from long-term industry trends. On behalf of the Board, I want to thank our global teams and partners for their collaboration and support throughout the year. Don Robert CBE Chair 25 February, 2026 1 On organic, constant currency basis. In partnership with our customers, LSEG is reshaping how financial services are built, delivered and experienced, and 2025 has been another strong year for the Group. Don Robert CBE Chair 4London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 Strategic Report ![]() Growth in total income excluding recoveries (organic, constant currency basis) +7.1% 2024: +7.7% Growth in adjusted earnings pershare +15.7% 2024: +12.2% Chief Executive Officer’s statement Introduction LSEG has progressed significantly with its transformation in 2025. We have built a Group with a unique portfolio of businesses, all of which have strong, competitive positions. Our solutions support critical functions in the global financial system, with real strategic partnerships grounded in expertise and trust. We are highly diversified, by asset class, geography, customer type and product, giving us a very strong economic model that enables us to deliver growth regardless of macroeconomic or geopolitical volatility. As we look back on the year’s market-shaping events, we have continued to live our purpose: driving financial stability, empowering economies and enabling sustainable growth. From supporting our customers through the volatility of early April, helping them navigate the new world of AI with our trusted data, or sharing our insights with governments and regulators, we played a key role in keeping the markets moving in 2025. We have aligned LSEG to a number of very strong and long-term industry trends. The growing demand for data in decision- making is not new, but AI is driving that demand to new heights. Electronification and digitalisation of trading also continue at pace, and through Tradeweb and our digital markets infrastructure, we are at the forefront of that trend. And whether through FTSE Russell, Risk Intelligence, Markets or Data & Analytics, we are supporting customers as they navigate ever-changing regulation. Through the unmatched breadth of our offering across the whole trade lifecycle and data value chain, we are building the future of finance, transforming how our customers interact with us, with each other and with markets. To deliver on this ambitious agenda, we have put in place a strong leadership team with the capabilities we need to execute for our customers. Performance in 2025 We have delivered another year of strong and consistent performance, with all divisions contributing to revenue growth. Total income excluding recoveries grew 7.1% on an organic, constant currency basis. We have also improved profitability, increasing EBITDA margin by 210bps 1 , reflecting our focus on delivering efficient and sustainable growth. We have delivered significant and, in some cases, radical innovation across the business. We have deepened industry partnerships and established new LSEG Data Access Agreements with several key customers. These agreements deliver significant commercial benefits and further demonstrate LSEG’s value as a long-term strategic partner. Our Data & Analytics division continued its positive momentum. In June, we retired Eikon and moved customers to Workspace, a modern, customisable, modular interface that establishes a common platform for innovation and growth. This was one of the largest financial services workflow migrations in history. We have also continued to improve functionality with hundreds of enhancements over the year, including the launch of Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint add-ins, and the integration of the Workspace app into Teams. We have begun the roll-out of Open Directory to FX and Commodities user communities, with other communities to follow. Open Directory enables secure, federated collaboration across financial institutions. In Data & Feeds, we are making it easier for customers to find, access and consume our data through our LSEG Everywhere strategy. We have also continued to expand our content offering: for example, in private markets we have added leading datasets from Preqin® and Nasdaq’s eVestment. Together with Dun & Bradstreet data, these sources provide an end-to-end curated view of private markets that others cannot match. Our Analytics business continued to grow, supported by strong sales of our Analytics API with AI enablement and natural language functionality. Strategic partnerships with Snowflake and Databricks have expanded the distribution channels to make it easier for our customers to access our analytics within their existing workflows. We introduced the Model-as-a-Service offering to empower our customers to monetise and distribute their own models through our API, reaching new end users and enhancing the value of our platform. Furthermore, we have launched natural language functionality across other Analytics products, enhancing user experience and productivity. FTSE Russell delivered solid growth over the year across both subscription and asset-based revenue. We had strong commercial momentum, with a record 44 new equity ETFs launched over the year and time-to-market for custom indices significantly reduced. We are collaborating more closely with Tradeweb, powering FTSE Russell fixed income indices with Tradeweb data. In addition, in response to growing customer demand for private company data, we launched the FTSE StepStone Global Private Markets Indices, the first global benchmarks to provide daily data on private market performance. Risk Intelligence continued to deliver double- digit growth, as we built on our strong position in a growing market by making significant product enhancements. We launched World-Check On Demand and World-Check Verify, a more flexible platform for our sanctions and anti-money laundering data. We have delivered another year of strong and consistent performance, with all divisions contributing to revenue growth. David Schwimmer Chief Executive Officer 1 Adjusted EBITDA margin improvement on constant currency basis; includes +100bps benefit from the Post Trade Solutions transaction. 5 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() But our strategic vision goes far beyond screening. Unlike competitors that tend to provide individual solutions, we operate along the compliance lifecycle combining digital identity and fraud solutions with screening and due diligence capabilities. We will continue to combine these capabilities into integrated solutions. Amidst ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty, our Markets division continued to support customers’ trading activity. Tradeweb grew strongly with its innovative trading protocols and close customer relationships driving record volumes. Following the acquisition of ICD in 2024, we launched direct US Treasury bill trading on the ICD portal to further integrate workflows for corporate treasurers. We also expanded algorithmic trading capabilities for US Treasuries, improving liquidity and execution for clients. Tradeweb’s platform will be available in Workspace in 2026. Within Equities, we welcomed a number of listings on the London Stock Exchange and have an active pipeline for 2026. We continue to innovate with the launch of two new market platforms, the Private Securities Market and Digital Markets Infrastructure (DMI), both of which have the potential to transform the capital markets ecosystem. Our DMI delivers blockchain-powered scale and efficiencies for the full asset lifecycle of a trade – from issuance, tokenisation and distribution to post-trade asset settlement and servicing. We have built this platform in Microsoft’s Azure environment, and it is asset-class agnostic. The first use case is in private markets and we have completed the first private fund transaction. We are adding other asset classes as adoption builds. Fixed income is the next use case following the successful trial tokenisation of a gilt using DMI. Within our post trade businesses, we continue to build platforms for long-term growth and deepen our industry partnerships. In Post Trade Solutions, services we provide for the bilateral OTC derivatives market, we announced a partnership with 11 leading global banks which have taken a 20% stake in the business, enhancing our strategic alignment with key customers. The uncleared opportunity is comparable to that of the cleared segment. Our members and clients want to manage their whole portfolios in one place, bringing efficiency to their capital and margin requirements, and materially simplifying and standardising processes. We are uniquely placed to do that, given the assets we have built and brought together under one roof, and our proven track record of delivering real value through long-term partnership. AI strategy Artificial intelligence is transforming financial markets. With our unmatched data, infrastructure and partnerships, LSEG is at the forefront of this change. Our LSEG Everywhere AI strategy encompasses three key pillars: Trusted Data, Transformative Products, and Intelligent Enterprise. Trusted Data: customer demand for data that is accurate, comprehensive, verified and auditable is significant. Here, LSEG sets the standard with over 33 petabytes of trusted data: a valuable portfolio of proprietary, non-replicable, historical data supported by LSEG-defined standards and curation. Crucially, this data is constantly refreshed, updated and added to, ensuring our customers always work with the most current and most precise information available. Transformative Products: we are applying AI to the products we build for our customers to reimagine how financial services professionals work – with speed, simplicity and insight. The introduction of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) is creating a new era of data-driven innovation. It gives us the ability to have LSEG AI-ready data safely presented alongside large language models (LLMs) and we have announced partnerships with Anthropic, Databricks, OpenAI, Snowflake and others. We also announced the next step in our strategic partnership with Microsoft, with agents built in Microsoft Copilot Studio, and deployed in Microsoft 365 Copilot, enabled with LSEG data. Intelligent Enterprise: we are deploying AI across our own business and operations – so we can innovate faster and serve our customers better. For example, in our data operations, we are extracting content nine times faster where we are using AI; and in customer operations, we have reduced the mean time to resolve customer queries by 40%. Growth outlook LSEG has changed beyond all recognition in the last five years. We will continue to do so as technologies evolve, regulation changes and customers encounter new problems to solve. These changes mean that we have many opportunities ahead. We have extraordinary talent combined with world-class assets, and we are investing and innovating to deliver on those opportunities, powering near-, medium- and longer-term growth. Our success is driven by the strength and dedication of our global team, and I am confident in our ability to deliver long-term growth and create value for our shareholders. On behalf of the Executive Committee, thank you to all our colleagues for their continued commitment to ‘make more possible’ for our customers around the world and for LSEG. David Schwimmer Chief Executive Officer 25 February, 2026 Executive management team David Schwimmer, Chief Executive Officer, leads day-to-day management of the Group, supported by the Executive Committee. The team meets regularly to review a wide range of business matters, including implementation of strategy, financial performance, investment and projects, talent development, corporate culture, and setting and monitoring of performance targets. Profiles of the Executive team provided on the next page are as at January 2026. For further information on David Schwimmer, as well as on our Chief Financial Officer, Michel-Alain Proch, who are also members of the Board of Directors, see our Board of Directors overview on page 60. Changes to the Executive Committee Steve John joined the Group in April 2025 as Chief Corporate Affairs & Marketing Officer. Ron Lefferts transitioned from his role as Head of Sales and Account Management to become Co-Head of the Data & Analytics division alongside Gianluca Biagini, who joined LSEG in August 2025. Chris Coleman was appointed as Head of Sales and Account Management, succeeding Ron Lefferts. Chris joined the Group in January 2026. Chief Executive Officer’s statement continued 6 Strategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Catherine Johnson General Counsel Joined LSEG in 1996 Catherine manages a global team of lawyers and compliance professionals, advising the Board and senior executives on key legal and compliance issues, and strategic initiatives. Catherine qualified as a lawyer in 1993 and has held a number of senior roles in her career at LSEG. Steve John Chief Corporate Affairs & Marketing Officer Joined LSEG in April 2025 Steve leads LSEG’s Corporate Affairs & Marketing function, covering marketing, communications, government relations, sustainability and central teams. He brings extensive experience from senior roles at McKinsey & Company, Bupa and PepsiCo, most recently serving as Chief Communications and Brand Officer at HSBC Group. Erica Bourne Chief People Officer Joined LSEG in 2023 As CPO, Erica leads LSEG’s HR policies and programmes. With over 25 years of experience, Erica has held a number of leadership and executive roles across technology, consulting and financial services, and previously led the People function at Burberry Group. Michel-Alain Proch Group Chief Financial Officer Joined LSEG in 2024 As CFO, Michel-Alain leads LSEG’s global finance organisation. He previously served as Group CFO of Publicis Groupe, and prior to that held CFO and senior executive roles at Ingenico and Atos, where he oversaw several major strategic acquisitions and integrations. David Schwimmer Group Chief Executive Officer Joined LSEG in 2018 As CEO, David has led the Group’s transformation into a global leader in financial markets infrastructure and data services. He began his career in law before spending 20 years at Goldman Sachs in a number of senior roles, most recently as Global Head of Market Structures. Ron Lefferts Co-Head of Data & Analytics Joined LSEG in 2021 Based in the US, Ron shares responsibility for leading LSEG’s Data & Analytics division. He previously headed LSEG’s global Sales & Account Management function and has over 25 years of experience in technology consulting and financial services, including senior roles at Protiviti and IBM. Gianluca Biagini Co-Head of Data & Analytics Joined LSEG in August 2025 Based in the UK, Gianluca co-leads LSEG’s Data & Analytics division. Before joining LSEG, Gianluca led Data, Valuations and Risk Analytics at S&P Global Market Intelligence. Prior to his tenure at S&P Global, Gianluca played a pivotal role in founding and globally expanding Bloomberg Data Solutions. Balbir Bakhshi Chief Risk Officer Joined LSEG in 2021 Balbir oversees risk management at LSEG, including risk identification and mitigation. He previously led Non-Financial Risk Management at Deutsche Bank and spent more than 20 years in senior risk leadership roles at Credit Suisse. Chris Coleman Head of Sales and Account Management Joined LSEG in January 2026 Chris is responsible for LSEG’s global Sales and Account Management team, driving revenue growth and strengthening customer partnerships. He brings over 30 years of experience in sales and relationship management, most recently as Executive Vice President, Head of Global Client Coverage at State Street. Daniel Maguire Head of Markets and CEO, LCH Group Joined LSEG in 2008 Daniel has held various senior roles across LCH and LSEG, with 26 years of experience in capital markets, risk and default management, product management and regulatory strategy, and over 20 years spent at LSEG across two tenures. Pascal Boillat Chief Operating Officer Joined LSEG in 2024 Pascal oversees operational activities at LSEG, bringing over 35 years’ experience in technology and operations for global financial institutions. Previously, he served as Group Executive at Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), managing technology, operations and data functions. Irfan Hussain Chief Information Officer Joined LSEG in 2024 Irfan leads LSEG’s technology and engineering team, driving innovation in global financial markets. In a 28-year career at Goldman Sachs, Irfan held many senior positions including, most recently, Chief Operating & Strategy Officer in the Engineering division. Executive management team 7 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Market trends and our response Our success is built on our ability to understand and capitalise on the structural changes that are shaping financial markets and the global economy. Demand for data and its integration into workflows Rise of new technologies including AI Electronification of financial markets and digitalisation of trading Regulation, risk management and capital optimisation Increased macroeconomic uncertainty and volatility Overview and impact Overview and impact Global demand continues to grow for high quality, trusted and accurate data that can be easily integrated into workflows. There is continued demand for datasets and products covering new and alternative asset classes, such as private markets. Customers also increasingly expect end-to-end experiences, and to be met in their preferred channels and commercial models. AI is amplifying demand for reliable, auditable and proprietary data, particularly as firms seek to power advanced analytics and algorithmic strategies. AI is also creating new opportunities for innovation and raising client expectations for functionality and personalisation, including tools that can deliver advanced insights and more intuitive user experiences. Advances in technology, particularly AI, are also driving opportunities for significant operational efficiencies through process automation. Electronification of financial markets continues to drive trading volume growth, improve efficiency and enable access to liquidity. This trend is expected to continue as many asset classes are far from reaching maturity in adoption of electronic and automated trading. Digitalisation is also unlocking growth across multiple segments including digital exchanges, digital payments and currencies, and retail and wealth, driving greater demand for efficiency and financial security across the trade lifecycle. Accelerated digitalisation also creates new risks for our clients and their customers. Firms are investing in mitigating these risks, seeking to better understand their customer base and supply network, and minimise incidences of fraud and illicit activity through anti-money laundering and digital customer identification solutions. Financial markets are undergoing structural change as regulatory frameworks evolve and diverge across jurisdictions, adding complexity for providers operating on a global scale. Liquidity fragmentation across venues adds further challenges for execution and risk management. At the same time, regulatory and capital requirements continue to increase the importance of efficiency and financial security, driving demand for solutions that optimise balance sheets and streamline post-trade processes. These shifts underscore the importance of integrated platforms and clearing services that can deliver transparency, resilience and cost savings in an increasingly interconnected and complex environment. The evolving inflation and interest rate environment, geopolitical instability, fragmentation and uneven global growth have created a challenging environment for investors, companies and financial institutions. These dynamics, seen throughout 2025, highlight the importance of trusted venues and stable clearing houses that are capable of meeting demand spikes and support financial stability. LSEG response LSEG response We continue to provide clients with a uniquely broad offering of reliable, auditable and proprietary data, including from our venues. We are also continuing to invest to enhance the breadth of our data offering in areas such as private markets. See page 12. With LSEG Workspace, we are creating a seamless, end-to-end experience that increasingly acts as a primary gateway to LSEG’s leading content, analytics and collaboration tools, providing access to services across the Group, including LCH, FX, FTSE Russell and, in the near future, Tradeweb. Our open ecosystem approach, tailored Workspace offering and initiatives such as custom index creation in FTSE Russell, allow us to deliver flexible, integrated solutions. We are executing our LSEG Everywhere AI strategy built on trusted data and our open approach to unlock new opportunities. Leveraging Model Context Protocol to allow governed access to our data, we have partnered with a number of providers, including Anthropic (Claude), OpenAI, Rogo, Snowflake and Databricks to serve our customers wherever they choose to work. A key differentiator is the freshness and scale of our real-time data, with up to 15 million new datapoints added every second, ensuring customers have access to information that is constantly updated, highly accurate and dependable in fast moving global markets. See page 21. Our Fixed Income and FX venues are well positioned to capitalise on the electronification trend and we are driving innovation to remain the platform of choice. We are embracing the digitalisation of assets, building digital market infrastructure, launching Digital Asset Clear and developing digital asset indices. Our Private Securities Market, which received regulatory approval in 2025, is also digitalising the previously manual process of private placements, creating a repeatable process built on existing market infrastructure. We also continue to develop innovative solutions in Risk Intelligence, such as World-Check On Demand, transforming the way data is created and delivered and supporting customers’ compliance, verification and Know Your Customer (KYC) workflows. See page 23. We are using our expertise in clearing, combined with our deep and long- standing customer relationships, to drive innovation in the largely untapped uncleared space, working alongside our partners to support their regulatory compliance and capital optimisation needs. In 2025, 11 global banks invested in Post Trade Solutions. See page 25. Through our market infrastructure businesses, we play a key role in helping participants to navigate this market environment and manage risk. Heightened market volatility drives revenue for businesses such as our clearing houses (28% YoY growth in SwapClear trade count vs 2024), FX venues (10% YoY growth in ADV vs 2024) and Tradeweb (17% YoY growth in ADV vs 2024). 8 Strategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Market trends and our response continued Demand for data and its integration into workflows Rise of new technologies including AI Electronification of financial markets and digitalisation of trading Regulation, risk management and capital optimisation Increased macroeconomic uncertainty and volatility Overview and impact Overview and impact Global demand continues to grow for high quality, trusted and accurate data that can be easily integrated into workflows. There is continued demand for datasets and products covering new and alternative asset classes, such as private markets. Customers also increasingly expect end-to-end experiences, and to be met in their preferred channels and commercial models. AI is amplifying demand for reliable, auditable and proprietary data, particularly as firms seek to power advanced analytics and algorithmic strategies. AI is also creating new opportunities for innovation and raising client expectations for functionality and personalisation, including tools that can deliver advanced insights and more intuitive user experiences. Advances in technology, particularly AI, are also driving opportunities for significant operational efficiencies through process automation. Electronification of financial markets continues to drive trading volume growth, improve efficiency and enable access to liquidity. This trend is expected to continue as many asset classes are far from reaching maturity in adoption of electronic and automated trading. Digitalisation is also unlocking growth across multiple segments including digital exchanges, digital payments and currencies, and retail and wealth, driving greater demand for efficiency and financial security across the trade lifecycle. Accelerated digitalisation also creates new risks for our clients and their customers. Firms are investing in mitigating these risks, seeking to better understand their customer base and supply network, and minimise incidences of fraud and illicit activity through anti-money laundering and digital customer identification solutions. Financial markets are undergoing structural change as regulatory frameworks evolve and diverge across jurisdictions, adding complexity for providers operating on a global scale. Liquidity fragmentation across venues adds further challenges for execution and risk management. At the same time, regulatory and capital requirements continue to increase the importance of efficiency and financial security, driving demand for solutions that optimise balance sheets and streamline post-trade processes. These shifts underscore the importance of integrated platforms and clearing services that can deliver transparency, resilience and cost savings in an increasingly interconnected and complex environment. The evolving inflation and interest rate environment, geopolitical instability, fragmentation and uneven global growth have created a challenging environment for investors, companies and financial institutions. These dynamics, seen throughout 2025, highlight the importance of trusted venues and stable clearing houses that are capable of meeting demand spikes and support financial stability. LSEG response LSEG response We continue to provide clients with a uniquely broad offering of reliable, auditable and proprietary data, including from our venues. We are also continuing to invest to enhance the breadth of our data offering in areas such as private markets. See page 12. With LSEG Workspace, we are creating a seamless, end-to-end experience that increasingly acts as a primary gateway to LSEG’s leading content, analytics and collaboration tools, providing access to services across the Group, including LCH, FX, FTSE Russell and, in the near future, Tradeweb. Our open ecosystem approach, tailored Workspace offering and initiatives such as custom index creation in FTSE Russell, allow us to deliver flexible, integrated solutions. We are executing our LSEG Everywhere AI strategy built on trusted data and our open approach to unlock new opportunities. Leveraging Model Context Protocol to allow governed access to our data, we have partnered with a number of providers, including Anthropic (Claude), OpenAI, Rogo, Snowflake and Databricks to serve our customers wherever they choose to work. A key differentiator is the freshness and scale of our real-time data, with up to 15 million new datapoints added every second, ensuring customers have access to information that is constantly updated, highly accurate and dependable in fast moving global markets. See page 21. Our Fixed Income and FX venues are well positioned to capitalise on the electronification trend and we are driving innovation to remain the platform of choice. We are embracing the digitalisation of assets, building digital market infrastructure, launching Digital Asset Clear and developing digital asset indices. Our Private Securities Market, which received regulatory approval in 2025, is also digitalising the previously manual process of private placements, creating a repeatable process built on existing market infrastructure. We also continue to develop innovative solutions in Risk Intelligence, such as World-Check On Demand, transforming the way data is created and delivered and supporting customers’ compliance, verification and Know Your Customer (KYC) workflows. See page 23. We are using our expertise in clearing, combined with our deep and long- standing customer relationships, to drive innovation in the largely untapped uncleared space, working alongside our partners to support their regulatory compliance and capital optimisation needs. In 2025, 11 global banks invested in Post Trade Solutions. See page 25. Through our market infrastructure businesses, we play a key role in helping participants to navigate this market environment and manage risk. Heightened market volatility drives revenue for businesses such as our clearing houses (28% YoY growth in SwapClear trade count vs 2024), FX venues (10% YoY growth in ADV vs 2024) and Tradeweb (17% YoY growth in ADV vs 2024). 9 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Our purpose LSEG is a key participant in the global economy as a leading financial markets infrastructure and data provider. Our purpose is driving financial stability, empowering economies and enabling customers to create sustainable growth. We drive financial stability by operating businesses that are of systemic importance, fundamental to the financial ecosystems and meet critical customer needs. We empower economies by helping our customers to raise capital, support employment, innovate and access global financial networks, across multiple asset classes. We enable customers to create sustainable growth by providing the tools and data that enable financial markets to manage risk and make informed investment decisions. This purpose underpins everything we do and sets the foundation for our strategy, our operations and our culture. Purpose and strategy 10 Strategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() AI Strategy – LSEG Everywhere Artificial intelligence is transforming financial markets. With our unmatched data, infrastructure and partnerships, we are uniquely positioned at the forefront of this change across three key pillars: Our strategy Our strategy is to provide customers with a global, multi-asset class financial markets infrastructure and data ecosystem, operating across the trade lifecycle and data value chain. Global, multi-asset class FMI and data provider across the trade lifecycle Open ecosystem Integrated solutions, including AI functionality Trusted to deliverservices meeting business- critical needs Deep partnership with our customers AI-enabled data machine and distribution Purpose and strategy continued Trusted Data We curate trusted, high-quality data to scale AI in financial services through our open, LLM-agnostic partnership approach. Transformative Products We are reimagining how financial services professionals work, with AI-enabled products that bring speed, simplicity and conviction to our customers’ workflows and decision-making. Intelligent Enterprise We are deploying AI across our own business, so we can innovate faster and serve our customers better. Global, multi-asset class FMI and data provider across the trade lifecycle We serve ever more of our customers’ needs pre-, at and post-trade, across asset classes and geographies. Integrated solutions, including AI functionality We offer seamless integration across different elements of our product set, including AI functionality, to drive greater insights from our data and reduce friction in customer workflows. AI-enabled data machine and distribution To enhance our ability to enrich our leading data offering and better monetise it, we are investing in our ‘data turbine’, from content ingestion through to data management and distribution – accelerated by AI and our partnership with a number of the world’s leading technology companies. Trusted to deliver services meeting business-critical needs Our long-standing heritage of playing a vital role in global financial markets remains at the core of what we do; our customers trust and rely on us to serve critical needs. Deep partnership with our customers Our level of relevance to our customers creates the opportunity for strong partnership. From developing our clearing houses to now building new products powered by AI, we partner with our customers to transform industries. Open ecosystem Interoperability is in our DNA. When other exchange groups focused on vertical integration of trading and clearing, we championed open access – and stay true to this philosophy today with our market infrastructure and our data. 11 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Progress in 2025 Priorities in 2026 Advancing our partnership with Microsoft, we launched a new Workspace Office Add-in and Workspace app in Teams. We continue to pilot GenAI tools in Workspace and delivered our first agentic workflows. Under our LSEG Everywhere strategy, we launched MCP infrastructure, giving customers enhanced connectivity and allowing them to create their own AI agents using LSEG data in Microsoft Copilot Studio. LSEG’s AI-ready content will also be accessible to licensed ChatGPT and Claude users via MCP. Other AI-driven distribution partnerships for our trusted data launched during 2025 include Rogo, Databricks and Snowflake, supporting our goal to make licensed LSEG data available wherever our customers are working. We are investing in products that improve liquidity in growing and less liquid asset classes. These include the new Private Securities Market and private company data partnerships with Nasdaq, Preqin and StepStone and the launch of the FTSE StepStone Global Private Market Indices. We have also facilitated the first trade on our Digital Markets Infrastructure platform. In our post trade business, we continued the strong pace of innovation, launching crypto derivatives clearing through DigitalAssetClear and Listed Rates UST futures with FMX, and streamlined ForexClear FX clearing and settlement by migrating to the CLS main session. In Risk Intelligence, we launched World-Check On Demand, providing continuous access to our leading screening platform in real time. The Global Account Verification Portal also expanded to EMEA and APAC, enabling customers to instantly verify bank accounts and International Bank Account Numbers across dozens of countries. Delivery of the 2026 LSEG-Microsoft Partnership roadmap remains a key priority and we are executing on our LSEG Everywhere strategy. Priorities for 2026 include: – Scaling Open Directory – a cross-firm communications tool and collaboration network within Microsoft Teams, enriched with LSEG’s data and analytics – Rolling out Workspace AI functionality at scale – Developing existing and new partnerships to expand LSEG Everywhere – Launching Model-as-a-Service, enabling customers to monetise proprietary models using LSEG infrastructure We will also continue to partner with clients to scale adoption of our new products and services in Markets, including: – Building critical mass of companies and investors on our Private Securities Market – Expanding deployment of our Digital Markets Infrastructure – Delivering on our vision for Post Trade Solutions, following the recent investment from global banks – Launching CNH clearing and settlement services with connectivity to OmniClear in Hong Kong Launching new products and creating new markets Execution priorities We completed the migration of around 350,000 users to our next-generation workflow tool, LSEG Workspace, sunsetting the legacy platform in the process. We re-platformed our trade routing network in Microsoft Azure, connecting 1,600 brokers and asset managers via the cloud. We also made substantial progress in migrating to software-defined networks, reducing device obsolescence by 80% while tripling capacity. We are increasingly embedding AI into our processes. For example, our AI-powered Question and Answer Service (QAS) is now being used in over 80% of all customer cases, enabling half of customer queries to be resolved within an hour. We are investing to enable scalable growth and embedding a product-led operating model. Priorities for 2026 include: – Re-platforming and scaling our real-time data network – Delivering our modernisation programmes across FTSE Russell and FX – Accelerating the transformation of our database estate to enable further multi-cloud content distribution Modernising our platforms and processes Our progress in 2025 and evolving priorities for 2026 and beyond Purpose and strategy continued 12 Strategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Progress in 2025 Priorities in 2026 Delivering reliably and resiliently for the markets and our customers We continue to migrate services to the cloud, including LCH’s core collateral management platform, enhancing scalability and resiliency. We have made enhancements in our Engineering platforms and improved risk management, which have reduced major incidents by 50%, while increasing release velocity by 25%. We are delivering resiliency improvements across the business through strengthened controls, process automation and a focus on risk culture. We continue to enhance the reliability of customer experience across our product suite. Priorities for 2026 include: – Ongoing migration of data and applications to Microsoft Azure, enhancing data onboarding and product delivery – Continued development and implementation of a unified revenue and billing platform Execution priorities Purpose and strategy continued Our progress in 2025 and evolving priorities for 2026 and beyond continued Improving operating leverage We continue to integrate our leading content and products with Workspace, offering customers a more seamless end-to-end experience. For example, customers can now access FXall, FTSE Russell indices and LCH data via Workspace. We have also consolidated our proprietary research and content across communities (LSEG Research and Insights) into Workspace. We are unifying and improving the customer experience. We continue to expand our collaboration with Tradeweb, including a new partnership between LCH RepoAgent and Tradeweb, to improve settlement efficiency in bilateral markets. We have further expanded FTSE Russell’s partnership with Tradeweb, including updating the price source for a number of our indices to Tradeweb. We are making the breadth of Data & Analytics products more accessible to our customers through a single commercial contract, LSEG Data Access (LDA). These agreements now account for 16% of D&A ASV (vs 9% in 2024). Our goal is to deliver the best value possible to our customers by offering our integrated products and solutions across the trade lifecycle and data value chain, underpinned by AI. Priorities for 2026 include: – Consolidating our relationships with more global financial institutions through long-term, strategic LDA partnerships – Improving monetisation of the strong growth in data consumption through LSEG Everywhere partnerships – Deepening our collaboration with Tradeweb, including integrating Tradeweb’s data and dealing platform into Workspace Monetising our integrated business We delivered 210bps of EBITDA margin expansion 1 , of which 110bps reflected underlying operational improvement. We continue to optimise staff costs, including through our engineering workforce in-sourcing programme: 60% of our engineers are now internal, compared to 49% in 2024. This progress is consistent with the wider Group, where the proportion of internal employees 2 has increased to 75% from 71% last year, driven by a reduction in external contractors from c. 11,000 to c. 9,200. We have realised efficiency gains from Zero-Based Budgeting for large components of our cost base and driven operating efficiencies from automation of content collection and ingestion. In addition, the Post Trade Solutions transaction described on page 27 improved the Group EBITDA margin by a further 100bps year-on-year. We will complete our objective of improving adjusted EBITDA margin by 250bps organically across the three years to 2026, or by 380bps including the benefit of the Post Trade Solutions transaction: – Optimising staff costs and reducing external headcount, as we transition to a product-led operating model, heading towards our target engineering resource mix of 80% internal – Scaling use of AI productivity tools to increase operational efficiency, particularly in Engineering, Operations, Sales and Marketing – Continuing to deliver our multi-cloud strategy 1 On constant currency basis. 2 Includes Tradeweb. 13 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() What we do We are a leading provider of financial markets infrastructure and data. We bring deep expertise across the financial markets value chain and effectively leverage innovative technologies and AI. Our business model G e o g r a p h i e s C h a n n e l s C u s t o m e r s A s s e t C l a s s e s D i v i s i o n s A P A C : 1 5 % G r o u p i n c o m e E M E A : 4 2 % G r o u p i n c o m e A m e r i c a s : 4 3 % G r o u p i n c o m e M a r k e t s R i s k I n t e l l i g e n c e F T S E R u s s e ll D a t a & A n a l y t i c s M u l t i - a s s e t c l a s s C o m m o d i t i e s a n d a l t e r n a t i v e s F X F i x e d i n c o m e E q u it i e s B a n k i n g a n d b r o k e r a g e B u y - s i d e a n d w e a l t h C o r p o r a t e a n d o t h e r O u r o  e r i n g s s p a n m u l t i p l e a s s e t c l a s s e s , a n d c a s h a n d d e r i v a t i v e s e n a b li n g d i s t r i b u t i o n o f o u r p r o d u c t s P a r t n e r s : s a l e s a n d s u p p o r t t h r o u g h p a r t n e r n e t w o r k L o w t o u c h : c e n t r a l h u b s e r v i c e m o d e l M i c r o s o f t : 1 0 - y e a r s t r a t e g i c p a r t n e r s h i p H i g h t o u c h : d e d i c a t e d i n - m a r k e t c o v e r a g e W e a r e d e v e l o p i n g o u r c h a n n e l s t o s e r v e c u s t o m e r s b e t t e r a n d b r o a d e n o u r r e a c h a d e d i c a t e d W e a r e p a r t n e r t o o u r c u s t o m e r s g l o b a l l y a c r o s s c o r p o r a t e c o m m u n it i e s a n d g r o w i n g f o o t p r i n t s e c t o r a n d h a v e a s i z e a b l e W e a r e a l e a d i n g p a r t n e r t o t h e fi n a n c i a l s e r v i c e s O u r f o u r d i v i s i o n s p r o v i d e p r o d u c t s a n d s e r v i c e s t h a t s p a n t h e t r a d e l i f e c y c l e 100m instruments covered byLSEG’s real-time data $523bn 2025 FX total ADV >43,000 customers served >1,700 partners 2 >60 locations globally $18.1tn 2025 FTSE Russell AUM $688tn total volume on Tradeweb in 2025 100 customers in the top 100 global banks 1 >33 petabytes of LSEG data is being made AI-ready >26,000 employees globally 1 Excluding Russian banks; top 100 banks by total assets. 2 D&A only. 14 Strategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Our business model continued How we are structured and the value we create Data value chain Serving financial services and new customer segments 1 Share of Group income excl. recoveries. Capital Formation and Issuance Pre-Trade and Liquidity Discovery Trade Execution Post-Trade and Capital Optimisation Data Sourcing Data Management and Transformation Models and Analytics Distribution Data & Analytics Delivers leading breadth and depth of trusted, high-quality data and actionable insights to inform, equip and support clients in their business- critical operations and decision-making. FTSE Russell Provides a leading range ofcategory-defining benchmarks and indices tosupport investors inmaking informed decisions, manage risk and capitalise on new investment opportunities. Risk Intelligence Provides clients with a comprehensive suite of trusted solutions that help them efficiently and effectively navigate risks including fraud, reputation, financial crime and compliance. Markets Partners with the market and its participants across the trade lifecycle, providing scalable, essential, trusted and resilient infrastructure and innovative solutions across asset classes and geographies. Income £4.0bn Share of Group income 44% 1 £1.0bn Share of Group income 11% 1 £0.6bn Share of Group income 6% 1 £3.5bn Share of Group income 39% 1 Revenue model Recurring 98% Transactional 2% Recurring 100% Recurring 78% Transactional 22% Transactional 59% Net Treasur y Income 7% Recurring 33% Other market participants include – Bloomberg – S&P Global – FactSet – S&P Global – MSCI – RELX – Dow Jones – Moody’s – MarketAxess – CBOE Global Markets – Deutsche Borse – CME We have a well defined and compelling value proposition across our divisions, which allows us to offer a seamlessly integrated end-to-end service that meets our clients’ business-critical needs across the increasingly interlinked trade lifecycle and data value chain. Trade lifecycle Serving customers pre-, at- and post-trade 15 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Key performance indicators (KPIs) 2025 financial KPIs Our core financial KPIs measure the rate and quality of growth, profitability and capital efficiency. Our performance continues to demonstrate the value we are delivering for both our customers and shareholders. These KPIs align with our Group Strategic Objectives (GSOs) which help determine Executive Director remuneration and performance-related pay for all employees. Further detail on the GSO performance assessment can be found in our Directors’ Remuneration Report on pages 82 to 103. 1 Organic constant currency income growth, excluding recoveries. 2 For more information on the criteria that constitute non-underlying items, see page 194. 3 Based on an equivalent perimeter of the Group as in 2023 and excluding the benefit from the Post Trade Solutions transaction. 4 To calculate capex intensity, we use cash capital expenditure, excluding sales commissions. Organic income growth 1 Annual Subscription Value (ASV) growth Adjusted EBITDA margin Adjusted earnings per share (AEPS) Capex intensity Definition Income growth, independent of FX movements and any impact from acquisitions or disposals. Definition A point-in-time measure of our book of recurring contracts compared to 12 months ago. Definition EBITDA – excluding non-underlying items 2 – over total income (excluding recoveries). Definition Earnings per share, adjusted to remove any non-underlying items. 2 Definition Capital expenditure 4 as a proportion of total income excluding recoveries. Why this is important for LSEG Income growth is a key measure of our success since we operate in growing markets and aim to hold or grow market share. For 2025, we guided to organic income growth (excluding recoveries) of 6.5-7.5%. Our medium-term guidance is to deliver mid-to-high single digit organic income growth annually. Why this is important for LSEG A high proportion of our revenues across Data & Analytics, FTSE Russell and Risk Intelligence are subscription-based with a high degree of visibility. ASV growth measures the year-on-year growth of that recurring book of business at a point in time. ASV growth has three key drivers: retention, new sales and price increases. Why this is important for LSEG We are building a more efficient, scalable business and expanding underlying profitability over time, demonstrating the intrinsic operating leverage of the Group. As we grow our revenue while modernising our technology infrastructure and streamlining our cost base, improving margin allows us to reinvest for future growth. For 2025, we guided to organic EBITDA margin expansion of 50–100bps on an organic constant currency basis. Why this is important for LSEG AEPS is a key financial metric that is both central to our market valuation and a significant element of employees’ performance-related remuneration. Growth in our AEPS reflects our degree of success in driving strong top-line performance, as well as managing costs including tax and interest, and capital allocation. Why this is important for LSEG In accordance with our guidance, our capex intensity has moderated as the majority of the Refinitiv integration investment has concluded. Capex is now focused on pursuing a wide range of growth initiatives. While we expect capex intensity to reduce further, any declines from here are likely to be incremental, as we intend to maintain the ratio at a high single-digit level to support continued growth and innovation. Performance We delivered organic income growth of 7.1% in 2025, successfully meeting our guidance. As expected, growth moderated from the prior year, reflecting a normalisation in both Tradeweb and FTSE Russell following their exceptionally strong performances in 2024. Data & Analytics continued to accelerate, supported by the completion of Eikon-to- Workspace migration, broader cloud distribution and the launch of our first jointly-developed solutions with Microsoft. Risk Intelligence delivered solid underlying growth underpinned by sustained client demand and ongoing product innovation. In Markets, we continued to expand into new markets and asset classes and captured the benefit of elevated volumes during the year. For 2026, our guidance for organic income growth is 6.5-7.5%. Performance We achieved ASV growth of 5.9% as of December 2025, reflecting a resilient performance and delivery on our commitment to reacceleration into year end. Modest deceleration versus the prior year partly reflected normalisation of growth in FTSE Russell and Risk Intelligence, and the impact of the UBS/Credit Suisse merger, which led to contract optimisation and reduced their contribution to Data & Analytics ASV. Usage-based revenue models are not captured within ASV and, as these models become increasingly adopted across our business, ASV may become a less comprehensive indicator of overall revenue performance over time. As our commercial model evolves, we expect to transition to a revised set of commercial KPIs in 2026 that provide a better forward-looking view of the business momentum. Performance Our 2025 adjusted EBITDA margin rose to 50.3%, up 150bps from last year. Excluding a 60bps FX headwind, margin increased by 210bps on a constant currency basis. Of the 210bps expansion, 100bps was achieved through the Post Trade Solutions transaction, and 110bps was delivered organically. This result exceeded all guidance provided throughout the year – 50–100bps announced in February 2025, increased to 75–100bps in July 2025, and subsequently raised to 100bps in October 2025. We remain confident in delivering on our guidance to increase adjusted EBITDA margin by c.250bps 3 across the three years to 2026, excluding the impact of M&A. In 2026, we are targeting a further +80- 100bps increase in adjusted EBITDA margin, supported by continuous efficiency improvements and operating leverage. Performance Adjusted earnings per share (AEPS) from continuing operations was 420.6 pence. The 15.7% increase in AEPS year-on-year was driven by a strong improvement in underlying profitability and the changes in the SwapClear revenue share agreement, partly offset by higher depreciation – reflecting our continued investment in technology and product – and higher tax expense and non-controlling interest as a result of Tradeweb’s continued growth. Share buybacks reduced the average share count in 2025, which acted as a tailwind for AEPS. Performance Capex intensity in 2025 was 10.2%, in line with our full-year 2025 guidance of around 10% and 110bps lower than in 2024, due to lower costs related to the Refinitiv integration and an improved investment control process. Cash capex in the year of £919 million reflected ongoing investment in key growth programmes. We have accelerated product innovation in our Workspace platform, investing in new, powerful capabilities in partnership with Microsoft, expanded and deepened our best-in-class data and analytics offering, and enhanced content and distribution capabilities of this data. We have also invested in platforms for future growth and launched new products in our Markets, FTSE Russell and Risk Intelligence businesses. In 2026, we are guiding to further capex intensity improvement to c. 9.5%. Organic income growth 1 ASV growth Adjusted EBITDA margin Adjusted earnings per share Capex intensity +7.1% +5.9% 50.3% 420.6p 10.2% 2024: +7.7% 2024: +6.3% 2024: 48.8% 2024: 363.5p 2024: 11.3% 2025 7.1% 2024 2023 7.1% 7.7 % 2025 2024 2023 6.7% 5.9% 6.3% 2025 2024 2023 47. 2% 50.3% 48.8% 2025 2024 2023 323.9p 420.6p 363.5p 2025 2024 2023 12.9% 10.2% 11.3% Link to strategic objectives Income growth is key in delivering our adjusted operating profit (AOP) targets, which carry a 60% weighting in determining annual performance-related pay. Link to strategic objectives ASV growth can be an indicator of future income growth. Delivery against Future Growth KPIs carries a 15% weighting in determining annual performance-related pay. Link to strategic objectives EBITDA margin performance is a key factor in determining Group AOP, while also aligning with our Efficiency objective. Link to strategic objectives Earnings per share growth is a reflection of profitability, linked to Group AOP and aligning with our Efficiency objective. Link to strategic objectives Falling capex intensity is a product of both accelerating growth and disciplined investment, in line with our Efficiency objective. 16 Strategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Organic income growth 1 Annual Subscription Value (ASV) growth Adjusted EBITDA margin Adjusted earnings per share (AEPS) Capex intensity Definition Income growth, independent of FX movements and any impact from acquisitions or disposals. Definition A point-in-time measure of our book of recurring contracts compared to 12 months ago. Definition EBITDA – excluding non-underlying items 2 – over total income (excluding recoveries). Definition Earnings per share, adjusted to remove any non-underlying items. 2 Definition Capital expenditure 4 as a proportion of total income excluding recoveries. Why this is important for LSEG Income growth is a key measure of our success since we operate in growing markets and aim to hold or grow market share. For 2025, we guided to organic income growth (excluding recoveries) of 6.5-7.5%. Our medium-term guidance is to deliver mid-to-high single digit organic income growth annually. Why this is important for LSEG A high proportion of our revenues across Data & Analytics, FTSE Russell and Risk Intelligence are subscription-based with a high degree of visibility. ASV growth measures the year-on-year growth of that recurring book of business at a point in time. ASV growth has three key drivers: retention, new sales and price increases. Why this is important for LSEG We are building a more efficient, scalable business and expanding underlying profitability over time, demonstrating the intrinsic operating leverage of the Group. As we grow our revenue while modernising our technology infrastructure and streamlining our cost base, improving margin allows us to reinvest for future growth. For 2025, we guided to organic EBITDA margin expansion of 50–100bps on an organic constant currency basis. Why this is important for LSEG AEPS is a key financial metric that is both central to our market valuation and a significant element of employees’ performance-related remuneration. Growth in our AEPS reflects our degree of success in driving strong top-line performance, as well as managing costs including tax and interest, and capital allocation. Why this is important for LSEG In accordance with our guidance, our capex intensity has moderated as the majority of the Refinitiv integration investment has concluded. Capex is now focused on pursuing a wide range of growth initiatives. While we expect capex intensity to reduce further, any declines from here are likely to be incremental, as we intend to maintain the ratio at a high single-digit level to support continued growth and innovation. Performance We delivered organic income growth of 7.1% in 2025, successfully meeting our guidance. As expected, growth moderated from the prior year, reflecting a normalisation in both Tradeweb and FTSE Russell following their exceptionally strong performances in 2024. Data & Analytics continued to accelerate, supported by the completion of Eikon-to- Workspace migration, broader cloud distribution and the launch of our first jointly-developed solutions with Microsoft. Risk Intelligence delivered solid underlying growth underpinned by sustained client demand and ongoing product innovation. In Markets, we continued to expand into new markets and asset classes and captured the benefit of elevated volumes during the year. For 2026, our guidance for organic income growth is 6.5-7.5%. Performance We achieved ASV growth of 5.9% as of December 2025, reflecting a resilient performance and delivery on our commitment to reacceleration into year end. Modest deceleration versus the prior year partly reflected normalisation of growth in FTSE Russell and Risk Intelligence, and the impact of the UBS/Credit Suisse merger, which led to contract optimisation and reduced their contribution to Data & Analytics ASV. Usage-based revenue models are not captured within ASV and, as these models become increasingly adopted across our business, ASV may become a less comprehensive indicator of overall revenue performance over time. As our commercial model evolves, we expect to transition to a revised set of commercial KPIs in 2026 that provide a better forward-looking view of the business momentum. Performance Our 2025 adjusted EBITDA margin rose to 50.3%, up 150bps from last year. Excluding a 60bps FX headwind, margin increased by 210bps on a constant currency basis. Of the 210bps expansion, 100bps was achieved through the Post Trade Solutions transaction, and 110bps was delivered organically. This result exceeded all guidance provided throughout the year – 50–100bps announced in February 2025, increased to 75–100bps in July 2025, and subsequently raised to 100bps in October 2025. We remain confident in delivering on our guidance to increase adjusted EBITDA margin by c.250bps 3 across the three years to 2026, excluding the impact of M&A. In 2026, we are targeting a further +80- 100bps increase in adjusted EBITDA margin, supported by continuous efficiency improvements and operating leverage. Performance Adjusted earnings per share (AEPS) from continuing operations was 420.6 pence. The 15.7% increase in AEPS year-on-year was driven by a strong improvement in underlying profitability and the changes in the SwapClear revenue share agreement, partly offset by higher depreciation – reflecting our continued investment in technology and product – and higher tax expense and non-controlling interest as a result of Tradeweb’s continued growth. Share buybacks reduced the average share count in 2025, which acted as a tailwind for AEPS. Performance Capex intensity in 2025 was 10.2%, in line with our full-year 2025 guidance of around 10% and 110bps lower than in 2024, due to lower costs related to the Refinitiv integration and an improved investment control process. Cash capex in the year of £919 million reflected ongoing investment in key growth programmes. We have accelerated product innovation in our Workspace platform, investing in new, powerful capabilities in partnership with Microsoft, expanded and deepened our best-in-class data and analytics offering, and enhanced content and distribution capabilities of this data. We have also invested in platforms for future growth and launched new products in our Markets, FTSE Russell and Risk Intelligence businesses. In 2026, we are guiding to further capex intensity improvement to c. 9.5%. Organic income growth 1 ASV growth Adjusted EBITDA margin Adjusted earnings per share Capex intensity +7.1% +5.9% 50.3% 420.6p 10.2% 2024: +7.7% 2024: +6.3% 2024: 48.8% 2024: 363.5p 2024: 11.3% 2025 2024 2023 6.7% 5.9% 6.3% 2025 2024 2023 47. 2% 50.3% 48.8% 2025 2024 2023 323.9p 420.6p 363.5p 2025 2024 2023 12.9% 10.2% 11.3% Link to strategic objectives Income growth is key in delivering our adjusted operating profit (AOP) targets, which carry a 60% weighting in determining annual performance-related pay. Link to strategic objectives ASV growth can be an indicator of future income growth. Delivery against Future Growth KPIs carries a 15% weighting in determining annual performance-related pay. Link to strategic objectives EBITDA margin performance is a key factor in determining Group AOP, while also aligning with our Efficiency objective. Link to strategic objectives Earnings per share growth is a reflection of profitability, linked to Group AOP and aligning with our Efficiency objective. Link to strategic objectives Falling capex intensity is a product of both accelerating growth and disciplined investment, in line with our Efficiency objective. Key performance indicators (KPIs) continued 17 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() 2025 non-financial KPIs We aim to be a strategic enabler and steward of sustainable economic growth, while cultivating an inclusive, high-performance culture and managing our impact on the environment. These five core non-financial KPIs measure our progress, but also help us highlight the areas where we can improve. These KPIs align with our Group Strategic Objectives (GSOs). Further detail on the GSO performance assessment can be found in our Directors’ Remuneration Report on pages 82 to 103. For more detail on LSEG’s sustainability approach, including Equity, Diversity and Inclusion goals, refer to the Sustainability section of this report on pages 37 to 46. Key performance indicators (KPIs) continued 1 Reduction of Scope 1, Scope 2 (market-based) and selected Scope 3 (business travel, colleague commuting and FERA) emissions vs a 2019 baseline. This metric applies to emissions in scope of our science-based targets. Employee engagement Gender diversity in leadership Ethnic diversity in leadership Sustainable issuers Greenhouse gas emissions Definition Employee engagement reflects employee responses to questions on overall satisfaction and likelihood to recommend LSEG as a place to work. Definition The proportion of female representation in senior leadership roles, which includes LSEG’s Executive Committee and Group Leaders. Definition The proportion of ethnically diverse representation in senior leadership roles, which includes LSEG’s Executive Committee and Group Leaders. Definition The total number of issuers across the Green Economy Mark, the Sustainable Bond Market and the Voluntary Carbon Market. Definition The percentage change in the greenhouse gas emissions arising from our business operations relative to a 2019 baseline. These emissions include Scope 1, Scope 2 (market-based) and Scope 3 (business travel, colleague commuting and fuel- and energy- related activities (FERA)). Why this is important for LSEG We recognise the importance of an engaged workplace and an inclusive high-performance culture, where opinions can be openly shared, contributions recognised, and individual and team achievements celebrated. Why this is important for LSEG We aim to build a global and diverse leadership team through merit-based processes, that help to attract, retain and promote a global, diverse pipeline of talent, in compliance with relevant laws. Why this is important for LSEG We aim to build a global and diverse leadership team through merit-based processes, that help to attract, retain and promote a global, diverse pipeline of talent, in compliance with relevant laws. Why this is important for LSEG Through our sustainable finance products, we support customers who want to invest in the green economy or raise capital to meet their sustainability objectives. One measure of our progress in this respect is the overall level of issuer engagement in sustainable finance across the London Stock Exchange, with the goal of growing the number of issuers over time. Why this is important for LSEG As a global organisation it is important to manage risks and opportunities arising from a changing climate. One way to mitigate risk is to reduce carbon emissions associated with our business operations. Performance Our overall engagement score remains stable at 74, consistent with last year. Over 20,000 colleagues (78%) shared feedback via LSEG Engage, a survey that offers colleagues the opportunity to provide feedback and improvement points on a range of topics. The survey revealed that most colleagues feel empowered and receive the support and feedback they need from their people leaders. Areas for improvement included better communicating LSEG’s strategy internally and a need for continuing focus on customer experience and process simplification. For more information, refer to the Sustainability section of this report on page 44. Performance At the end of 2025, the number of women in senior leadership stood at 36% (down from 41% in 2024). We remain committed to merit-based, inclusive hiring and progression at senior leadership level, tracking progress via tailored business unit action plans. For more information on gender diversity at LSEG, refer to page 45. Performance At the end of 2025, ethnic minority representation in senior leadership roles stood at 15% (down from 16% in 2024). We remain committed to merit-based, inclusive hiring and progression at senior leadership level, tracking progress via tailored business unit action plans. For more information on ethnic diversity at LSEG, refer to page 45. Performance At the end of the year, we had 243 total issuers across our Sustainable Bond Market and Voluntary Carbon Market or that display the Green Economy Mark. Together, the Green Economy Mark cohort raised a combined £635 million in 2025. This year also marked a significant milestone for the Sustainable Bond Market, which celebrated its 10th anniversary. Since its inception, the Sustainable Bond Market has helped raise $464 billion through 967 issuances issued by over 190 entities. Performance By the end of 2025, these greenhouse gas emissions had reduced 66% relative to the 2019 baseline year. These reductions were largely driven by operational efficiencies, green energy instruments, reduced business travel and improved data quality. Employee engagement score Gender diversity in leadership Ethnic diversity in leadership Sustainable issuers Reduction of Scope 1, Scope 2 (market- based) and selected Scope 3 (business travel, colleague commuting and FERA) 1 74 36% 15% 243 - 66% 2024: 74 2024: 41% 2024: 16% 2024: 235 2024: -54% 2025 2024 2023 75 74 74 2025 2024 2023 42% 36% 41% 2025 2024 2023 14% 15% 16% 2025 2024 2023 236 243 235 2025 2024 2023 -34% -66% -54% Link to strategic objectives Employee engagement aligns with our Culture objective: to leverage embedded values to drive an inclusive, high- performance culture. Link to strategic objectives This KPI aligns with our Culture objective. Link to strategic objectives This KPI aligns with our Culture objective. Link to strategic objectives This KPI aligns with our Sustainability objective. Link to strategic objectives This KPI aligns with our Sustainability objective. 18 Strategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Employee engagement Gender diversity in leadership Ethnic diversity in leadership Sustainable issuers Greenhouse gas emissions Definition Employee engagement reflects employee responses to questions on overall satisfaction and likelihood to recommend LSEG as a place to work. Definition The proportion of female representation in senior leadership roles, which includes LSEG’s Executive Committee and Group Leaders. Definition The proportion of ethnically diverse representation in senior leadership roles, which includes LSEG’s Executive Committee and Group Leaders. Definition The total number of issuers across the Green Economy Mark, the Sustainable Bond Market and the Voluntary Carbon Market. Definition The percentage change in the greenhouse gas emissions arising from our business operations relative to a 2019 baseline. These emissions include Scope 1, Scope 2 (market-based) and Scope 3 (business travel, colleague commuting and fuel- and energy- related activities (FERA)). Why this is important for LSEG We recognise the importance of an engaged workplace and an inclusive high-performance culture, where opinions can be openly shared, contributions recognised, and individual and team achievements celebrated. Why this is important for LSEG We aim to build a global and diverse leadership team through merit-based processes, that help to attract, retain and promote a global, diverse pipeline of talent, in compliance with relevant laws. Why this is important for LSEG We aim to build a global and diverse leadership team through merit-based processes, that help to attract, retain and promote a global, diverse pipeline of talent, in compliance with relevant laws. Why this is important for LSEG Through our sustainable finance products, we support customers who want to invest in the green economy or raise capital to meet their sustainability objectives. One measure of our progress in this respect is the overall level of issuer engagement in sustainable finance across the London Stock Exchange, with the goal of growing the number of issuers over time. Why this is important for LSEG As a global organisation it is important to manage risks and opportunities arising from a changing climate. One way to mitigate risk is to reduce carbon emissions associated with our business operations. Performance Our overall engagement score remains stable at 74, consistent with last year. Over 20,000 colleagues (78%) shared feedback via LSEG Engage, a survey that offers colleagues the opportunity to provide feedback and improvement points on a range of topics. The survey revealed that most colleagues feel empowered and receive the support and feedback they need from their people leaders. Areas for improvement included better communicating LSEG’s strategy internally and a need for continuing focus on customer experience and process simplification. For more information, refer to the Sustainability section of this report on page 44. Performance At the end of 2025, the number of women in senior leadership stood at 36% (down from 41% in 2024). We remain committed to merit-based, inclusive hiring and progression at senior leadership level, tracking progress via tailored business unit action plans. For more information on gender diversity at LSEG, refer to page 45. Performance At the end of 2025, ethnic minority representation in senior leadership roles stood at 15% (down from 16% in 2024). We remain committed to merit-based, inclusive hiring and progression at senior leadership level, tracking progress via tailored business unit action plans. For more information on ethnic diversity at LSEG, refer to page 45. Performance At the end of the year, we had 243 total issuers across our Sustainable Bond Market and Voluntary Carbon Market or that display the Green Economy Mark. Together, the Green Economy Mark cohort raised a combined £635 million in 2025. This year also marked a significant milestone for the Sustainable Bond Market, which celebrated its 10th anniversary. Since its inception, the Sustainable Bond Market has helped raise $464 billion through 967 issuances issued by over 190 entities. Performance By the end of 2025, these greenhouse gas emissions had reduced 66% relative to the 2019 baseline year. These reductions were largely driven by operational efficiencies, green energy instruments, reduced business travel and improved data quality. Employee engagement score Gender diversity in leadership Ethnic diversity in leadership Sustainable issuers Reduction of Scope 1, Scope 2 (market- based) and selected Scope 3 (business travel, colleague commuting and FERA) 1 74 36% 15% 243 - 66% 2024: 74 2024: 41% 2024: 16% 2024: 235 2024: -54% 2025 2024 2023 42% 36% 41% 2025 2024 2023 14% 15% 16% 2025 2024 2023 236 243 235 2025 2024 2023 -34% -66% -54% Link to strategic objectives Employee engagement aligns with our Culture objective: to leverage embedded values to drive an inclusive, high- performance culture. Link to strategic objectives This KPI aligns with our Culture objective. Link to strategic objectives This KPI aligns with our Culture objective. Link to strategic objectives This KPI aligns with our Sustainability objective. Link to strategic objectives This KPI aligns with our Sustainability objective. Key performance indicators (KPIs) continued 19 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Analytics £231m 6% Revenue profile 1 Revenue split Data & Feeds £1,822m 46% Workflows £1,925m 48% Recurring 98% Transactional 2% Divisional review Data & Analytics Data & Analytics delivered another strong year in 2025, as sustained investment in product innovation and platform modernisation continued to accelerate growth across all three businesses. During the year, we completed the successful retirement of Eikon and migration of around 350,000 users to Workspace, establishing a modern, modular environment that enables faster delivery of new functionality and deeper customer engagement. We also broadened cloud- based distribution of our data and analytics, with customers increasingly consuming large-scale datasets, such as Tick History, via cloud channels. In parallel, we delivered the first wave of solutions under our strategic partnership with Microsoft. Gianluca Biagini and Ron Lefferts Co-Heads of Data & Analytics In 2025, leadership of the Data & Analytics division transitioned to a new co-head structure, with Gianluca Biagini and Ron Lefferts appointed to jointly lead the business. Gianluca joined from S&P Global, bringing extensive experience in data, valuations and analytics, while Ron moved from his role leading LSEG’s global sales organisation. Both report to David Schwimmer and are members of the Executive Committee. Our Data & Analytics business helps customers unlock critical insights through our data feeds, analytics, workflow and AI solutions. The breadth, depth and reliability of our content empower users to make informed decisions, uncover opportunities and drive efficiency across their operations. We serve a global customer base spanning the world’s largest financial institutions, investment banks, traders, asset managers and corporates, across all major asset classes including FX, commodities, fixed income, equities and derivatives. The division comprises three business areas, each addressing different customer needs: Workflows User-facing end-to-end workflows platform, banking, investment management and wealth communities, providing seamless access to trusted data, analytics and AI tools through an open, interoperable architecture. Structural market trends driving growth: – Continued electronification and demand for integrated, end-to-end workflow solutions – Rapid adoption of AI and cloud-based collaboration tools – Increasing demand for trusted data and insights Performance +3.1% organic revenue growth, supported by continued Workspace upgrades and deeper customer engagement. Key milestones included the launch of Excel and PowerPoint add-ins and the introduction of the Workspace app for Microsoft Teams, improving productivity and collaboration. We also began rolling out Open Directory, a secure collaboration network embedded in the Microsoft Teams app, to selected FX and Commodities communities. Growth was partly offset by contract optimisation following the UBS-Credit Suisse merger, but underlying momentum remains strong. Data & Feeds Serving the full spectrum of business-critical data needs across asset classes, delivery speeds (latencies) and channels, including real-time data and news, text, reference and legal entity information, now enhanced with cloud-enabled distribution and AI-ready formats for seamless integration into customers’ ways of working. Structural market trends driving growth: – Rising demand for trusted, auditable data across front, middle and back-office applications – Growing adoption of cloud-based delivery for easier access, scalability and integration, as customers seek to simplify data management and reduce cost – High growth in back-tested and algorithmic trading strategies, requiring significant data history and analysis of multiple data sets Performance +6.6% organic revenue growth, underpinned by strong demand for real-time data and continued expansion of cloud delivery. Customers increasingly accessed historical datasets such as Tick History via the cloud, while Pricing & Reference Services (PRS) extended its reach with broader fixed income coverage and enhanced distribution. Partnerships with AI-native platforms, including Databricks, Claude and Microsoft Copilot, supported early adoption of AI-driven use cases. Analytics Provides cross-asset models and analytics solutions for a wide range of customer needs, including risk management, regulatory and historical analysis. Key offerings include Yield Book fixed income, Lipper fund performance, private credit analytics and StarMine sentiment analysis, now enhanced with AI-powered tools and API-based delivery. 20 Strategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Structural market trends driving growth: – Rapid adoption of AI-driven analytics leveraging trusted deterministic asset class specialist models – Cloud-native distribution and interoperability across platforms – from no analytics experience to developer environments – Increasing demand for higher-quality insight from data for use in building strategies and models Performance +7.7% organic revenue growth, driven by continued strength in Yield Book, LPC and Lipper, supported by adoption of the Analytics API and introduction of new proprietary LSEG models. We expanded distribution through partnerships with Databricks, Claude and Snowflake, enabling AI-driven use cases, and introduced Model-as-a-Service, allowing customers to deploy custom models at scale. 2025 highlights Eikon migration to Workspace In 2025, LSEG completed a major platform migration, retiring the Eikon desktop and transitioning c. 350,000 users to Workspace. This multi-year programme consolidated fragmented workflows into a modern, modular platform designed for speed, interoperability and innovation. The migration was executed smoothly, supported by extensive customer engagement and enhanced onboarding. Workspace now serves as the central hub for trading, banking and investment workflows. It provides access to trusted data, insights and news, AI-powered analytics and collaboration features, with full Microsoft 365 interoperability. Customer engagement has surged, with trading users increasing desktop application usage by 40% year-on-year. This milestone not only simplifies user experience but also accelerates our ability to deliver continuous enhancements, positioning Workspace as the future central hub for LSEG’s broader offering. Delivering innovation through the Microsoft Partnership 2025 marked a turning point in our strategic collaboration with Microsoft, as we moved from product ideation to delivery. We launched Workspace integrations with Microsoft 365, including Excel and PowerPoint add-ins and the Workspace app for Teams, enabling seamless interoperability between financial workflows and enterprise productivity tools. These integrations have significantly improved user productivity, allowing customers to combine LSEG’s trusted data with familiar Microsoft environments. We also introduced Open Directory, a secure collaboration network built on Microsoft Teams, enabling compliant, cross-organisation communication – and we opened new channels by enabling access through our Analytics API into the Microsoft PowerPlatform and Divisional review continued Data & Analytics continued VisualStudio Code environment. We also integrated LSEG’s trusted data into Microsoft Copilot Studio, giving customers the ability to create custom AI agents and agentic workflows that streamline decision-making and automate tasks. In trading, we re- platformed Autex Trade Routing on Azure, creating a first-of-its-kind cloud solution for 1,600 investment firms and brokers, delivering greater speed, resilience and scalability. Alongside these launches, we advanced our Data-as-a-Service platform, adding highly used datasets such as Company Fundamentals, covering over 100,000 companies. These innovations represent just the first wave of delivery under our partnership, with more to come in 2026. LSEG Everywhere Delivering trusted data wherever customers work is the goal of our LSEG Everywhere strategy. As AI adoption accelerates and workflows become increasingly distributed, customers need seamless access to authoritative content across various environments. This is enabled by the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open standard that lets AI agents access LSEG’s high-quality, structured data safely and consistently across platforms, embedding our content directly into customer workflows. Building on this, we launched a series of partnerships that extend our reach beyond traditional channels. Databricks enables customers to build and deploy AI agents powered by LSEG’s auditable data, while Rogo integrates our content into intelligent applications for investment banking workflows. Through Snowflake, customers can embed our datasets into Cortex AI tools, and integration with Microsoft Copilot Studio brings our trusted data into productivity and agentic AI solutions. Most recently, our collaboration with Anthropic makes LSEG’s licensed AI-ready content available to Claude for Financial Services, and our work with OpenAI extends this access to ChatGPT users, enabling secure, enterprise-grade AI workflows. Alongside these partnerships, we expanded multi-cloud distribution via AWS, Azure and Google, offering flexibility and choice to our customers. Together, these initiatives position LSEG as a key enabler of AI-driven workflows, ensuring our data and analytics are accessible across every major consumption layer, from Workspace to APIs and third-party platforms. Alongside these milestones, our new LSEG Everywhere strategy extended access to trusted data across new AI-native environments, positioning us as a key enabler of AI-driven workflows and setting the stage for continued momentum into 2026. 1 Data & Analytics recurring vs transactional revenue profile includes recoveries. Performance commentary growth rates are provided on an organic constant currency basis. 21 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Revenue profile Revenue split Asset- based fees £324m 34% Subscriptions £630m 66% Recurring 100% FTSE Russell continued to advance its position as a leading global index and benchmark provider, supported by favourable structural tailwinds and continued momentum across our diversified index and benchmarking franchise. Growth was underpinned by ongoing expansion of passive investing, steady demand for high-quality benchmark solutions and rising interest in private markets. We further strengthened our position through targeted innovation and strategic partnerships, delivering new capabilities across private assets, sustainability and equity index operations, thus supporting our customers in a rapidly evolving investment landscape. Fiona Bassett Head of FTSE Russell Divisional review FTSE Russell FTSE Russell provides a comprehensive suite of index and benchmark solutions designed to help investors measure performance with precision and maintain consistency across investment strategies and asset allocation decisions. Structural market trends driving growth: – Expansion of passive investment strategies – Rising demand for customised and thematic index solutions – Growing interest in benchmarks for private markets Performance +7.3% organic revenue growth, reflecting strong subscription and asset-based revenue performance. Subscription growth was driven by sustained demand for flagship equity indices and increasing adoption of custom solutions, while asset-based revenues benefited from robust ETF inflows and favourable market conditions, with AUM reaching record highs. Performance remained resilient despite a quieter year for mandate renewals, which limited price realisation. We drove additional growth through innovation in private markets and sustainability-linked benchmarks. 2025 highlights Partnering with StepStone to advance private markets benchmarking In 2025, FTSE Russell entered into a strategic partnership with StepStone to strengthen our capabilities in the fast-growing private markets segment. The collaboration brings together FTSE Russell’s index engineering and governance expertise with StepStone’s proprietary, institutional-grade private markets dataset to address the industry’s long-standing need for more timely and transparent performance measures. The launch of StepStone Global Private Market Indices marked a major milestone, delivering the industry’s first daily private market benchmarks and enabling investors to monitor trends with greater agility compared to traditional quarterly measures. These indices also establish a foundation for future index- tracking investment products and represent the first phase of a broader roadmap, with further indices and advanced analytical tools planned for 2026. Expanding our global ESG benchmarking with the FTSE Blossom World Index Series We strengthened our sustainable investment offering with the launch of the FTSE Blossom World Index Series, developed in response to growing client demand for transparent and globally consistent ESG benchmarks. Building on the strong adoption of the FTSE Blossom Japan Index, the new indices extend coverage to the US, Europe and APAC, using FTSERussell’s proprietary ESG Data Model to identify companies demonstrating robust ESG practices. With industry-neutral construction and limited exclusions, the series provides a broad market exposure while enabling integration of ESG considerations into equity strategies. Modernising the Russell US Indexes with a semi-annual reconstitution We took an important step in 2025 to modernise our flagship US equity benchmarks, announcing the transition of the Russell US Indexes to a semi-annual reconstitution schedule from 2026. The change reflects our commitment to maintaining timely and representative measures of the US equity market. Following extensive market consultation and analysis, we began implementing key operational enhancements in 2025, including improved free-float methodology, upgraded index operations, and new client tools such as the Russell Monitor List and Enhanced Indicative Review. A parallel test run completed in November 2025 validated readiness ahead of the first reconstitution, supporting a smooth transition and continued benchmark integrity. Performance commentary growth rates are provided on an organic constant currency basis. 22 Strategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Revenue profile Revenue split Risk intelligence £579m 100% Recurring 78% Transactional 22% Divisional review Risk Intelligence 2025 was a year of strong progress for Risk Intelligence, as we continued to deliver trusted compliance and fraud prevention solutions in an environment of rising regulatory complexity and digital risk. Demand for World-Check remained strong, and we enhanced our offering with low-latency, cloud-native solutions. Our Digital Identity and Fraud portfolio achieved double-digit growth, driven by the global increase in digital transactions and cross-border payments. Taken together, we helped customers meet regulatory obligations and manage risk with confidence, underscoring our role as their trusted partner. David Wilson Head of Risk Intelligence Within Risk Intelligence, our solutions enable regulated institutions and corporates to meet Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Third Party (KY3P) obligations, perform due diligence, and mitigate identity and payment fraud risks. Structural market trends driving growth: – Heightened focus on reputational risk – Accelerating digitalisation and adoption of digital currencies – Proliferation of online fraud – Evolving regulatory requirements Performance +11.7% organic revenue growth, driven by sustained demand for our World-Check screening solutions and strong uptake of digital identity and fraud services, with over 500 million transactions verified this year. Growth was supported by innovation, including the launch of World-Check On Demand and World-Check Verify, alongside the expansion of Global Account Verification (GAV) to new geographies. Performance was partially offset by continued weakness in our due diligence business. 2025 highlights Transforming screening with real-time intelligence Risk Intelligence made important progress this year in delivering real-time, integrated compliance solutions with two major innovations expanding the World-Check portfolio. World-Check On Demand introduced a new standard for how risk intelligence is created and delivered, providing continuously updated sanctions, politically exposed persons (PEPs), adverse media and enforcement data through a flexible API. By giving institutions instant access to trusted, precise intelligence, the solution helps accelerate onboarding, reduce false positives and address operational bottlenecks, often highlighted by customers in our global risk studies. We also introduced World-Check Verify, a next-generation, cloud-native screening API developed in partnership with AWS. The solution performs real-time, automated checks against World-Check risk data at the exact moment a payment or onboarding event occurs, verifying names and entities with low latency and high accuracy. Purpose-built for modern, digital payment environments, it embeds secure screening directly into transaction and onboarding workflows, ensuring compliance runs seamlessly in the background without slowing down the customer experience. Together, these innovations demonstrate LSEG’s deep expertise in combining trusted, AI-enabled data with real-time architecture to deliver market-leading compliance solutions. Strengthening payment security with Global Account Verification (GAV) In 2025, we expanded our trusted payments capabilities with the launch of Global Account Verification (GAV) across APAC and EMEA, following its initial roll-out in the US. GAV facilitates real-time validation of bank accounts and ownership across 43 countries, helping organisations confirm their payee details match before a transfer is executed. Delivered via API, GAV integrates directly into client systems, enabling greater efficiency and strengthening organisations’ ability to shield their customers from increasingly sophisticated fraud attempts. Performance commentary growth rates are provided on an organic constant currency basis. 23 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() £272m (8%) £257m (7%) £413m (12%) £1,538m (44%) Recurring 33% Revenue profile Revenue split Net Treasury Income 7% Transactional 59% £117m (3%) £641m (18%) £229m (7%) ■ Equities ■ Fixed Income, Derivatives & Other ■ FX ■ OTC Derivatives ■ Securities & Reporting ■ Non-Cash Collateral ■ Net Treasury Income Divisional review Markets We delivered another strong performance this year in Markets, with positive growth and new product launches across all business lines. We have continued to support customers with new trading functionality and tools, and have taken substantial steps in expanding the funding continuum with the launch of the Private Securities Market and our Digital Markets Infrastructure platform. Within our post trade businesses, we have continued to innovate, expanding into new markets and asset classes. This, together with the growth in our CDSClear and ForexClear businesses as well as the strengthening of our partnership with major customers in Post Trade Solutions and SwapClear, gives us an excellent platform for further long-term growth. Daniel Maguire Head of LSEG Markets and CEO,LCH Group We help customers across the trade lifecycle optimise their financial resource consumption and risk, manage their regulatory reporting obligations, and reduce operational complexity and cost. We provide access to diverse liquidity pools across multiple asset classes – equities, fixed income, exchange-traded funds and products, and foreign exchange – fostering growth for customers, communities and economies worldwide. We are home to several capital formation and execution venues: the London Stock Exchange, AIM, Turquoise, FXall, FX Matching and Tradeweb. LSEG Markets combines these flagship trading services with our global, highly important, multi-asset class clearing infrastructure. The division is split across the seven sub-businesses described below: Equities Capital raising and trading on the LondonStock Exchange, including equity and debt capital markets. A trusted long-term partner to the market and the number one exchange, by capital raised, in Europe. In addition, Turquoise, the Group’s multilateral trading facility (MTF), provides access to broader multi-asset trading across global markets. Structural market trends driving growth: – Expanding economies – Growing demand for growth capital – Pipeline of private equity-backed businesses seeking next stage of investment Performance +5.1% organic revenue growth driven by growth in equity transaction volumes and data revenues. We have continued to expand the funding continuum, launching a new Private Securities Market and conducting the first private funds transaction on our Digital Markets Infrastructure (DMI). Fixed Income, Derivatives & Other Electronic marketplaces for rates, credit, equities and money markets products, built and operated through Tradeweb. Structural market trends driving growth: – Electronification of fixed income markets – Expanding global markets Performance: +13.7% organic revenue growth. Average daily volume across all asset classes was $2.6 trillion, a 17% increase on 2024, representing strong market activity across Tradeweb’s global asset classes, enhanced by its innovative trading protocols. FX A market leader in dealer-to-client and dealer-to-dealer FX trading, providing electronic trading, workflow and data to the institutional foreign exchange community through FXall and FX Matching. Structural market trends driving growth: – Access to liquidity – Cross-border trading and business globalisation Performance: +7.5% organic revenue growth with both platforms, FXall, our dealer-to-client platform, and FX Matching, our dealer-to-dealer platform, seeing growth in the year from product enhancements, including integrating FXall into LSEG Workspace, new strategic customers and greater volumes driven by higher volatility in the market. OTC Derivatives Clearing and capital optimisation solutions for OTC derivatives, including interest rate swaps, foreign exchange and credit default swaps. The largest of these services is SwapClear, which is responsible for over 90% of the interest rate swap notional cleared globally. 24 Strategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Divisional review continued Markets continued Structural market trends driving growth: – Increasing regulation – Heightened market volatility – Rising demand for risk management and capital optimisation solutions Performance +11.6% organic revenue growth driven by innovation, including new forward clearing capabilities in ForexClear, the international expansion of CDSClear, and greater clearing activity as a result of the higher volatility stemming from the macroeconomic environment. Securities & Reporting Securities clearing, capital optimisation and regulatory reporting solutions. Structural market trends driving growth: – Increasing regulation – Rising demand for risk management and capital optimisation solutions – Growing debt issuance Performance -3.0% organic revenue growth with RepoClear continuing to perform well, delivering strong volume growth in fixed income clearing. This was offset by the impact of the termination of the Euronext clearing agreement, with the headwind ending in the third quarter of 2025. Non-Cash Collateral Fees earned from handling non-cash collateral balances. Performance +5.2% organic revenue growth as clearing members optimised their collateral positions from cash to non-cash. Net Treasury Income (NTI) Income earned on cash deposited with LCH as margin and default funds as part of the risk management process. Performance -2.6% organic revenue growth, reflecting lower overall collateral balances, down by 1.5%, as a result of the loss of collateral balances linked to the Euronext migration as well as collateral optimisation by customers. 2025 highlights Strengthening our partnership and strategic alignment with key customers in post trade We announced a significant transaction in our post trade business, with 11 leading global banks acquiring a 20% stake in Post Trade Solutions, replicating the original, highly successful LCH model. By bringing major industry participants closer to the business and giving them a role in shaping its future, we are creating aligned incentives for adoption and long-term growth. This initiative builds on the strong momentum of Post Trade Solutions, supported by double-digit volume growth across the solutions suite and the ongoing expansion of our global network. In parallel, we enhanced our revenue-sharing arrangements within SwapClear, extending the agreement with partner banks by 10 years and increasing our share of the economics. These changes strengthen and deepen our strategic alignment with major customers and give us a great platform for further, long-term growth and product adoption, while delivering attractive margin and earnings enhancement. Building next-generation infrastructure for digital markets We launched our Digital Markets Infrastructure (DMI) platform in September, marking a major step in our ambition to be the first global exchange group helping customers across the full funding continuum. Developed in collaboration with Microsoft and powered by Azure, DMI uses blockchain technology to deliver efficiencies across the full asset lifecycle, across multiple asset classes. We have conducted the first private funds transaction on this infrastructure, supporting private funds to raise capital using distributed ledger technology, and we continue to collaborate with Microsoft to develop and scale the platform, including the addition of further asset classes. Expanding access to capital for private businesses with Private Securities Market This year marked an important step forward in broadening access to the UK’s capital markets with the launch of the London Stock Exchange’s Private Securities Market. As the first operator to receive a PISCES Approval Notice from the FCA, we are establishing a regulated venue where private companies can access intermittent liquidity auctions for the first time, supported by the same resilient infrastructure that underpins our public markets. The market is designed around the needs of private companies, offering flexibility over auction timing, as well as investor participation and disclosures through our dedicated portal. By creating a transparent and efficient mechanism for founders, employees and early investors to access liquidity, and by enabling institutions to engage with high-growth private businesses, this initiative strengthens the UK’s funding continuum and expands the options available to the next generation of innovative companies. Market volatility driven by macroeconomic events is an important underlying driver of business performance and we have been successful in capturing the upside of higher trading and clearing volumes this year. Performance commentary growth rates are provided on an organic constant currency basis. 25 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Chief Financial Officer’s review I am very satisfied with the strong progress the business is making, supported by continued improvement in our investment and capital allocation processes, as well as the delivery of significant operating leverage. Michel-Alain Proch Chief Financial Officer 2025 performance LSEG continued its consistent and strong performance in 2025. Reported growth in total income excluding recoveries was 5.8%, and 7.1% on an organic, constant currency basis. Our subscription businesses (Data & Analytics, FTSE Russell and Risk Intelligence) were up 6.0%. Reported EBITDA grew by 10.6% to £4,365 million. On a constant currency basis, we delivered a 210bps EBITDA margin improvement, or 110bps excluding the benefit of the Post Trade Solutions transaction described below, and brought our capex intensity down from 11.3% to 10.2%, as guided. Free cash flow of £2.4 billion allowed us to grow the dividend by 15.4%, execute £2.1 billion of share buybacks and invest £717 million in the Post Trade transaction while still keeping leverage below the middle of our target range. Adjusted earnings per share grew 15.7% to 420.6 pence, driven by robust income growth and continued improvement in underlying profitability. Basic earnings per share increased 85.1% to 238.4 pence, benefitting from reduced amortisation and impairment charges. Share buybacks completed over the last 12 months provided an additional boost to both adjusted and reported EPS. More detail on our financial performance can be found in our financial review from page 28. Key features of our financial delivery In last year’s annual report we wrote about the opportunities to create a more profitable LSEG, with more of our strong revenue growth being translated into earnings and cash flow over time. We have improved operating leverage significantly, and we now have in place a much more rigorous and data-driven process for allocating investment. In addition, the broader Finance function is adding increasing value in areas such as Treasury and Corporate Development, as well as Procurement. I will touch on each of these below. Operating leverage: last year we put in place reinforced cost control through process and discipline, to drive margin improvement mainly through two overarching principles. The first is the labour cost equation – this is the cost of our own staff plus our external contractors. The opportunity here is to have the total of these two costs decreasing as a percentage of income over time. We are successfully driving this through a combination of two levers. First, we are insourcing within Engineering, a programme led by Irfan Hussain, our CIO. This enhances our engineering expertise and builds a strong product culture, while also driving efficiencies as typically, our own employees are more productive. In 2025, we reduced our total engineering headcount from 15,101 to 14,244 and increased the insourced mix to 60% from 49%. We have more to go from here, with a final target of 80% insourced. Second, we are optimising the mix of our resources between our high-cost locations and our global delivery and excellence centres, while delayering across the organisation. The second principle is the opportunity to operate more efficiently and effectively across our strategic programmes to ensure that we are running fewer, bigger programmes, with impact on growth and opex, and clearer prioritisation of capex over time. The Group Investment Committee, which we introduced last year and which is co-chaired by David Schwimmer and me, meets on a fortnightly basis to review all the major projects under way across the Group, which amounted to £919 million of investment spend in 2025. New enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform: during 2025, we successfully commenced the implementation of our new Oracle Cloud ERP, consolidating our legacy ERP and performance management systems across the Group. This will significantly streamline the financial planning and reporting process, driving improved and faster insights. We expect to complete this programme in 2027. Refinancing and liability management: we continued to take an active role in debt capital markets, effectively managing finance costs while diversifying our sources of funding. Earlier in the year, we completed another bond tender offer, buying back $250 million of our 2031 $1.25 billion bond, which generated a positive net present value and reduced our net finance expense. To further diversify the Group’s debt investor base, LSEG issued its maiden Swiss franc bond and accessed the Japanese yen private placement market for the first time. Combined with additional bond issuances in sterling and euro, the Group raised a total of £1,689 million of new long-term debt in 2025. Post Trade Solutions investment and SwapClear profit share arrangements: this transaction, described in more detail below, is the culmination of several years of planning, partnership and thoughtful financial structuring, coordinated by our Group Corporate Development team. The outcome is beneficial to all parties: our partner banks have aligned their interests with us in the success and direction of Post Trade Solutions, which will enhance its growth and market opportunity; LSEG will benefit from a greater share of SwapClear revenue surplus over the next This section includes references to adjusted performance measures that better reflect the underlying performance of our business (e.g.,equityfree cash flow). For more information on these measures – refer to page 194. 26 Strategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Chief Financial Officer’s review continued 10 years, with clear financial benefits for our shareholders; and the extension of these financial arrangements for a further 10 years, until 2045, ensures continued strategic alignment with our partner banks. 2026 guidance We are confident of further growth and improvement in our EBITDA margin in 2026, leading to strong growth in equity free cash flow. Financial guidance for 2026 is as follows: – Organic constant currency growth in total income excluding recoveries of 6.5-7.5% including an acceleration in our subscription divisions’ organic growth – An improvement in constant currency EBITDA margin of +80-100 bps – Capex intensity of c. 9.5% of total income excluding recoveries – Equity free cash flow of at least £2.7 billion, based on foreign exchange rates of £1 = $1.32 and €1.17 – Underlying effective tax rate of 24-25% Capital allocation Our goal is to invest for growth using the cash we generate, building a platform for long-term value creation while rewarding investors today through a progressive dividend, growing broadly in line with AEPS. We allocate capital within appropriate leverage bounds for our earnings profile, with a target leverage range of 1.5–2.5x operating net debt to adjusted EBITDA before foreign exchange gains and losses. Our intention is to maintain business-as-usual leverage around the middle of this range. Leverage at the end of December 2025 was 1.8x (December 2024: 1.7x). LSEG generated £2.4 billion of equity free cash flow after having invested £919 million in capex. Total capex intensity (as a percentage of total income excluding recoveries) was 10.2%, 110 bps lower than 2024 and in line with our guidance. Key growth programmes ongoing during 2025 included continued enhancements to Workspace, product development with Microsoft across our Data & Analytics portfolio, investment in AI-ready data including the development of Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers, ongoing Post Trade Solutions innovation and continued investment in Tradeweb. Meanwhile integration costs from acquisitions fell, as planned. During the year, we allocated capital as follows: Acquisitions and disposals – £717 million In October, we announced that 11 leading global banks had agreed to invest in PostTrade Solutions, taking a 20% stake for cash consideration of £170 million. These banks are major customers of LSEG’s clearing services and Post Trade Solutions business. This initiative continues the strong history of strategic partnership with LSEG and market participants, replicating the original LCH model that continues to prove so successful for LCH and its customers. At the same time, we acquired an increased proportion of the revenue surplus from the SwapClear business, while extending the revenue surplus sharing arrangements with the majority of founding members by a further 10 years to 2045. We will pay a total cash consideration of £1.2 billion for this change in terms, payable in two instalments, in 2025 (£0.9 billion) and 2026 (£0.25 billion). The transaction overall is very attractive both strategically and financially, immediately improving Group EBITDA margin by 100bps, and being 2-3% enhancing to Adjusted EPS in 2025. Dividend – £718 million The total cash outflow for the year was £718 million, comprising the 2024 final dividend and the 2025 interim dividend. The proposed final dividend for 2025, subject to shareholder approval, is 103.0 pence – giving a total for the year of 150.0 pence, up 15.4% on 2024. This is consistent with our dividend policy and reflects a payout ratio of 35.7% of AEPS, in line with our range of 33-40%. Dividends per share have grown at a compound annual rate of 17% over the last 20 years. Share buyback – £2.1 billion We remain very focused on capital discipline and will, from time to time, return excess capital to shareholders to the extent that we stay within our target leverage range. We returned £2.1 billion to shareholders via share repurchases in 2025 at an average price of £93.44. We plan to complete a further £3 billion of share buybacks over the 12 months to February 2027. Michel-Alain Proch Chief Financial Officer Growth in adjusted operating profit (on organic, constant currency basis) +14.3% 2024: +9.0% Adjusted EBITDA margin 50.3% 2024: 48.8% Leverage at year-end 1.8x 2024: 1.7x Net investment in Post Trade Solutions transaction in 2025 £0.7bn 27 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() (All growth rates are expressed on an organic constant currency basis, unless otherwise stated). Reported 2025 £m 2024 £m Variance % Constant currency variance % Organic constant currency variance % Data & Analytics 1 3,978 3,859 3.1% 5.0% 5.0% FTSE Russell 1 954 911 4.7% 7.3% 7.3% Risk Intelligence 579 531 9.0% 11.2% 11.7% Markets 1,2 3,467 3,180 9.0% 10.4% 8.9% Other 8 13 (38.5%) (35.6%) (35.6%) Total income (excl. recoveries) 8,986 8,494 5.8% 7.6% 7.1% Recoveries 3 360 364 (1.1%) 1.0% 1.0% Total income (incl. recoveries) 9,346 8,858 5.5% 7.3% 6.8% Cost of sales (1,113) (1,173) (5.1%) (2.7%) (2.7%) Gross profit 8,233 7,685 7.1% 8.8% 8.2% Reported EBITDA 4,365 3,945 10.6% Operating profit 2,127 1,463 45.4% Profit before tax 1,969 1,258 56.5% Basic earnings per share 4 (p) 238.4 128.8 85.1% Dividends per share (p) 150.0 130.0 15.4% Adjusted 5 Operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation and impairment (3,711) (3,560) 4.2% 4.2% 3.5% EBITDA 4,523 4,148 9.0% 12.3% 11.8% EBITDA margin 50.3% 48.8% Depreciation, amortisation and impairment (1,017) (983) 3.5% 4.5% 3.7% Operating profit 3,506 3,165 10.8% 14.7% 14.3% Net finance costs (179) (195) (8.2%) Gains on digital and related assets 11 – n/m Profit before tax 3,338 2,970 12.4% Taxation (800) (713) 12.2% Profit/(loss) for the year 2,538 2,257 12.5% Equity holders 2,204 1,934 14.0% Non-controlling interests 334 323 3.4% Earnings per share 4 (p) 420.6 363.5 15.7% This financial review contains revenues, costs, earnings and key performance indicators (KPIs) for the twelve months ended 31 December 2025. Constant currency variances are calculated on the basis of consistent FX rates applied across the current and prior year period (GBP:USD 1.278 GBP:EUR 1.181). Organic growth is calculated on a constant currency basis, adjusting the results to remove disposals from the entirety of the current and prior year periods, and by including acquisitions from the date of acquisition with a comparable adjustment to the prior year. Within the financial information and tables presented, certain columns and rows may not add due to the use of rounded numbers for disclosure purposes. n/m has been used where variance percentages are not meaningful. 1 During 2025, some revenue items were reallocated between business lines to better reflect our product-led operating model. We have restated 2024 comparators for this and a summary of the movements can be found in Note 2.1 of the Financial Statements. 2 From 2025, Capital Markets and Post Trade are reported under a single Markets division. 3 Recoveries relate to fees for third-party content, such as exchange data, that is distributed directly to customers. 4 Weighted average number of shares used to calculate basic earnings per share and adjusted basic earnings per share is 524 million (2024: 532 million). 5 The Group reports adjusted operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation and impairment, adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and impairment (EBITDA), adjusted depreciation, amortisation and impairment, adjusted operating profit and adjusted basic earnings per share (EPS). These measures are not measures of performance under IFRS and should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for, IFRS measures of financial performance and liquidity. Adjusted performance measures provide supplemental data relevant to an understanding of the Group’s financial performance and exclude non-underlying items of income and expense that are material by their size and/or nature. Non-underlying items include: amortisation and impairment of goodwill and purchased intangible assets, incremental amortisation and impairment of the fair value adjustments of intangible assets recognised as a result of acquisitions, significant impairment of software and other non-current assets linked to a change in strategy or operating model, tax on non-underlying items and other income or expenses not considered to drive the operating results of the Group (including transaction, integration and separation costs related to acquisitions and disposals of businesses), as well as restructuring costs. Financial review Total income excluding recoveries of £8,986 million grew 7.6% on a constant currency basis and 7.1% organically. Growth on a reported basis was 5.8%. Total income including recoveries of £9,346 million was up 7.3% in constant currency, and 5.5% higher on a reported basis. This growth was driven by a strong performance across all four divisions. Cost of sales of £1,113 million declined 2.7% on an organic constant currency basis, or 5.1% on a reported basis, with underlying growth more than offset by a change to the SwapClear revenue surplus contract resulting in a lower pay away through cost of sales. Excluding this, cost of sales growth was 4.9%, below that of revenues. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 28 Strategic Report ![]() 2024 EBITDA margin FX-related items 1 2024 comparable Staff costs Third-party services Loss of EuroClear dividend Change in SwapClear revenue surplus agreement 2025 underlying FX-related items 1 2025 EBITDA margin 1 FX-related items represent fair value movements on embedded derivative contracts losses (2025: £33 million loss; 2024: £40 million gain) and foreign exchange (gains)/losses (2025: £1 million gain; 2024: £1 million gain) and translational FX. Delivering significant margin expansion 48.8% -40bps +80bps -30bps -20bps +60bps +110bps underlying operating leverage +140bps Labour costs 48.4% 50.5%+100bps 50.3% Adjusted 1 2025 £m 2024 £m Variance % Constant currency variance % Organic constant currency variance % Staff costs 2,301 2,226 3.4% 5.0% 4.2% Third-party services 344 396 (13.1%) (11.2%) (11.6%) Total labour costs 2,645 2,622 0.9% 2.5% 1.8% As % of total income excl. recoveries 29.4% 30.9% IT costs 668 636 5.0% 7.7% 7.4% Other costs 366 343 6.7% 10.4% 9.7% Fair value losses/(gains) on embedded derivative contracts and foreign exchange gains 32 (41) n/m Adjusted operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation and impairment 3,711 3,560 4.2% 4.2% 3.5% 1 Adjusted excludes the impact of non-underlying items. A full reconciliation to total operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation and impairment can be found in the Alternative Performance Measures section of this report. Financial review continued Our main costs relate to our people, with adjusted staff costs of £2,301 million and adjusted third-party services of £344 million. These two lines together make up the total labour costs for the organisation of £2,645 million, and account for 71% of the total adjusted operating expense base. The labour cost ratio, which looks at labour costs as a percentage of total income excl. recoveries, has improved by 150 basis points, driven by disciplined resource control and the ongoing workforce insourcing programme implemented from 2024. Adjusted EBITDA rose 11.8% to £4,523 million, with the adjusted EBITDA margin increasing to 50.3% (2024: 48.8%). Movements in FX-related items reduced the margin by 20 basis points in the current period and increased it by 40 basis points in the prior period. As a result, the organic constant currency margin improvement year-on-year was 210 basis points, of which 100 basis points reflected the impact of the SwapClear revenue surplus contract change. Reported depreciation, amortisation and impairment of £2,238 million (2024: £2,482 million) includes £1,221 million (2024: £1,499 million) of non-underlying amortisation and impairment which largely relates to the amortisation of purchased intangible assets (mainly Refinitiv). The year-on-year reduction is largely driven by the £235 million non-underlying impairment charge taken in 2024, partly offset by two months of amortisation related to the £1.2 billion intangible asset recognised in association with the SwapClear revenue surplus contract change. Adjusted depreciation, amortisation and impairment of £1,017 million grew by 3.7%. The growth in depreciation and amortisation reflects our continued investment in technology and product. Reconciliation of Adjusted operating profit to Reported operating profit 2025 £m 2024 £m Adjusted operating profit 3,506 3,165 Non-underlying items: Transaction costs/(costs credit) (25) 15 Integration, separation & restructuring costs (133) (226) Profit on disposal – 8 Depreciation, amortisation and impairment of intangibles and other assets (1,221) (1,499) Operating Profit 2,127 1,463 London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 29 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Data & Analytics 2025 £m 2024 1 £m Variance % Organic constant currency variance % Workflows 1,925 1,899 1.4% 3.1% Data & Feeds 1,822 1,740 4.7% 6.6% Analytics 231 220 5.0% 7.7% Total revenue (excl. recoveries) 3,978 3,859 3.1% 5.0% Recoveries 360 364 (1.1%) 1.0% Total revenue (incl. recoveries) 4,338 4,223 2.7% 4.6% Cost of sales (821) (808) 1.6% 4.6% Gross profit 3,517 3,415 3.0% 4.6% Adjusted operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation and impairment (1,900) (1,846) 2.9% 1.4% Adjusted EBITDA 1,617 1,569 3.1% 8.6% Adjusted depreciation, amortisation and impairment (574) (561) 2.3% 3.3% Adjusted operating profit 1,043 1,008 3.5% 11.8% Adjusted EBITDA margin 40.7% 40.7% Adjusted EBITDA margin (excluding fair value movements on embedded derivative contracts) 41.4% 39.7% 1 During 2025, some revenue and cost items were reallocated between business lines to better reflect our product-led operating model. We have restated 2024 comparators for this and a summary of the movements can be found in Note 2.1 of the Financial Statements. Financial review continued Reported operating profit of £2,127 million grew by 45.4% on a reported basis, and adjusted operating profit of £3,506 million grew 14.3% on organic, constant currency basis driven by strong income growth and cost discipline highlighted above. Transaction costs mainly relate to awards and incentive plans linked to previous acquisitions. Integration, separation and restructuring costs primarily relate to the Refinitiv integration and totalled £133 million in the period, down from £226 million in 2024. The reduction reflects the tapering of integration-related spend as committed. Net finance expense/Tax/ Non-controlling interest Adjusted net finance expense was £179 million (2024: £195 million), and £187 million (2024: £205 million) on a reported basis. Both years included a gain arising from bond tenders (2025: £23 million, 2024: £24 million). The reduction in net finance expense includes a £12 million gain realised following the discontinuance and subsequent redesignation of the US Dollar net investment hedge. Adjusted gains on digital and related assets of £11 million relates to the gain recognised on Tradeweb’s sale of Canton Coins. The coins were originally received as compensation for Tradeweb’s role as Super Validator on the network. Profit before tax increased by 56.5% on a reported basis to £1,969 million (2024: £1,258 million) and by 12.4% to £3,338 million on an adjusted basis at actual rates (2024: £2,970 million). The Group’s underlying effective tax rate was 24.0% (2024: 24.0%). The reported tax charge in the period of £463 million (2024: £337 million) represents a tax rate of 23.5% (2024: 26.8%). The 2024 rate was impacted by a legislative rate change applicable to the surplus on one of the Group’s defined benefit pension schemes. Profit attributable to non-controlling interests increased by 8.9% on a reported basis to £257 million (2024: £236 million) and by 3.4% to £334 million on an adjusted basis at actual rates (2024: £323 million). The increase reflects the continued strong growth at Tradeweb, partially offset by the annualisation impact of the additional 11.6% minority interests in LCH Group acquired in 2024. Earnings per share Basic earnings per share (EPS) was 238.4 pence (2024: 128.8 pence) with the 85.1% increase from last year mainly reflecting strong growth in revenue and EBITDA, alongside reduced amortisation and impairment charges and a lower tax rate. EPS growth was further supported by share buybacks over the last 12 months and the annualisation impact of the buyout of LCH minority interests in 2024. Adjusted basic earnings per share (AEPS) was 420.6 pence (2024: 363.5 pence). The 15.7% increase in AEPS year-on-year was driven by solid income growth and a tightly controlled cost base. Dividend The Board is proposing a final dividend of 103.0 pence per share 1 , which together with the interim dividend of 47.0 pence per share paid to shareholders in September 2025, results in a 15.4% increase in the total dividend to 150.0 pence per share. The final dividend of 103.0 pence per share will be paid on 20 May 2026 to all shareholders on the share register at the record date of 17 April 2026, subject to shareholder approval. 1 ISIN: GB00B0SWJX34; TIDM: LSEG London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 30 Strategic Report ![]() Financial review continued Data & Analytics provides customers with high value data, analytics, workflow solutions and data management capabilities. The division is split into three areas addressing different customer needs. Total revenue excluding recoveries of £3,978 million grew 5.0%, driven by broad-based strength across business lines. Workflows revenue of £1,925 million increased by 3.1% with strength in FX, Commodities and banking users. The sustained growth follows the successful roll-out of Workspace and sunsetting of Eikon, the legacy platform, as planned. We continued to strengthen Workspace’s functionality with enhancements deployed across the year, including the Workspace app in Teams and new Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint add-ins developed in partnership with Microsoft. Data & Feeds revenue grew 6.6% to £1,822 million, with broad-based growth driven by an increase in demand for data. We continued to enhance our content and extend distribution channels across real-time and pricing & reference services. This is resonating strongly with customers and is supporting sustained revenue growth and gross sales momentum. Analytics revenue of £231 million was up 7.7% primarily driven by customer demand for the Analytics API which gives clients access to the full range of the Group’s analytics models, and expansion of our distribution channels including Databricks and Snowflake. Cost of sales of £821 million reflects the cost of purchased content and royalties, including news, specialist data and exchange data, which are required for Data & Analytics products. Growth at 4.6% was below that of revenues. Adjusted operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation and impairment increased by 1.4%. Careful management of staff costs meant cost growth was below that of revenues despite ongoing investment in the Microsoft partnership and other product development initiatives. Adjusted EBITDA of £1,617 million was up 8.6%, with the adjusted EBITDA margin at 40.7% (2024: 40.7%). Excluding the fair value movements on embedded derivative contracts relating to the division (2025: £31 million charge, 2024: £38 million benefit) the underlying margin expanded 170 basis points driven by the top-line performance combined with strong cost control. FTSE Russell 2025 £m 2024 1 £m Variance % Organic constant currency variance % Subscriptions 630 603 4.5% 7.1% Asset-based 324 308 5.2% 7.7% Total revenue 954 911 4.7% 7.3% Cost of sales (58) (63) (7.9%) (4.5%) Gross profit 896 848 5.7% 8.2% Adjusted operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation and impairment (261) (254) 2.8% 5.1% Adjusted EBITDA 635 594 6.9% 9.4% Adjusted depreciation, amortisation and impairment (89) (73) 21.9% 23.1% Adjusted operating profit 546 521 4.8% 7.5% Adjusted EBITDA margin 66.6% 65.2% 1 During 2025, some revenue and cost items were reallocated between business lines to better reflect our product-led operating model. We have restated 2024 comparators for this and a summary of the movements can be found in Note 2.1 of the Financial Statements. FTSE Russell provides customers with index and benchmark solutions across asset classes and investment objectives. Total revenue of £954 million grew by 7.3%. Subscription revenue of £630 million increased by 7.1% driven by demand for our flagship equity indices and benchmarks. As highlighted, there were fewer multi-year customer mandates due for renewal in the year, leading to a more modest growth in subscription revenues. We saw good sales momentum across our portfolio and further commercialisation of new offerings including the FTSE StepStone Global Private Market indices and the geographic expansion of Russell indices. Asset-based revenue of £324 million grew by 7.7%. We saw strong momentum in ETFs, with a record 44 launches across our equity franchise, nearly doubling from the prior year. While inflows were strong, supported by market movements, reported growth was moderated by a strong comparator period and the impact of a mandate loss last year. Cost of sales of £58 million, which includes third-party data costs and revenue share payments, declined by 4.5%. The reduction is driven by last year’s mandate loss which had a revenue share component. Adjusted operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation and impairment of £261 million grew by 5.1%. Adjusted EBITDA of £635 million grew 9.4%, and the adjusted EBITDA margin of 66.6% saw an improvement of 140 basis points on the prior year driven by the strong top-line performance and a controlled cost base. Adjusted depreciation, amortisation and impairment increased 23.1% driven by the depreciation of platform investments made in previous years. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 31 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Financial review continued Risk Intelligence 2025 £m 2024 1 £m Variance % Constant currency variance % Organic constant currency variance % Total revenue 579 531 9.0% 11.2% 11.7% Cost of sales (53) (46) 15.2% 15.7% 15.7% Gross profit 526 485 8.5% 10.8% 11.3% Adjusted operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation and impairment (193) (192) 0.5% 1.4% 2.0% Adjusted EBITDA 333 293 13.7% 16.9% 17.4% Adjusted depreciation, amortisation and impairment (48) (48) – 2.3% 2.3% Adjusted operating profit 285 245 16.3% 19.8% 20.4% Adjusted EBITDA margin 57.5% 55.2% 1 During 2025, some revenue and cost items were reallocated between business lines to better reflect our product-led operating model. We have restated 2024 comparators for this and a summary of the movements can be found in Note 2.1 of the Financial Statements. KPIs 2025 2024 Variance % Index – ETF AUM ($bn) – Period end 1,827 1,433 27.5% – Average 1,595 1,340 19.0% Subscription businesses’ KPIs These KPIs cover the Data & Analytics, FTSE Russell and Risk Intelligence businesses. All growth on an organic, constant currency basis. 2025 2024 Annual subscription value growth (%) 1 5.9% 6.3% Subscription revenue growth (%) 2 5.9% 5.9% Revenue growth in subscription businesses (%) 3 6.0% 6.2% New KPIs 2025 H1 2025 Gross Sales (£m) 4 481 435 Retention rate (%) 5 92.4% 92.6% New product vitality index (%) 6 24% 19% 1 Annualised subscription value growth is a constant currency point-in-time, year-on-year, organic measure of subscription growth in Data & Analytics, FTSE Russell and Risk Intelligence and data solutions within Markets. 2 12-month rolling basis. 3 Total revenue growth, including revenue items not included in ASV growth and subscription revenue growth. 4 New business subscription sales over the last 12 months. 5 Retention rate reflects the % of annualised subscription revenues from 12 months ago still being received today. 6 Proportion of revenue from products that are new or enhanced in the last five years. Risk Intelligence provides businesses with screening tools for customers and third parties, digital identity verification and fraud prevention, and enhanced due diligence solutions. Total revenue of £579 million grew 11.7%. We continue to see strong business momentum and customer demand for our screening and identity verification services. Within our screening business we launched World-Check On Demand and World-Check Verify, delivering precise, real-time intelligence on sanctions, politically exposed persons (PEPs), adverse media and enforcement actions. Our digital identity verification and fraud prevention business saw good volume growth with over 500 million transactions executed in 2025, up 16.5% from 2024. These were partially offset by continued weakness in our due diligence business. Cost of sales of £53 million, comprising data and content costs, increased 15.7% on a constant currency basis, linked to the strong uptick in volumes in our digital identity and fraud business. Adjusted operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation and impairment of £193 million grew modestly by 2.0%, reflecting strong cost control in the period. Adjusted EBITDA of £333 million grew 17.4%, and the adjusted EBITDA margin increased by 230 basis points to 57.5% driven by the strong top-line performance and disciplined cost control. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 32 Strategic Report ![]() Financial review continued Markets 2025 £m 2024 1 £m Variance % Constant currency variance % Organic constant currency variance % Equities 412 392 5.1% 5.1% 5.1% Fixed Income, Derivatives & Other 1,539 1,334 15.4% 17.3% 13.7% FX 272 260 4.6% 7.5% 7.5% OTC Derivatives 641 582 10.1% 11.6% 11.6% Securities & Reporting 229 235 (2.6%) (3.0%) (3.0%) Non-Cash Collateral 117 111 5.4% 5.2% 5.2% Total revenue 3,210 2,914 10.2% 11.6% 9.9% Net Treasury Income 257 266 (3.4%) (2.6%) (2.6%) Total income 3,467 3,180 9.0% 10.4% 8.9% Cost of sales (181) (256) (29.3%) (28.2%) (28.2%) Gross profit 3,286 2,924 12.4% 13.7% 12.1% Adjusted operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation and impairment (1,357) (1,268) 7.0% 8.6% 6.6% Adjusted EBITDA 1,929 1,656 16.5% 17.7% 16.4% Adjusted depreciation, amortisation and impairment (306) (301) 1.7% 2.1% (0.2%) Adjusted operating profit 1,623 1,355 19.8% 21.2% 20.2% Adjusted EBITDA Margin 55.6% 52.1% Markets provides businesses with access to capital through issuance, and offers secondary market trading for equities, fixed income, interest rate derivatives, foreign exchange (FX) and other asset classes. In addition, the business provides clearing, risk management, capital optimisation and regulatory reporting solutions. Total revenue of £3,210 million grew 11.6% on a constant currency basis, and 9.9% organically. Total income, including Net Treasury Income, was £3,467 million, up 8.9%. Equities revenue of £412 million increased 5.1% driven by growth in trading volumes and data revenues. Fixed Income, Derivatives & Other revenue primarily comprises Tradeweb, a global operator of electronic marketplaces for rates, credit, equities and money markets. Revenue of £1,539 million grew by 13.7% year-on-year. Average daily volume across all asset classes was $2.6 trillion, a 16.9% increase on 2024 (including the impact of the ICD acquisition), driven by Tradeweb’s innovative trading protocols. FX revenue of £272 million increased 7.5%. Activity across both our platforms, FXall, our dealer-to-client platform, and FX Matching, our dealer-to-dealer platform, remained strong, benefiting from heightened market volatility. OTC Derivatives revenue increased to £641 million, up 11.6%, driven by growth in clearing and compression activity across all asset classes, despite a strong prior year comparator. SwapClear cleared a record $1,941 trillion of interest rate swaps (‘IRS’) notional, up 21.2% on the prior year, ForexClear launched new forward clearing capabilities and CDSClear expanded internationally. Post Trade Solutions is also seeing good traction. Securities & Reporting revenue of £229 million declined 3.0%, reflecting the final impact of the termination of the Euronext clearing agreement which more than offset the strong volume growth in fixed income clearing. The nominal value cleared at RepoClear was up 7.8%. Non-Cash Collateral revenue of £117 million increased by 5.2% reflecting a customer preference to hold a greater proportion of their collateral in non-cash instruments over cash. This trend was reflected in the average non-cash collateral, which rose by 4.5% to €209.6 billion, while average cash collateral declined by 7.1% to €101.3 billion. Net Treasury Income of £257 million saw a 2.6% decline reflecting a lower cash collateral balance as a result of the reduction in cash balances following last year’s loss of business from Euronext, and the mix effect noted above from favouring non-cash collateral. Cost of sales decreased 28.2%, to £181 million, largely driven by the change to the revenue surplus agreement from the Swapclear business. Previously the founding members of SwapClear were entitled to c.30% of SwapClear’s revenue surplus which in 2024 amounted to €0.2 billion. The revenue surplus share was reduced to 15% for 2025 and will be 10% from 2026 through to 2045. Excluding this, cost of sales would have increased 6.7%. Adjusted operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation and impairment of £1,357 million were up 6.6%, largely driven by the strong revenue performance at Tradeweb. Adjusted EBITDA rose to £1,929 million, growing 16.4%, and the adjusted EBITDA margin improved by 350 basis points to 55.6% (2024: 52.1%). The change to the revenue surplus contract for the Swapclear business drove 260 basis points of the improvement. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 33 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Financial review continued KPIs 2025 2024 Variance % Equities UK Value Traded (£bn) – average daily value 4.8 4.2 14.3% Fixed Income, Derivatives and Other Tradeweb average daily volume ($m) All asset classes 2 2,624,828 2,244,948 16.9% Rates – Cash 549,040 483,627 13.5% Rates – Derivatives 3 955,070 783,234 21.9% Credit – Cash 17,203 16,040 7.3% Credit – Derivatives 23,301 17,653 32.0% FX Average daily total volume ($bn) 525 479 9.6% OTC Derivatives SwapClear – IRS notional cleared ($trn) 1,941 1,601 21.2% SwapClear – Client trades (‘000) 5,308 3,990 33.0% ForexClear – Notional cleared ($bn) 48,113 36,617 31.4% ForexClear – Members 40 39 2.6% Securities & Reporting EquityClear trades (m) 1,077 1,024 5.2% RepoClear – nominal value (€trn) 334.2 309.9 7.8% Collateral Average non-cash collateral (€bn) 209.6 200.6 4.5% Average cash collateral (€bn) 101.3 109.0 ( 7.1%) 1 During 2025, some revenue and cost items were reallocated between business lines to better reflect our product-led operating model. We have restated 2024 comparators for this and a summary of the movements can be found in Note 2.1 of the Financial Statements. 2 Inclusive of the acquisition of ICD in August 2024. 3 2024 volumes revised from previous reporting to align with Tradeweb disclosures. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 34 Strategic Report ![]() Financial review continued The Group continued to be highly cash generative, with reported EBITDA of £4,365 million (2024: £3,945 million), reflecting strong top-line growth and continued margin expansion. Non-cash items impacted EBITDA by £259 million (2024: £76 million) with the increase from last year including the effect of foreign exchange rate movements. The working capital outflow of £419 million was largely driven by three factors: approximately £150 million of supplier payment timing including some upfront prepayments, the impact of the SwapClear revenue surplus contract change and Net Treasury Income timing of around £75 million. Total operating cash flow was £4,205 million (2024: £3,971 million), an increase of £234 million year-on-year. Total cash capex of £919 million saw a £38 million decline year-on-year (2024: £957 million), demonstrating our commitment to disciplined investment and continued reduction in capital intensity. Equity free cash flow rose 12.0% to £2,445 million (2024: £2,184 million), representing 111% conversion of profits attributable to LSEG shareholders (2024: 113%). The Group deployed £921 million on the purchase of an increased proportion of the revenue surplus from the SwapClear business. A further payment of £250 million will be made in 2026. The Group also received £34 million from non-controlling interests in LCH Group to maintain their ownership stakes following this acquisition. The Group sold a 20% stake in Post Trade Solutions to a group of global banks for £170 million. Together, these items came to a net outflow of £717 million in the year. Total shareholder distributions and associated costs were £2,870 million (2024: £1,694 million). These comprise £2,072 million outflow related to LSEG share buybacks, £80 million of Tradeweb share buybacks and dividend payments of £718 million to LSEG shareholders. Total net cash inflow was £515 million (2024: £47 million cash outflow). Cash Flow 2025 £m 2024 £m Reported EBITDA 4,365 3,945 Non-cash items 1 259 76 Change in working capital 1 (419) (50) Operating cash flow 2 4,205 3,971 Net interest paid (187) (180) Net taxes paid (396) (395) Capex (919) (957) Lease payments (161) (156) Other items 3 (97) (99) Equity free cash flow 4 2,445 2,184 Acquisition, disposals and changes in non-controlling interests proceeds 5 (717) (788) Acquisitions and disposal proceeds of financial assets (151) (17) Dividends to LSEG shareholders (718) (642) Net borrowings 1,875 360 Share buybacks (2,152) (1,052) Other (67) (92) Net cash flow 515 (47) 1 For 2024, £12 million has been reclassified from changes in working capital to non-cash items. 2 Group cash flow does not include cash and cash equivalents held by LCH Ltd and LCH SA on behalf of the Group’s clearing members for use in their operations as managers of the clearing and guarantee systems. These balances represent margins and default funds held for counterparties for short periods in connection with these operations. Movements in net clearing member balances include interest paid and received thereon. 3 Includes sales commissions paid, dividends received, dividends paid to non-controlling interests and proceeds on the disposal of digital assets. 4 Equity free cash flow is the cash generated before M&A, returns to shareholders and financing activities. 5 Acquisitions, disposals and changes in non-controlling interests comprise the following items from the Cashflow statement: Payment for SwapClear intangible asset; Acquisition of subsidiaries, net of cash acquired; Proceeds from disposal of business; Proceeds from changes in non-controlling interests; and Purchase of non-controlling interests. For 2024, this also includes £377 million of proceeds from the Euroclear stake sale. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 35 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Financial review continued Net Debt/Leverage/Ratings Net Debt 31 December 2025 £m 31 December 2024 £m Gross borrowings 11,718 9,965 Cash and cash equivalents (3,949) (3,475) Net derivative financial assets (171) (36) Net debt 7,598 6,454 Less lease liabilities (627) (634) Regulatory and operational amounts 1,204 1,358 Operating net debt 8,175 7,178 Foreign Exchange The majority of LSEG revenues and expenses are in US dollars followed by sterling, euro and other currencies. A 10 cent devaluation 1 in the US dollar or euro against sterling has an adverse impact on Total Income (excluding recoveries) of approximately 4.0% and 1.5% respectively. The impact on EBITDA is slightly greater, at approximately 4.5% and 2.0% respectively. These sensitivities are approximate and exclude the impact of embedded derivatives and other FX-related balance sheet revaluations. USD GBP EUR Other 2025 Total income 2 58% 16% 17% 9% 2025 Underlying expenses 3 53% 24% 8% 15% 2025 Total income by division Data & Analytics 63% 6% 15% 16% FTSE Russell 71% 21% 3% 5% Risk Intelligence 63% 9% 15% 13% Markets 48% 28% 22% 2% 1 Analysis was updated for FY25 average rates and assumes GBP:USD 1.318 and GBP:EUR 1.168. 2 Total income includes recoveries. 3 Underlying expenses includes cost of sales and adjusted operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation and impairment. Spot/Average Rates Average rate 12 months ended 31 Dec 2025 Closing rate at 31 Dec 2025 Average rate 12 months ended 31 Dec 2024 Closing rate at 31 Dec 2024 GBP : USD 1.318 1.347 1.278 1.251 GBP : EUR 1.168 1.146 1.181 1.205 For definitions of technical terms – refer to the Glossary on page 197. At 31 December 2025, the Group had operating net debt of £8,175 million (31 December 2024: £7,178 million) after setting aside £1,204 million for regulatory and operational amounts. The increase was driven by the acquisition of an increased proportion of the revenue surplus from the SwapClear business, and the share buyback programme in 2025. At year end, leverage 1 was 1.8x, increasing slightly compared to the previous year (31 December 2024: 1.7x). The Group remains well positioned within its targeted leverage range of 1.5x-2.5x operating net debt to adjusted EBITDA before foreign exchange gains or losses. The Group has access to committed revolving credit facilities of £3.0 billion, consisting of a £1,925 million facility and a £1,075 million facility, both maturing in December 2027. In addition, Tradeweb has a $500 million facility expiring in November 2028. No drawings were outstanding under these facilities or the Tradeweb facility as at 31 December 2025 (31 December 2024: £nil). As part of the ongoing financing of the Group and to further diversify the Group’s debt investor base, LSEG issued bonds totalling £900 million, €500 million, CHF150 million and JPY40 billion, with maturities ranging from 2028 to 2037. In March 2025, the Group completed a tender offer to repurchase $250 million of the original $1,250 million bond maturing in 2031. In April 2025, a €500 million bond issued in April 2021 matured. LSEG is rated A with stable outlook by Standard & Poor’s and A3 with stable outlook by Moody’s. LCH Limited and LCH SA are rated AA- with stable outlook by Standard & Poor’s. 1 Leverage is calculated as operating net debt (i.e. net debt before lease liabilities and after excluding amounts set aside for regulatory and operational purposes) to adjusted EBITDA before foreign exchange gains and losses. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 36 Strategic Report ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Board engagement with stakeholders Our approach to meaningful engagement is built on two-way dialogue, enabling the Board to gain a clear understanding of stakeholders’ interests, needs and concerns that are relevant to the Group’s long-term success. This dialogue also helps the Board assess stakeholders’ influence on the operation of our business and their perspective on the delivery of strategy and decision-making. These insights are carefully considered in Board discussions and decisions, supporting better outcomes for the Group’s sustainable success. We have summarised how the Board has engaged with stakeholders and how that engagement has influenced Board discussions. The Board engages our stakeholders through a combination of direct engagement by Directors and indirect engagement by senior leadership, who maintain ongoing dialogue with stakeholders. Insights and outcomes from these interactions are integrated into our business planning processes and regularly reported to the Board. Read more about the activities of the Board in the Corporate Governance Report beginning on page 57. The development of strong relationships between LSEG and itsexternal stakeholders is an intrinsic part of our purpose and culture. The Board recognises the importance of maintaining strong engagement with key stakeholders throughout the year. Colleagues Customers Suppliers Regulators and policymakers Investors Colleagues With over 26,000 people in more than 60 countries, ourdiverse workforce is central to our success. Regular engagement at all levels fosters meaningful dialogue between the Board and employees, supporting an engaged workforce that underpins delivery for allstakeholders. Key matters for stakeholder group – Progress of strategic partnerships – Change management – Values-driven culture and working environment – Equity, diversity and inclusion – Regular and meaningful communication – Talent acquisition – Learning and development opportunities – Sustainability strategy and plansto achieve net zero More information on employee engagement can be found on page 44 of the Strategic Report. How the Board has engaged – The Board met employees in our London and New York offices through “In Conversation with the Board” sessions. Participating employees represented the different divisions and functions across our businesses. These sessions provided an opportunity for employees to share their experiences at LSEG and voice suggestions for improvement. Discussions covered talent and succession planning, Board strategy, and Board governance. – Non-Executive Directors continued to engage with our people through employee forums. The forums were held quarterly with employees from different regions. These sessions were designed to provide Non-Executive Directors with direct exposure to the workforce, enabling them to gain insights into employee experiences, cultural dynamics and emerging concerns across different levels of the business. Participating employees were given a valuable opportunity to share ideas, and raise topics of importance from their respective areas. Directors provided feedback, addressing topics such as our product-led strategy, embedding a strong risk culture, and the growing importance of technology and AI. Employee concerns raised in the forums were discussed at the next Board meeting, and the outcomes of these engagements were communicated to the wider workforce through intranet articles. – Regular townhalls were held at Group and Divisional levels in 2025 led by the CEO and Executive Committee members, featuring tailored discussion topics and interactive Q&A sessions. Senior leaders provided updates on the Group’s progress in delivering LSEG’s strategy. – The annual LSEG Engage employee survey provided colleagues with an opportunity to share views on working at LSEG, with 78% participation and over 50,000 comments received. The results were presented to the Board as part of the annual presentation of people strategy and culture by the Chief People Officer. The Board reviewed employee feedback and noted insights around what was working well and what could be improved. – Don Robert attended the EMEA Sales Acceleration Summit where discussion points included workplace culture, how the Board tracks strategy execution through market data and client feedback. – Don Robert also attended the Group Leader Conference where discussion points included topics of particular interest to the Board, such as innovation and growth opportunities. – The Board received regular updates from the Chief People Officer on key aspects of the people strategy andculture at LSEG, including talent and capability development, as well as progress on equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives. How this engagement influenced Board discussions – Board members and management provided feedback to the Board on employee engagement activities. TheBoard continued to recognise the importance of workforce engagement, particularly in the context of business transformation and change management initiatives. – The Board discussed management actions to address concerns raised by colleagues, including theneed for: – clearer communication of the Group’s strategy andpurpose. – continued focus on embedding LSEG leadership behaviours. – further development of a product-led approach toenable teams to solve customer problems and simplify processes. – The Board reviewed actions taken in response to themes highlighted in the 2025 LSEG Engage survey, including the need to further embed the Group’s values. 47 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Board engagement with stakeholders continued Customers Customer partnerships underpin our global diversified business and drive value across all divisions. Aligning our strategy, services and products to the needs and interests of our customers is key to delivering sustainable long-term growth. The Board regularly reflects on the importance of our journey to becoming product-led and customer-centric. Key matters for stakeholder group – Product development and innovation – Product quality – Digitalisation and transformation – Cost management – System stability and resilience – Strategic partnerships – Sustainability How the Board has engaged – Customer feedback is regularly shared with the Board by the Group CEO, the Group CFO and Executive team, providing real-time customer insights. A dedicated customer agenda item is included at every Board meeting. – Each Board meeting included discussions on key customer relationships, emerging issues and strategic partnerships such as the LSEG–Microsoft Partnership (LMP). Directors met with management outside of Board meetings to review progress on LMP initiatives. – Management held engagement meetings with customers focusing on strengthening relationships, product offerings, technology transformation and operational resilience. – William Vereker participated in a Fireside Chat titled “Everything at Stake – Big Decisions That Define Us”. This global session, held as part of LSEG Risk Week, featured the UK Head of BNP Paribas, a key LSEG customer, and the UK CEO of Microsoft in conversation with LSEG’s Group Chief Risk Officer, exploring the importance of high-stakes decisions and leadership in risk management. – In 2025, the Board met with a key strategic customer during its visit to our New York office to gain deeper insight into their priorities and ambitions, and to explore how LSEG could continue to partner with them across our broad range of services and products. How this engagement influenced Board discussions – The Board gained a deeper understanding of customers’ priorities and ambitions, supporting LSEG to strengthen strategic relationships and further align its products and services with customer needs. – Customer feedback informed the Board’s view onproduct and service performance, highlighting opportunities for improvement and shaping strategicplanning. – The Board supported management in allocating capital and investing in technology and operational resilience. This included advancing our strategic partnership with Microsoft to develop next-generation data, analytics and cloud infrastructure solutions, enabling greater efficiency, agility and enhanced services for customers. Suppliers The Board recognises that third-party suppliers are important stakeholders ofthe Group. Certain key suppliers play an important role as strategic partners and providers of cloud services, and news and analytics. Theysupport the Group’s execution ofits strategy and delivery of products and services for ourcustomers. Key matters for stakeholder group – Partnerships – Communication and collaboration – Contract and payment terms – Performance measures and reliability – Joint risk-assessment andmitigation – Strategic alignment and growth opportunities – Sustainability How the Board has engaged – The Board maintains oversight of the Group’s key suppliers. It reviews and approves any supplier contracts with a financial value of £50 million or more (over the lifetime of the contract), and receives updates on the management of, and relationships with, third-party suppliers where appropriate. – The Board endorses management’s approach for UK entities to adopt the Prompt Payment Code, avoluntary code of practice for businesses, administered by the Office of the Small Business Commissioner on behalf of the Department for Business and Trade. It sets standards for payment practices between organisations of any size and theirsuppliers. – Each year, the Board considers modern slavery risks within the Group’s business and supply chain, and approves the Group’s Modern Slavery Statement. The Board expects its contractors, suppliers and business partners to uphold these standards. More information on the Group’s supply chain management practices, including the Modern Slavery Statement, is available at: www.lseg.com/en/ sustainability-at-lseg/disclosures-and-reports. How this engagement influenced Board discussions – Each Board meeting included discussions on key suppliers, notably the LSEG–Microsoft Partnership, with a focus on product delivery and the outlook for the year. In addition, meetings of the LSEG Microsoft Partnership Committee were held during the year, which Non-Executive Directors were invited to attend. – The Board reviews the terms of material contracts with suppliers and approves them as necessary. Italso oversees initiatives aimed at improving efficiency, enhancing sustainability and strengthening supply chain resilience. – The Risk Committee provides oversight of the riskrelating to third-party suppliers to ensure thatthese arrangements are managed within riskappetite and any issues are appropriately remediated and escalated to the Board asnecessary. 48 Strategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Board engagement with stakeholders continued Regulators and policymakers The Board recognises the importance ofmaintaining an open and cooperative relationship with policymakers and regulators on matters that affect our Group, industry, customers and people. We share information and perspectives with those who influence policy and regulation to ensure they understand ourviews on issues that impact financial markets, and data and analytics. The Group operates a significant number ofregulated entities globally, which aresupervised at thelegal entity level. Ourprimary regulators interact withthe boards of those regulated entities rather than the Group Board. The regulatory environment remains critical to thesuccess of ourbusiness. Key matters for stakeholder group – Market competitiveness – Compliance with applicable lawsandregulation – Data issues – Sustainability and governance – Innovation and technology – AI and digital assets – Operational resilience – Financial stability How the Board has engaged – The Board considers policy, regulatory developments and supervisory guidance that may affect the Group’s business when discussing and making decisions. These considerations span operations at the Group, division, region and market level. The Board also encourages subsidiary boards to proactively engage with relevant regulators. – Regulatory matters and other important themes are discussed as part of the Chairs’ Forum (comprised ofthe Chair of the Group Board and the chairs of several key regulated subsidiaries and attended by the Group CEO), the outputs of which are provided to the Board. – The Board periodically receives reports on socio-political events and issues that could impact the Group and its operations. – In its discussions of strategy, delivery of key objectives and matters such as M&A, the Board considers the priorities and focus areas of policymakers and regulators. – The Group CEO provided the Board with regular updates on the views and priorities of regulators andpolicymakers during the year. How this engagement influenced Board discussions – The Board considered macroeconomic and geopolitical developments as part of its annual strategy session. – Developments in regulatory matters, including governance and reporting obligations, are incorporated into Board papers prepared by management and provided to the Board forreview. – The Board continuously monitors developments inregulation and best practice relating to non-financial reporting requirements, corporate governance and the audit regime. Investors Our shareholders are critical to the long-term success of the Group. Maintaining regular and transparent dialogue is not only essential for building confidence and supporting delivery of our strategic objectives, but is also a cornerstone of good corporate governance. Key matters for stakeholder group – Drivers of financial performance – Strategic and financial outlook – Industry dynamics – Impact of new technologies including AI – Remuneration – Board composition How the Board has engaged – The Chair, Senior Independent Director and Committee Chairs were available to engage with major shareholders on governance, sustainability, remuneration and other topics of interest. All shareholders had the opportunity to meet and ask questions of the Board at the AGM. – On behalf of the Board, senior management (including the CEO, CFO and divisional leaders) and the Investor Relations (IR) team engaged extensively with shareholders through one-to-one meetings as well as participation at industry conferences in the UK and internationally. In 2025, this included over 580 investor engagements and attendance at 11 conferences across key markets. – Regular IR updates were presented at scheduled Board meetings, providing insights from investor feedback, outcomes of engagement activities, sell-side research and market sentiment analysis from corporate brokers. – The Board places strong emphasis on investor education, supported by the IR team through targeted events. In 2025, these included a Risk Intelligence webinar, providing deep insight into divisional capabilities and growth drivers. In November, LSEG hosted an Innovation Forum, a full-day event showcasing the Group’s technology and product innovation, attended by over 100 investors in person and a further 200 online. – Shareholders had access to comprehensive online resources via the Group’s Investor Relations website (www.lseg.com/en/investor-relations), including AGM results, financial reports, presentations, regulatory announcements and recordings of results calls. The Board recognises the importance of understanding investor priorities and perspectives, and is supported by the IR function, which reports to the Chief Financial Officer and manages a comprehensive engagement programme throughout the year. How this engagement influenced Board discussions – As a result of shareholders’ significant focus on AI and its potential impact on LSEG, the Board supported a more detailed disclosure around drivers of revenue in Data & Analytics in our third-quarter trading update, which was followed by a full presentation of our AI strategy at November’s Innovation Forum. – Investor feedback informed strategic priorities and capital allocation decisions, helping the Board balance investment in growth opportunities with returns to shareholders. In particular, the additional £1 billion of share buyback announced with the third-quarter trading update was a proactive measure that was strongly supported by shareholders. – Market sentiment and shareholder perspectives were considered in long-term planning and influenced the Board’s decisions on strategic direction, corporate governance and sustainability commitments. 49 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Section 172(1) statement Read more about the activities of the Board in the Corporate Governance Report starting on page 57. Investment inPost Trade Solutions & enhanced revenue sharerights toSwapClear Stakeholders considered: The Board approved a strategic transaction involving the Group’s Post Trade Solutions (‘PTS’) business and the SwapClear revenue surplus share arrangements, reflecting its commitment to long-term value creation and alignment with key stakeholders. This transaction is accretive to EBITDA margins for both the Markets division and the Group overall, and was accretive to adjusted EPS in 2025, with further benefits expected in 2026. Minority Stake Sale in PTS LSEG agreed to sell a 20% minority stake in its Post Trade Solutions business to 11 leading global banks (the ‘Investing Banks’) – key customers of LSEG’s clearing services and the Post Trade Solutions business – for £170 million, valuing the whole of PTS at £850 million. The Investing Banks will have strategic input into PTS’s future direction, with three bank-nominated directors joining the PTS Board. This strengthens LSEG’s strategic partnership model with its customers, replicating the original LCH model that continues to prove so successful for LCH and its customers. Acquisition of Additional SwapClear Revenue SurplusShare As part of the same transaction, LSEG also agreed to acquire a greater share of the revenue surplus from the SwapClear business, reducing SwapClear’s founding members’ (which includes the Investing Banks) entitlement from 30% to 15% in 2025 (effective from 1 January 2025) and to 10% from 2026. In return, LSEG will pay: i) £1.2 billion in two instalments (in 2025 and 2026); and ii) up to £200 million in contingent consideration, should certain future growth targets be met. The Investing Banks have extended their 10% revenue share entitlement from 2035 to 2045, reinforcing their long-term commitment to the partnership. Board considerations: The Board’s decision to proceed with this transaction reflects its long-standing commitment to innovation, customer partnership and long-term value creation. The SwapClear business, founded in collaboration with clearing members 25 years ago, has been instrumental in driving growth and robust risk management in the OTC derivatives market. This success has been underpinned by a deep, strategic partnership with our customers. Building on this foundation, the Board recognised a significant opportunity to extend this collaborative model through the Post Trade Solutions transaction. The decision was informed by a clear understanding of stakeholder interests – particularly those of our clearing and PTS customers – and the potential to deliver material efficiencies in capital, risk and operational processes across the bilateral OTC derivatives market. The Board carefully considered the strategic, financial and stakeholder implications of the transaction, including strengthening long-term partnerships with key customers; enhancing governance through customer representation on the PTS Board; improving capital efficiency and revenue alignment through revised surplus share arrangements; and supporting the Group’s growth strategy and delivering accretive financial outcomes. Additional information about the investment inPTS and SwapClear revenue surplus share arrangements can befound on page 27. Section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 (Section 172) requires a director of a company to act in the way he or she considers, in good faith, would most likely promote the success of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole. This section forms our Section 172 disclosure, detailing how the Directors considered the matters set out in Section 172 (1) (a) to (f) of the Companies Act 2006 when performing their duty to promote the success of the Company. The Board’s engagement with stakeholders enables the Directors to understand how the Group’s strategy and operations affect key stakeholder groups, as well as to consider their interests and perspectives. Throughout the year, the Board and individual Directors engage with a broad range of stakeholders – both directly and through management – The three key decisions/decision areas outlined in this section (the investment in Post Trade Solutions, the Share Buyback Programmes and Strategic Partnerships) highlight the Board’s active role in shaping the Group’s strategic direction. These decisions have been identified as strategically significant to the Group, or particularly relevant to our stakeholders. They demonstrate how the Board considers a range of stakeholder interests and impacts when making decisions aimed at promoting the long-term success of the Company. to develop this understanding. These insights support the Board in fulfilling its duties under Section 172(1) and contribute to robust discussion and well-informed decision-making. While the Board takes stakeholder views into account, it recognises that not every decision will align with the interests of all stakeholders. The Board considers the Group’s key stakeholders to be: customers; workforce; shareholders/investors; policymakers and regulators; and suppliers. Further details on the Board’s engagement with our stakeholders can be found on pages 47 to 49. Colleagues    Customers    Suppliers    Regulators and policymakers    Investors 50 Strategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Section 172(1) statement continued Share buyback programmes Stakeholders considered: During 2025, the Board approved three share buyback programmes, resulting in total share repurchases of £2.5 billion over the 12-month period from March 2025 to February 2026. The Directors exercised the authorities granted at the 2024 and 2025 Annual General Meetings (AGMs) to implement these programmes. On 3 March 2025, the Company announced a share buyback programme with Morgan Stanley & Co. International Plc to repurchase ordinary shares for a total consideration of £500 million. On 4 August 2025, a second programme was launched with Goldman Sachs International to repurchase ordinary shares with an aggregate value of up to £1 billion. Most recently, on 4 November 2025, the Company commenced a third buyback programme with Citigroup Global Markets Limited for a further £1 billion. Board considerations: The Board reviewed management’s proposals to return value to shareholders through the market purchase of the Company’s own shares. In reaching its decision, the Board carefully evaluated the views and potential impacts on a broad range of stakeholders. Key considerations included the implications for the Group’s credit rating and leverage, capital requirements, future M&A opportunities, debt capacity and delivery of sustainable returns. The Board was mindful to ensure that the proposed share buybacks would not hinder the Group’s ability to invest in growth and strategic initiatives. The Board maintains oversight of the Group’s capital allocation strategy, including shareholder returns. Decisions are made in the context of prevailing market conditions and the macroeconomic outlook, with the aim of optimising capital resources while considering regulatory requirements, strategic priorities and LSEG’s risk appetite. The Board also considered the impact of these capital allocation decisions on key stakeholders, including shareholders, employees and pension scheme members. The buybacks were fully aligned with LSEG’s capital allocation policy and were supported by shareholders. Further details on the share buyback programmes can be found in the Chief Financial Officer’s review on page 27 and in the Directors’ Report on pages 104 and 105. Strategic partnerships Stakeholders considered: Microsoft partnership The Board continued to recognise the importance of its strategic partnership with Microsoft in enhancing LSEG’s products and strengthening its competitive position. During 2025, the partnership made strong progress, and the Board dedicated regular time to discussing its development, both during formal Board meetings and through engagement with senior executives outside of those meetings. Through this collaboration, LSEG is transforming access to financial data by leveraging cutting-edge, AI-driven innovation at scale. The partnership enables customers to build, deploy and scale agentic AI directly into their workflows, supported by secure and seamless connectivity. This capability helps financial professionals unlock deeper insights, accelerate decision-making and streamline complex workflows. Amazon Web Services collaboration The Board continues to consider the interests of stakeholders in relation to LSEG’s cloud strategy and technology partnerships. In line with this, LSEG extended its multi-year collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS), to support its Markets, Risk Intelligence and FTSE Russell divisions. This builds on the existing relationship between the two organisations and reflects the Board’s commitment to enhancing operational resilience, security and innovation. By migrating internal systems to the cloud, LSEG aims to strengthen its infrastructure while delivering new services and products to customers. The adoption of advanced cloud-based generative AI capabilities will enable the Risk Intelligence division to provide faster and more accurate risk analysis, helping customers remain agile and resilient in a dynamic market environment. Through the AWS partnership, LSEG will continue to offer customers access to historical and quantitative FTSE Russell indices, supporting deeper market insights and reducing time-to-insight and operational costs. In addition, LSEG Markets will make use of cloud enabled, scalable infrastructure solutions to deliver resilient services to its global customer base. Board considerations: The Board actively considered strategic technology partnerships, including those with Microsoft and Amazon Web Services (AWS), as part of its oversight of the Group’s long-term strategy. These partnerships are central to LSEG’s transformation agenda, supporting innovation, operational resilience and enhanced customer experience. The decision-making process at Board level involved a structured evaluation of each partnership’s strategic alignment with the Group’s objectives. Directors considered how the partnerships would deliver long-term value for shareholders and other stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, employees and regulators. Other important factors included the promotion of sustainable growth and the maintenance of high standards of resilience and security. The Board also reviewed potential risks and benefits associated with cloud migration, AI integration and data infrastructure modernisation. The Board considers the partnership with Microsoft to be a key enabler of long-term value creation. It reflects a shared commitment between LSEG and Microsoft to redefine the future of financial services through secure, AI-powered innovation. By combining LSEG’s trusted market data with Microsoft’s cloud and AI capabilities, LSEG empowers its customers while reinforcing its market position in Data and Analytics. Similarly, the AWS collaboration supports the Group’s commitment to innovation, customer experience and operational excellence. It helps to ensure that stakeholder interests are considered in the development and deployment of cloud-based solutions, particularly in areas such as risk intelligence, index data delivery and infrastructure resilience. Ongoing dialogue at Board level ensures continued oversight of these partnerships, with regular updates from management on progress, customer feedback and future development plans. The Board views these collaborations as key enablers of LSEG’s long-term strategy to provide customers with a global financial markets infrastructure and data ecosystem. Further information on the LSEG–Microsoft Partnership, including key achievements in 2025 and planned developments in 2026, can befound in the Strategic Reporton page 12. 51 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Principal risks and uncertainties Managing risk is fundamental to the successful execution of our strategy and the resilience of our operations. Our risk management approach is described below, including key enablers such as our organisational and risk governance structures, risk culture and risk appetite. We also describe the principal risks faced by the Group, together with their Executive leads and mitigation activities. As well as our principal risks, we continuously identify, monitor and assess external emerging risks that have the potential to impact our businesses. In most cases, we mitigate such risks through the establishment of appropriate contingency plans and continue to monitor the development of the risks until they can be properly quantified and removed or included as a principal risk. Risk management approach Our Enterprise Risk Management Framework (ERMF) sets out our approach to risk management throughout the full risk lifecycle, from identification through to mitigation, monitoring and reporting. It also outlines the key enablers of our approach across governance, organisational structure and culture that support its implementation across our businesses. LSEG operates a three lines of defence model, providing appropriate segregation of duties and clear roles and responsibilities, including Risk, Compliance and Internal Audit. Accountability for risk management across the end-to-end product or service delivery sits within the first line of defence, independent oversight and challenge with the second line and objective, independent assurance with the third line. Risk culture is a key enabler of our three lines of defence by ensuring everyone understands and embraces their role in managing risks. The ERMF promotes our risk culture and accountability by articulating risk appetite and desired behaviours through policies, providing frameworks and tools to ensure risk is considered in key business decisions. It also makes risks transparent by embedding individual accountability through employee objectives and performance management. In order to support a coherent view of risk across our businesses, we have in place a Group Risk Taxonomy that provides an inventory of all types of risks that are identified as inherent in business strategies and objectives. These include strategic, non- financial and financial risks, and are then reflected in our Group Risk Appetite Statements and managed through principles set out in our Group policies. Regular risk assessments determine whether risks are within the risk appetite set by the Board and are reported to senior management and the Board. Group risk appetite Risk appetite is the level of risk that we will accept in pursuit of our strategic objectives. The risk appetite is one of the key principles of the ERMF and is used as a benchmark for both assessment and monitoring of the risks in our Group Risk Taxonomy, with regular reporting of aggregated risks to Executive and Board-level committees. The Board approves our risk appetite annually, which is cascaded through the organisation with divisions and functions establishing more detailed risk appetite statements and monitoring their risk profile against the agreed appetite levels. Any risks that are outside of these agreed appetite levels are escalated through our risk governance structures and to the appropriate risk committees and boards. Risk governance Effective governance and oversight are enabled through our risk governance structure that comprises Board-level (Board, Board Audit and Board Risk) and Executive-level committees to promote active discussion and resolution of risk issues. Group-level committees include: an overall Group Executive Risk Committee, and Group-level subcommittees including the Financial; Model; Technology, Cyber and Resilience; and Non-Financial Risk Committees, all of which meet on a regular basis. Other subcommittees, such as the New Product and Reputational Risk Committee, meet on an ad hoc basis as required. Each of these committees has detailed Terms of Reference, approved by the Board or their parent committee, which sets out their respective roles and responsibilities. Principal risks The principal risks outlined below reflect risks that have been deemed to be material to our businesses. These risks are grouped across the categories of Strategic, Financial and Model, and Non-Financial risks and include a description of the specific exposures they present to our businesses and the mitigation activities we have in place to address them. Strategic Report 52London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Strategic risks Strategic risks are risks that could impact the successful execution of our strategy. Risk category Risk description Mitigation Global economic and geopolitical Executive lead Chief Executive Officer Risk trend LSEG’s global footprint exposes us to economic and geopolitical developments that may impact market activity and performance. Conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, shifting Western relations with China and protectionist US policies such as tariffs and trade restrictions, are reshaping global trade and investment flows, which contribute to financial regionalisation, increased volatility and slower growth, and in turn may reduce transaction volumes and revenues across our markets. Our diversified revenue streams across regions, customers and recurring subscriptions help manage localised downturns and short-term market shifts. In volatile conditions, our Markets businesses benefit from increased trading activity. We actively monitor market movements, hedge foreign exchange and interest rate exposures and stress-test financial resilience to manage potential impacts. We also regularly assess geopolitical and macroeconomic risks and integrate them into strategic planning with oversight from our Financial and Non-Financial Risk Committees. Sustainability Executive lead Chief Risk Officer, Divisional Group Heads Risk trend Environmental, social and governance factors present evolving risks to our businesses, including regulatory compliance, reputational exposure and financial impacts. The risk of scrutiny or adverse consequences may arise even where we comply with laws and regulations as views of governments and regulatory authorities diverge across jurisdictions. Climate-related risks, both physical (e.g., extreme weather affecting assets and people) and transitional (e.g., policy shifts, product availability and market changes) may also affect operations as global standards and expectations continue to develop. See the Sustainability section on pages 37 to 46 of this report and our Sustainability Report for further detail. We have embedded sustainability risks in our Group Risk Taxonomy and manage these through our Sustainability Risk Management Framework, which defines the minimum requirements for identifying, assessing and managing these risks. All business areas are responsible for identifying and assessing the exposure their operations have to these risks which is done through a variety of methods, such as horizon scanning, emerging risk reviews, formal Risk and Control Assessments and climate risk modelling. Oversight is integrated into our strategic planning and is supported by ongoing monitoring of risk exposures, including greenwashing, product risks, regulatory developments and climate risks. Reputation/ Brand/IP Executive lead Group Chief Corporate Affairs and Marketing Officer Risk trend Our reputation and globally recognised brands are critical to our credibility and commercial success. A single incident, whether operational, legal or market-related, can impact brand value across the Group. As our different businesses have continued to become more closely integrated, potential reputational exposure has increased. Additionally, limited intellectual property protection could allow our competitors to develop or otherwise protect similar or the same products or processes, impacting our competitiveness and resulting in legal or financial costs or lower revenues. We actively monitor brand usage and enforce guidelines to protect our reputation and prevent infringement. Reputational risks are escalated through governance forums, supported by coordinated corporate affairs, marketing and stakeholder engagement plans. We also monitor the assessment of reputational risks that is completed as part of our new products and initiatives approval process. Our values and Code of Conduct reinforce responsible behaviour across the Group. We also safeguard our intellectual property through legal protections and contractual arrangements with employees, partners and third parties. Transformation Executive lead Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer Risk trend We are delivering a significant change agenda across strategic programmes, including platform and product upgrades, cloud migration, integration of acquisitions and the execution of the LSEG-Microsoft Partnership. These initiatives introduce execution risk as we adapt to evolving customer needs, integrate new technologies and improve our technology estate. Rapid market and technological shifts, including the continued advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), heighten the risk of disruption to our business model, whilst also impacting delivery of change and operational resilience. We manage transformation risk through the application of the Group’s Enterprise Risk Management Framework and our documented Group Delivery Disciplines. Together, these establish the minimum requirements for delivering change and support consistent oversight and governance across strategic programmes, acquisitions and divestments. This is further embedded through our Transformation and Change Frameworks, which provide standards and guidance for effective programme assessment, execution and integration of acquisitions. Group Risk monitor transformation activities and execution risk with Internal Audit providing independent assurance over select programmes. The Group Investment Committee is the Executive Committee which provides oversight of the strategic change portfolio. Principal risks and uncertainties continued Increasing  Stable  Decreasing 53 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Principal risks and uncertainties continued Financial and model risks The risk of financial failure or loss of earnings and/or capital as a result of investment activity, lack of liquidity, funding or capital, and/or the inappropriate use of models. Risk category Risk description Mitigation Central counterparty Executive lead Head of Markets Risk trend Through LCH, we are exposed to financial and operational risks inherent in central clearing. In the event of a member default, the central counterparty (CCP) must manage market and liquidity risks while restoring a matched book, potentially incurring losses from adverse price movements or liquidation costs. Additional risks arise from investing member collateral and fulfilling payment obligations, alongside non-financial risks such as legal, compliance and reputational exposures linked to day-to-day operations. We have structured LCH to withstand major member defaults through the implementation of the CCP rulebook and layered financial safeguards, including margin requirements, default funds and the holding of its own capital. Investment risk is managed via strict counterparty and asset eligibility criteria, with a focus on liquidity and capital preservation. We regularly test these protections through fire-drills and stress-testing activities. LCH’s Investment and Liquidity Risk Framework, which utilises internal credit scoring, portfolio limits and liquidity stress tests, ensures our resilience under extreme market conditions. Model risk Executive lead Divisional Group Heads, Chief Risk Officer Risk trend We rely on a wide range of models across our business to support decision-making, risk management, analytics and regulatory compliance. These include margining models, market abuse detection, stress testing and climate risk modelling. Risks arise from potential flaws in the design, data sourcing, incorrect implementation or misuse of model outputs, which can in turn lead to financial loss or reputational harm. The growing use of artificial intelligence particularly ‘generative’ and ‘agentic’ models introduces new dimensions of risk, with the potential for hallucinations, or unintended or unpredictable behaviours also causing loss or harm. We manage model risk through a comprehensive governance framework, including a model risk policy, lifecycle controls and a centralised model management system. All our models undergo independent validation that considers their design, intended use and input, including where AI capabilities are employed. Key models are subject to a formalised monitoring process. Oversight is provided by our Model Risk Committee, supported by divisional working groups to ensure full coverage and alignment with risk objectives. Regular, independent review of models by our Model Risk Management team helps to identify and assess models with potential business impact, reinforcing accountability and control across the Group. Non-financial risks The risk of loss or other adverse consequences to the business resulting from the inadequacy of, or failures associated with, internal processes, people and systems, or from external events. Risk category Risk description Mitigation Technology Executive lead Chief Information Officer Risk trend Our products and services depend on complex, interconnected technology systems, both internal and third-party. Disruptions such as system outages, performance degradation, or failures due to change activities or ageing infrastructure could impact customer access, interrupt market operations and affect data service and delivery. As our reliance on digital platforms and use of AI grows, so does the potential impact of technology-related incidents on business continuity and stakeholder confidence. We continue to invest in strengthening the resilience of our technology estate through strategic upgrades and lifecycle management. Technology changes are governed by a robust change framework, with rigorous testing to ensure stability. Key risk indicators and scenario analysis also help us identify vulnerabilities, and plan and test recovery strategies. Cloud migration is enhancing our service resilience, while improved monitoring tools support faster issue detection and recovery when incidents occur. Information and cyber security Executive lead Chief Information Officer Risk trend We are exposed to cyber threats targeting our systems and data, including attempts to access, disrupt or compromise information. The evolving geopolitical landscape and rapid adoption of emerging technologies continue to intensify the threat environment. As a financial markets infrastructure provider, a significant cyber incident could not only impact our operations and customers but also pose systemic risks to the broader financial sector and global markets. We manage our cyber risk through continuous investment in security capabilities and a dedicated cyber security function led by the Chief Information Security Officer. Threat intelligence is proactively gathered and assessed to stay ahead of evolving adversaries. Our approach aligns with industry frameworks, including the NIST-based Cyber Risk Institute profile, and meets regulatory assurance standards. While we cannot fully eliminate cyber risk, our focus remains on resilience to withstand and recover from cyber attacks with minimal disruption to our operations and stakeholders. Business continuity Executive lead Chief Operating Officer, Chief Risk Officer, Divisional Group Heads Risk trend We are exposed to potential operational disruption from a range of geopolitical, environmental, public infrastructure and other external events. Such disruptions can affect customer access and market stability. We maintain a robust Group Crisis Management Framework to guide response and recovery during disruptive events. This includes escalation protocols, crisis team plans, and scenario playbooks covering threats such as ransomware, geopolitical events, third-party outages. We deliver annual training across the Group, which prioritises staff wellbeing and critical services. Routine use of the framework ensures we effectively prepare for, triage, communicate and recover, supporting operational resilience and continuity of service. Increasing  Stable  Decreasing 54 Strategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Risk category Risk description Mitigation Third-party Executive lead Chief Operating Officer, Divisional Group Heads, Chief Information Officer Risk trend We rely on third-party providers, including cloud services, to support our operations and service delivery. These relationships expose the Group to a range of non-financial risks, such as technology, cyber, geopolitical, regulatory and reputational risks. Failures by third parties to meet contractual or regulatory obligations could result in service disruption, financial loss, increased costs or reputational harm. Our Third-Party Risk Management Framework covers the full lifecycle from the selection and contracting to the monitoring and exit of third parties and ensures risks are identified, assessed and actively managed at key stages, with a focus on maintaining service continuity and compliance. We closely monitor relationships with critical providers to ensure they meet contractual and regulatory obligations, helping to prevent disruption and safeguard operational resilience. Data Executive lead Divisional Group Heads, Chief Operating Officer Risk trend We collect, process and distribute data across a wide range of formats and use cases. Failure to manage data effectively, whether in terms of quality, usage rights or record management, could lead to reputational damage, financial loss or regulatory action. As an integrated financial markets infrastructure business, improper use of data may also impact customer trust and compliance obligations. Data risk is managed through our comprehensive governance framework led by Enterprise Information Governance, divisional Chief Data Officers and Privacy Officers. Our controls and monitoring activities mitigate risks relating to data accuracy, security and lawful use, across the full data lifecycle. Our privacy compliance is supported by activities aligned with global data protection regulations, helping to safeguard personal and sensitive information. People and talent Executive lead Chief People Officer Risk trend Our ability to achieve our strategic objectives depends on attracting, developing and retaining diverse, high-performing talent. Risks may arise from insufficient career development, compensation challenges or ineffective leadership and organisational structures. External factors such as market competition and geopolitical conditions may further impact our workforce engagement and ability to retain our staff. We are continuously embedding our values across the organisation, supported by our performance model and various leadership programmes. Equity, diversity and inclusion remain a priority, with active networks, updated policies and enhanced benefits aimed at fostering a culture of belonging. Career development, succession planning and leadership training are actively promoted, alongside a structured framework for promotion and progression to ensure our people have the skills and support needed to thrive. Regulatory change and compliance Executive lead General Counsel, Chief Executive Officer, Divisional Group Heads Risk trend As a global business, we operate within diverse, complex and evolving cross-border regulatory environments and must anticipate and adapt to changes in these regulations to ensure ongoing compliance. Specific regulatory risks to our business include market access, market competitiveness, data issues including localisation, financial crime and operational resilience. The Group Compliance function sets global policies, defines risk appetite and conducts horizon scanning to anticipate changes across financial market regulatory compliance. Compliance experts are embedded in business units to provide tailored guidance, while assurance activities and risk-based reviews support ongoing oversight. Specialist central teams are in place for financial crime and employee compliance. Policies are regularly updated and mandatory training delivered to ensure employees remain informed and aligned with regulatory standards. Emerging risks Emerging risks are newly developing external risks which are difficult to quantify due to their remote or evolving nature. We continue to monitor their development until we can quantify their impact to our businesses and be removed or included as a principal risk as required. Risk category Risk description Mitigation Disruptive technology Executive lead Chief Information Officer, Divisional Group Heads Risk trend We face the risk of disruption from emerging technologies and evolving business models that lower barriers to entry and intensify competition in the areas in which we operate. Advances in AI and associated generative technologies, cloud computing, quantum technologies and distributed ledger systems could reshape market dynamics, introduce new competitors and challenge core services we provide. These developments may impact our commercial models, introduce new cybersecurity and data risks, and reduce demand for our centralised infrastructure. We actively monitor emerging technologies and market shifts through our Strategy function and partnerships with external advisers. Investment scanning, proof-of-concept testing and customer collaboration help us anticipate and respond to changing consumption patterns. We continue to build strong partnerships with AI focused businesses to ensure our data remains fully accessible within the evolving ecosystem of AI enabled tools. We have also invested in upgrading and future proofing our technology so we can deliver our data quickly and seamlessly to new AI applications as they emerge. We also participate in industry and academic forums, and engage with regulators to shape and align with evolving frameworks that support innovation while maintaining market resilience. Our internal frameworks, systems and controls ensure a structured approach to innovation and adoption of these technologies is balanced with the right level of oversight. Increasing  Stable  Decreasing Principal risks and uncertainties continued 55 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Financial viability statement In accordance with Provision 31 of the UK Corporate Governance Code, the Directors confirm that they have a reasonable expectation that the Group will continue to operate and meet its liabilities, as they fall due, for the next three years. Viability period The Directors’ assessment has been made with reference to the Group’s current position and prospects, the Group’s three-year business plan, the Group’s risk appetite and the expected impact of severe but plausible downside scenarios. Given the Group’s acquisitive nature in recent years and future organic growth strategy, a three-year window is considered the most appropriate horizon for the Group’s management to make its viability statement because it is the period over which it can forecast, with reasonable clarity, the Group’s financial performance, cash flows and strategic position. A 12-month period from the date of signing of the financial statements is considered for the going concern assessment (see note 1.2 to the financial statements on page 182). Business planning process The business plan makes certain assumptions about the performance of the core revenue streams and segments, using existing product lines as well as assumptions on take-up of new product lines. It considers known inorganic activity, as well as assumptions on: the appropriate levels of investment to support expected performance; the ability to refinance debt as required; and expected returns to shareholders. Assessment of viability The principal risks and uncertainties facing the Group are set out on pages 52 to 55 of the Strategic Report. In addition, the financial risk management note (see note 17.5 to the financial statements on pages 166 to 171) includes: the Group’s objectives, policies and processes for managing its capital; its financial risk management objectives; and its exposure to credit risk, liquidity risk and market risk. The business plan is stress-tested using severe but plausible downside scenarios, as determined relevant by the Financial Risk Committee, over the full three-year plan period. These scenarios are then assessed against the Group’s risk appetite parameters. Impacts on the performance of core revenue streams and segments are modelled through flexing business inputs, with appropriate mitigating factors also considered. The scenarios tested cover a broad range of risks. Some of the key scenarios modelled are discussed in the table below. The results show that the geopolitical threat scenario would have the largest impact on Group EBITDA. No scenario over the three- year period leads to a breach of the Group’s risk appetite thresholds, or an inability to meet the Group’s financial obligations through insufficient headroom. The likelihood of these scenarios materialising is viewed as remote. Borrowing facilities The Group’s borrowing facilities and respective repayment dates, and the net debt position of the Group, are included in note 16 to the financial statements, on pages 152 to 156. Conclusion The Directors assessed the prospects and viability of the Group in accordance with Provision 31 of the UK Corporate Governance Code taking into account the Group’s three-year business plan, and the principal risks to the Group’s future performance and liquidity. The Directors have a reasonable expectation that the Group has the ability to meet its obligations over the viability period. Scenario Assumption Associated risk Global financial crisis A replay of the 2008 crisis, reassessed for purpose and fitness with current market conditions. The scenario considers the collapse of a major financial institution and a simultaneous default of one medium-sized (domestic rather than international) bank. Additionally, the scenario includes the consolidation of four globally systemic banks into two. Global economic and geopolitical. See page 53 for more information. Geopolitical threat Escalation of geopolitical tensions that impacts global markets and trade. This scenario considers the impact to revenues due to sanctions and supply chain issues, and access to funding. Global economic and geopolitical. See page 53 for more information. Cyber security threats The scenario considers a cyber ransomware attack impacting the Group’s ability to serve a large portion of its customers. Information and cyber security. See page 54 for more information. 56 Strategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 ![]() Governance In this section Complying with the UK Corporate Governance Code 58 Corporate governance introduction 59 Board of Directors 60 Corporate governance report 64 Report of the Nomination Committee 72 Report of the Audit Committee 76 Report of the Risk Committee 80 Directors’ Remuneration report 82 Directors’ report 104 Statement of Directors’ responsibilities 109 This section of the Annual Report describes how LSEG is governed and the control structures we have in place. Good corporate governance is key to promoting the long-term sustainable success of the Company, achieving the Group’s objectives, generating value for shareholders and contributing to wider society. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 57 Financial Statements Additional InformationStrategic Report Governance ![]() Complying with the UK Corporate Governance Code Throughout the financial year ended 31 December 2025 and to the date of this report, London Stock Exchange Group plc has applied the principles and complied with the provisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024 (the “Code”). The Code is publicly available at the website of the UK Financial Reporting Council at www.frc.org.uk. Details of how the principles of the Code have been applied can be found throughout this Governance section, the Strategic Report, and the Committee reports. The following table outlines where narrative on the Code principles is positioned throughout the Annual Report: Section heading Page 1. Board leadership and Company purpose A. Leadership, long-term sustainable success, generating value for shareholders and contributing to wider society Corporate governance report 65 B. Company purpose, values and strategy Our purpose and strategy Sustainability 10 to 11 37 C. Governance reporting Corporate governance report 64 to 71 D. Effective engagement with stakeholders Board engagement with stakeholders Corporate governance report 47 to 49 65 E. Workforce policies and practices Sustainability 44 to 45 2. Division of responsibilities F. Leadership of the Board Corporate governance report 66 G. Board composition and division of responsibilities Board of Directors Corporate governance report 60 to 63 66 to 67 H. Role and time commitment of Non-Executive Directors Corporate governance report 66 to 67 I. Policies, processes, information, time and resources, and support of the Company Secretary Corporate governance report 64 to 71 3. Composition, succession and evaluation J. Board appointment process and effective succession planning Report of the Nomination Committee 72 to 75 K. Board and Committee skills, experience and knowledge Board of Directors Corporate governance report 60 to 63 67 L. Annual Board and individual Director evaluation Corporate governance report 68 to 69 4. Audit, risk and internal control M. Independence and effectiveness of internal and external audit function Report of the Audit Committee 78 N. Fair, balanced and understandable assessment of the Company’s position and prospects Report of the Audit Committee 79 O. Procedures to manage risk, oversee internal control framework and determine nature and extent of principal risks Principal risks and uncertainties Corporate governance report 52 to 55 70 to 71 5. Remuneration P. Remuneration policies and practices Report of the Remuneration Committee 82 to 103 Q. Procedure for developing policy on Executive, Director and senior management remuneration Report of the Remuneration Committee 82 to 103 R. Independent judgement and discretion in remuneration outcomes Report of the Remuneration Committee 82 to 103 London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 58 Governance ![]() Corporate governance introduction Dear Shareholders, On behalf of the Board, I am pleased to present our Corporate governance report for the year ended 31 December 2025, which aims to provide details of how our Board has approached its responsibilities during the year, as well as an overview of how LSEG is governed, the activities of the Board and the control structures we have in place. Our Board is responsible for the long-term sustainable success of the Company, generating value for shareholders and contributing to wider society. We approach this by supporting and challenging executive management to ensure that we operate to high governance standards in line with our purpose and values. This report explains how we seek to achieve this and contains some highlights from 2025 from my perspective as Chair. Together with the reports of the Committees, we have set out how the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024 (the “Code”) has been applied during the year. Changes to our Board During the year, we welcomed Lloyd Pitchford and Dame Elizabeth Corley to our Board as independent Non-Executive Directors. We also announced that Dominic Blakemore and Martin Brand would step down from the Board as Non-Executive Directors following the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting in April 2026. At that time, Lloyd will succeed Dominic as Chair of the Audit Committee. You can read more about our new Directors and the processes followed in relation to Board appointments in the Report of the Nomination Committee on page 72 to 75. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Dominic and Martin for their significant contributions during a period of rapid transformation for the Group. I would also like to thank Dominic for his leadership of the Audit Committee over the past six years. Engagement with our stakeholders Listening to our stakeholders, and understanding their perspectives, is key to ensuring that our discussions and decision- making as a Board appropriately considers, and where appropriate, responds to their views. During 2025, we continued our programme of engagement with key stakeholder groups, to ensure that our dialogue with them remains consistent and effective. You can read more about our engagement with our key stakeholders on pages 47 to 49. Board composition We continue to meet two of the three Board diversity targets set out in the Financial Conduct Authority’s UK Listing Rules. We also meet one of the targets recommended by the FTSE Women Leaders Review (with one of our four senior Board positions being held by a woman) and the Parker Review recommendations (with one of the Directors being from a minority ethnic background). Following the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting in April 2026, female representation on the Board will be 45% and all three of the FCA’s targets will be met at that time, as well as both recommendations of the FTSE Women Leaders Review. For more information on Board diversity, please see the Nomination Committee report on pages 72 to 75. Commitment to sustainability Our Board continues to make LSEG’s contribution to sustainability a priority, reflecting the expectations of our stakeholders. Across the Group, we are advancing a range of initiatives that support our ambition to act as a strategic enabler of sustainable economic growth. With our global reach, data capabilities and market infrastructure, LSEG is uniquely positioned to lead the transition to a sustainable future. Further information on the Group’s work on sustainability can be found in the Sustainability section of the Strategic Report on pages 37 to 46. Committee governance The Chairs of the Audit Committee, Risk Committee, Nomination Committee and Remuneration Committee report on the activities of each of the Committees during the year from pages 72 to 103. I would like to thank the Committee Chairs for the work they have done during the year. External Board performance review This year’s review of the performance of our Board was externally facilitated and conducted by No 4 Consulting, an independent advisory firm. The Board reviewed the results and agreed areas of focus for 2026. We are committed to ensuring that these focus areas are acted upon to further enhance Board performance. I can confirm that the actions from the 2024 effectiveness review were completed during the year. Summaries of our actions from the 2024 effectiveness review and the results of the 2025 review can be found on pages 68 and 69. Compliance with the Code The Company has applied the principles and complied with the provisions of the Code throughout the financial year ended 31 December 2025 and to the date of this report. This report is intended to give shareholders a clear and comprehensive picture of the Group’s governance arrangements and how they operated during the year. Further information on compliance with the Code is detailed on page 58. Conclusion I would like to express my thanks to my Board colleagues for their commitment and constructive challenge throughout 2025 as we continue to support the Company’s execution of its strategy in the coming year. I hope this report provides valuable insights into our activities and approach to governance. I encourage all shareholders to vote their shares in favour of all resolutions to be considered at our AGM in April 2026. Full details of the AGM will be provided in the Notice of Meeting. Don Robert CBE Chair 25 February 2026 London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 59 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Michel-Alain Proch Group Chief Financial Officer Appointed to the Board inMarch2024. David Schwimmer Group Chief Executive Officer Appointed to the Board inAugust2018. Don Robert CBE Chair of the Company Appointed to the Board in January 2019 and Chair of the Company in May 2019. Board of Directors The Board’s membership reflects a wide range of skills and business experience, drawn from a number of industries, which is critical for bringing the expertise required and to enable different perspectives to be brought to Board discussions. Skills, knowledge and contribution – Strong track record in global financial services, international business and mergers and acquisitions – Expert regulatory knowledge, accompanied with a deep understanding of technology and data and analytics – Significant executive and non-executive listed board experience Experience Don spent 18 years at multinational information company Experian plc, where he most recently served as Chairman (2014-2019). Prior to that he was Group Chief Executive (2005-2014) and CEO of the North American business (2001-2005). Don has served in a variety of senior roles including Chair of the US Consumer Data Industry Association, Senior Independent Director of Compass Group plc, Non-Executive Director of the Court of Directors, Bank of England and Chair of the videogames services company, Keywords Studios plc (2023-2024). Other current appointments Chair, Bupa; Chair of Council, The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine; Partner, Corten Capital; Non-Executive Director, Validis Group Holdings Limited; Non-Executive Director, FlexFactor; Visiting Fellow, Oxford University; Honorary Group Captain, Royal Air Force; Supporting Chair, Chapter Zero. Skills, knowledge and contribution – A wealth of knowledge surrounding market structure, investment banking and emerging markets – Extensive experience in corporate finance, capital markets, and mergers and acquisitions – Deep understanding of the business and the markets within which the Group operates Experience Since joining the Group in 2018, David has overseen the transformation of LSEG from a European regional exchange group to a diversified, global leader in financial markets infrastructure and data services. Prior to his role at LSEG, David spent 20 years at Goldman Sachs in a number of senior roles, most recently as Global Head of Market Structure and Global Head of Metals & Mining. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, he practiced law at Davis Polk & Wardwell. Other current appointments Non-Executive Director, Centre for New American Security (Not-for-Profit). Skills, knowledge and contribution – Significant financial leadership experience in global listed companies – Deep experience across global, financial infrastructure and IT data solutions firms – Extensive experience of mergers and acquisitions and delivering strategic growth Experience Prior to joining the Group on 26 February 2024, Michel-Alain was Group Chief Financial Officer of Publicis Groupe SA (2021-2024) where he led the global finance team across 100 countries. Prior to joining Publicis Groupe, Michel-Alain was CFO of Ingenico until its acquisition by Worldline (2019-2020), and then served as adviser to the CEO in the integration of the two companies. He previously spent almost 13 years at Atos in a number of senior roles, including Group Chief Financial Officer, CEO, North America and Group Chief Digital Officer, completing and integrating several strategic acquisitions. Michel-Alain was formerly the Vice-Chairman of Maison Du Monde (2020-2024). Other current appointments Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee, Pluxee N.V. Audit Committee Nomination Committee Remuneration Committee Risk Committee Committee Chair A N Re Ri N Re Director changes in 2025 Lloyd Pitchford – Joined the Board on 30 April 2025. Dame Elizabeth Corley – Joined the Board on 1 December 2025. Director changes after 31 December 2025 Dominic Blakemore – Steps down from the Board following the AGM on 23 April 2026. Martin Brand – Steps down from the Board following the AGM on 23 April 2026. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 60 Governance ![]() Dominic Blakemore Independent Non-Executive Director Appointed to the Board inJanuary2020. Martin Brand Independent Non-Executive Director Appointed to the Board inJanuary2021. Dame Elizabeth Corley Independent Non-Executive Director Appointed to the Board inDecember 2025. Professor KathleenDeRose Independent Non-Executive Director Appointed to the Board inDecember2018. Board of Directors continued Skills, knowledge and contribution – Executive leadership experience in capital markets and asset and wealth management – Significant non-executive listed board experience – Expertise in the financial technology market, risk management, and data and analytics Experience Kathleen is a Clinical Associate Professor of Finance at New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business. Previous to this, she held a number of senior roles at Credit Suisse Group AG (2010-2015). Kathleen’s other prior positions have included Managing Partner, and Head of Portfolio Management and Research at Hagin Investment Management (2006-2010), and Managing Director, Head of Large Cap Equities at Bessemer Trust (2003-2006). Preceding 2003, Kathleen also held a number of roles at Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase (formerly Chase Manhattan Bank). In addition to her senior executive positions, Kathleen was founding Chair of Evolute Group AG (2016-2017) and served as a board member of EDGE (Economic Dividends for Gender Equality) (2014-2015). Other current appointments Non-Executive Director, Experian plc; Chairperson, Apron Payments Ltd; Non-Executive Director, Voya Financial Inc.; Non-Executive Director, Taxwell; Head of Fintech Initiative, Fubon Centre for Technology, Business, and Innovation. Skills, knowledge and contribution – Significant board and executive experience across listed companies – Highly accomplished in corporate finance, with a focus on the financial technology sector – Extensive experience in strategic planning, data and analytics, and mergers and acquisitions Experience Martin is Head of Blackstone Capital Partners at Blackstone Inc. His work at Blackstone Inc. has seen him involved in several of their high-profile investments including: Sphera, Ellucian, Refinitiv, Bumble, IntraFi and Paysafe. He is a member of several of Blackstone’s investment committees. He previously worked as a derivatives trader with Goldman Sachs in New York and Tokyo, and with McKinsey & Company in London. He was Chair of Tradeweb Markets (a subsidiary of LSEG) until February 2022 and a Director of Refinitiv until 2021. Other current appointments Non-Executive Director, Bumble Inc; Director, UKG Software; Director, Liftoff Mobile; Director, Smartsheet Inc; Trustee, American Academy Berlin. N NA Ri Skills, knowledge and contribution – Deep expertise in asset management, impact investment and global financial markets – Significant non-executive experience across a range of listed company boards – Extensive experience in governance and strategic leadership across the financial services industry Experience Dame Elizabeth is Chair of Schroders plc, a role she has held since 2022, having joined the Board in 2021. She previously held non-executive director roles at BAE Systems plc (2016-2025), Pearson plc (2014-2021) and Morgan Stanley Inc (2018-2022). From 2005 to 2016, Elizabeth was Chief Executive Officer of Allianz Global Investors, first overseeing operations in Europe and later globally. Earlier in her career, she held senior positions at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (1993-2004). Other current appointments Chair Emerita, Impact Investing Institute; Non-Executive Director, Green Finance Institute Limited; Director, British Museum Trust; Member, Leverhulme Trust Investment Committee; Member, CFA Research & Policy Center Advisory Council. N Ri Skills, knowledge and contribution – Extensive experience in corporate finance, investor relations and capital markets – Significant financial leadership experience from various international financial institutions – Strong strategic planning and decision- making experience Experience Dominic is a chartered accountant and has been Group Chief Executive Officer of Compass Group plc since 2018. Previously, he served as Deputy Chief Executive Officer (2017), Group Chief Operating Officer, Europe (2015-2017) and Group Finance Director (2012-2015). Prior to these roles, Dominic served as Chief Financial Officer of Iglo Foods Group Limited (2010-2011). He also held the position of European Finance & Strategy Director at Cadbury plc (2008-2010). Dominic was formerly a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee of Shire plc (2014-2018). Other current appointments Vice-Chair, University College London; Chair, FareShare. N RiA London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 61 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Tsega Gebreyes Independent Non-Executive Director Appointed to the Board inJune 2021. Scott Guthrie Non-Executive Director Appointed to the Board inFebruary2023. Cressida Hogg CBE Senior Independent Director Appointed to the Board inMarch2019. Lloyd Pitchford Independent Non-Executive Director Appointed to the Board inApril2025. Board of Directors continued Skills, knowledge and contribution – Significant board and executive level experience combined with a strong corporate background in infrastructure, private equity, mergers and acquisitions, and investments – Strong Chair experience and competency in embedding corporate governance values – Specialist knowledge in capital markets, financial services regulation and pensions Experience Cressida was Global Head of Infrastructure at Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (2014-2018). Previous to this, she spent nearly 20 years with 3i Group plc and was one of the co-founders of 3i’s Infrastructure business in 2005, before becoming Managing Partner in 2009. In addition to her senior executive positions, Cressida served as Chair of Land Securities Group plc (2018-2023) having been appointed as a Non-Executive Director in 2014. Other current appointments Chair, BAE Systems plc; Member, Wellcome Trust Investment Committee; Member, The Takeover Panel; President, Confederation of British Industry. N ReA Skills, knowledge and contribution – Market-leading experience in cloud infrastructure and data and analytics – A deep and valuable understanding of the technology market – Specialist in digital transformation Experience Scott has over 28 years of experience leading large technology teams at Microsoft and has been Executive Vice President of Microsoft’s Cloud and AI division since 2014. He is responsible for Microsoft Azure and Microsoft’s Cloud and Data Platforms. Scott was previously Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Azure (2011-2014), Corporate Vice President of Microsoft’s Developer Division (2008-2011) and General Manager Microsoft Developer Division (2005-2008). Other current appointments None. Skills, knowledge and contribution – Deep financial services and capital markets experience gained from various global senior executive and non-executive roles – Significant expertise in international business and technology – Strong background in strategy and business development Experience Tsega is a Founding Director at Satya Capital Limited. Previously, she spent seven years at Celtel International, a leading mobile telecommunications provider in the Middle East and North Africa. During her tenure at Celtel, Tsega held a variety of senior roles including Senior Group Adviser, Zain Africa BV (2007-2016), Chief Strategy and Development Officer (2005-2007), Chief Business Development and Mergers & Acquisitions Officer (2003-2005) and Director, Mobile Commerce and New Product Development (2000-2003). In addition to her senior executive positions, Tsega has served as Vice Chair of SES SA, and Non-Executive Director of Sonae SA (2015-2019), ISON Group (2013-2018), Hygeia Nigeria Limited (2009- 2015) and Non-Executive Director of Mastercard Foundation (2023-2025). Other current appointments Senior Independent Director, Airtel Africa plc; Advisory Council Member, Mo Ibrahim Foundation; Non-Executive Director, Mastercard Foundation Asset Management Corporation. NA N Ri Skills, knowledge and contribution – Significant expertise in financial management and strategic planning within global growth organisations – Extensive experience in data and information management in highly regulated environments, whilst overseeing complex data driven initiatives – Brings a wealth of experience from senior roles across multiple sectors, offering a broad and diverse perspective Experience Lloyd is the Chief Financial Officer at Experian plc, a role he has held since 2014. Before joining Experian, Lloyd served as the Chief Financial Officer of Intertek Group plc (2010-2014) and held senior finance roles at BG Group plc (1999-2010), including Group Financial Controller (2005-2010). He also gained valuable experience in financial and commercial roles at Mobil Oil (1991-1999). Prior to joining the LSEG Board, Lloyd served as a Non-Executive Director at Bunzl plc (2017-2025), where he chaired the Audit Committee and was a member of the Remuneration, Nomination and Sustainability Committees. Other current appointments None. N RiA London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 62 Governance ![]() William Vereker Independent Non-Executive Director Appointed to the Board inOctober2022. Dr. Val Rahmani Independent Non-Executive Director Appointed to the Board inDecember2017. Skills, knowledge and contribution – Significant expertise and knowledge of technology and technical risk management – Deep understanding of digital transformation, innovation, sales and marketing – Extensive listed director experience accompanied by expert corporate governance knowledge Experience Val worked for IBM for almost 30 years and was Chief Executive Officer of cyber security start-up, Damballa Inc., for four years. Her past career also included Non-Executive Director positions at Aberdeen Asset Management plc, Teradici Corporation and CTG, Inc. Val previously ran the Innovation Panel for Standard Life Aberdeen and holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in Chemistry from the University of Oxford. Other current appointments Non-Executive Director, RenaissanceRe Holdings Limited; Non-Executive Director, Entrust. Skills, knowledge and contribution – Highly experienced banker, including experience in executive roles – Significant knowledge and experience of capital markets, post-trade and investment banking – Deep knowledge of financial services and regulatory and government relations Experience William was Vice Chair of the EMEA Investment Bank at JP Morgan in 2020. Prior to that he served as the Prime Minister’s Business Envoy (2018-2019) and held senior roles at UBS (2013-2018), including Global Head of Investment Banking (2016-2018). Before joining UBS, William held a number of senior executive roles at Nomura (2009-2013) and Lehman Brothers (2005-2008). He began his career at Morgan Stanley where he held a number of roles in M&A and Investment Banking. William was also Chair of Santander UK (2020-2025) and a Member of the UK Investment Council (2021-2024). Other current appointments Non-Executive Director, Macquarie Group Limited; Member, Advisory Board, Celonis GmbH; Chair, Advisory Board of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge; Member and Special Advisor, Delancey Credit Fund Investment Committee. N Re Ri N Re Ri Board of Directors continued Board and Committee meetings The table shows the number of scheduled and ad hoc meetings attended against the number of meetings each Director was eligible to attend. Director Board Audit Risk Nomination Remuneration Don Robert CBE 1 6/7 2/2 3/4 David Schwimmer 7/7 Michel-Alain Proch 7/7 Dominic Blakemore 7/7 4/4 4/4 2/2 Martin Brand 2 5/7 2/2 Dame Elizabeth Corley 3 1/1 1/1 0/1 Kathleen DeRose 7/7 4/4 4/4 2/2 Tsega Gebreyes 7/7 4/4 4/4 2/2 Scott Guthrie 7/7 2/2 Cressida Hogg CBE 7/7 4/4 2/2 4/4 Lloyd Pitchford 4 4/6 2/3 2/3 2/2 Val Rahmani 7/7 4/4 2/2 4/4 William Vereker 7/7 4/4 2/2 4/4 1 Don Robert was unable to attend an ad hoc Remuneration Committee meeting in April 2025 due to a pre-existing commitment, or the Board meeting in October 2025 due to a family commitment. Cressida Hogg chaired the Board on that occasion. 2 Martin Brand did not attend an ad hoc Board meeting in June 2025 due to a potential conflict of interest. Mr Brand was unable to attend the Board meeting in July 2025 due to another commitment. Directors who joined the Board in 2025 3 Dame Elizabeth Corley was appointed as a Director on 1 December 2025. Dame Elizabeth was unable to attend the Nomination Committee meeting in December 2025 due to a pre-existing commitment which had been arranged and agreed with the Chair prior to joining the Board. 4 Lloyd Pitchford was appointed as a Director on 30 April 2025. Mr Pitchford was unable to attend the Board and Committee meetings in June 2025 due to a pre-existing commitment which had been arranged and agreed with the Chair prior to joining the Board. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 63 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Corporate governance report Board activities Principal activities during the year Each of the regular meetings includes a wide-ranging report from the Chief Executive Officer, together with reports from the Chief Financial Officer and the Chief Operating Officer. Reports from the Committee Chairs and updates on major projects, including the LSEG-Microsoft Partnership, were also provided at each Board meeting. The Board’s activities supported the delivery of our purpose and strategy as set out in the Strategic Report from page 10. During the year, the key matters considered by the Board included the following: Area of focus Key activities and outcomes Customers – Received briefings on customer engagement, including sales and account management, and banking customers. – Held a direct customer engagement session during the visit to the New York office resulting in deeper insights gained on customer needs and concerns. – Received updates on customer metrics, key customer initiatives and new products and services, including in relation to the partnership with Microsoft and the use of AI to improve customer experience. Strategy and execution – Discussed the long-term strategic direction and priorities at the Annual Board Strategy Day and approved the Group strategy. – Received regular updates on progress against the strategic objectives. – Monitored progress on the strategic partnership with Microsoft for next-generation data and analytics, cloud infrastructure and AI integration. – Received regular updates on progress to transition to a product-led operating model, AI-ready products, transformation, achieving stated targets and synergies, customer matters, people and culture, and technology. – Considered LSEG’s competitive position against its industry peers as part of strategic planning and execution discussions at the Board Strategy Day. – Approved the SwapClear partnership and the Post Trade Solutions transaction, which comprised of the sale of a 20% equity stake in Post Trade Solutions to key customer banks, in combination with an amendment and extension of the SwapClear revenue share arrangements. The partnership deepens the relationships with key customer banks, supporting future growth. Finance andcapital – Examined the Group’s financial performance at every Board meeting and approved the Group’s financial statements. – Reviewed and approved the annual budget and three-year strategic plan. – Considered and approved the final and interim dividends, resulting in the payment of £718 million to shareholders during the year. – Approved on-market share buybacks returning value to shareholders of £2.5 billion over the 12-month period from March 2025 to February 2026. – Approved debt programme matters including: a $250 million repurchase of the $1,250 million 2.5% bond issued in April 2021 under the Global Medium Term Note Programme; an increase of the European Medium Term Note (EMTN) Programme limit to £10 billion; and the issuance of fixed rate bonds to the value of CHF150 million, JPY40 billion and £900 million under the EMTN Programme. Sustainability – Reviewed and approved LSEG’s Sustainability Report 2024 (including TCFD Report), Sustainability Databook 2024 and Modern Slavery Statement. – Received a briefing on upcoming changes to sustainability reporting including the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, UK Sustainability Reporting Standards, and reviewed and challenged LSEG’s approach to reporting against the regulations. – Reviewed LSEG’s sustainability performance against strategy and targets in 2025 and discussed the priorities for 2026. People and culture – Received updates on the people and culture strategy, and reviewed examples of how the strategy was being implemented and would support the Group’s strategic ambitions. – Received updates on focus areas to promote a high-performance culture including: organisational design; leadership; talent development and workforce capability; equity, diversity and inclusion; and performance and reward. – Received updates on leadership and cultural initiatives to support the transition to a product-led operating model. – Received updates on: employee welfare, including rewards, benefits and wellbeing offerings; and compensation reviews. – Received updates on the Group’s progress to support equity, diversity and inclusion, including the launch of a multi-year Disability Action Plan. – Approved updates to the Code of Conduct setting out the standards of behaviour expected at LSEG and promoting an inclusive, high-performance culture. – Received regular updates from the Directors on their engagement with colleagues across the Group – see page 47 for details of the Board/Employee Engagement programme. – Discussed the results of the annual LSEG Engage survey and related management actions in response to workforce feedback. Risk management and internal controls – Received updates from the Chief Risk Officer on key risk management and internal control matters, and discussed key risks and, where applicable, risk-reduction activities. – Considered the Group’s risk profile and approved the principal and emerging risks. – Received updates on technology risk, cyber security, sustainability risk and operational resilience, including refreshed key risk indicators. – Reviewed and approved the Group’s risk appetite statements. – Reviewed and approved the risk management and internal control frameworks and their effectiveness. – Received briefings on the preparations for compliance with the revised requirements of Provision 29 of the Code. – Received updates from the Chairs of the Risk and Audit Committees on matters considered by these Committees. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 64 Governance ![]() Corporate governance report continued Board and Committee meetings Comprehensive Board and Committee papers, comprising an agenda and formal reports and briefing papers, are sent to Directors in advance of each meeting. Directors are also updated with written and verbal reports from senior executives and external advisers during meetings. The Non-Executive Directors meet privately without the Executive Directors being present after every Board meeting. Board training and deep dives The Board regularly reviews the need for additional training and focused briefings on key topics. During 2025, the Board participated in sessions relating to artificial intelligence strategy and governance as well as new sustainability reporting regulations. The strategic partnership with Microsoft was discussed at every Board meeting and during separate sessions with management outside of Board meetings to receive updates on products and progress. The Board also received comprehensive briefings on the Group’s business divisions and strategy during the Board visit to the New York office. Chairs’ Forum The Chairs’ Forum is comprised of the Chairs of the Group’s principal regulated subsidiaries and the Chair of the Company, with the Group CEO being invited to meetings on a regular basis. The Forum provides opportunities for relevant subsidiary Chairs from across the Group to engage on common themes and topics of interest. During the year, this included: the completion of the SwapClear partnership and investment in Post Trade Solutions with key customer banks; challenges and opportunities presented by artificial intelligence; multi-year technology planning and innovation; and non-executive director rotations. Culture The Board has established the Group’s strategy, purpose and values and understands the importance of satisfying itself that the Group’s culture is also aligned and appropriately embedded. The Board receives an annual update from the Chief People Officer on progress to embed the Group’s strategic ambitions around culture and an analysis of key areas of feedback from the annual engagement survey results. Board members also utilised engagement sessions with colleagues and townhalls to monitor and promote LSEG’s culture by directly listening to the views of the workforce and highlighting the cultural ambitions of the Group. To support the Board’s ongoing assessment and oversight of culture, the Board received dashboards at each Board meeting monitoring key cultural performance indicators. Organisational frameworks and policies underpin the relationship between LSEG’s purpose, values and culture. The Board reviewed and approved the Group’s Code of Conduct which sets out the behavioural and ethical expectations that are essential to preserving the desired culture at LSEG. Further information about how LSEG monitors and embeds its culture, can be found in the Strategic Report on pages 44 to 47. Stakeholder engagement The Board seeks to understand the interests, needs and concerns of shareholders and other key stakeholders (including the workforce, customers, suppliers and regulators) to enable LSEG to pursue long-term sustainable success. For more information on how we engage with our stakeholders as well as how the Board has discharged its duties under Section 172 of the Companies Act, please see pages 47 to 51 of the Strategic Report. Our governance framework The structure of our governance framework is set out in the diagram on page 66 and confirms that the Board holds primary responsibility for ensuring the long-term success of the Company, primarily for the benefit of our shareholders. The Board has delegated certain responsibilities to its Committees and delegates authority for day-to-day operations to the CEO. Board responsibilities The LSEG Board is collectively responsible for the long term, sustainable success of the Company, the delivery of sustainable value to its shareholders and contributing to wider society. The Board: – Provides leadership of the Company and is responsible for setting the strategy and maintaining high standards of governance. – Leads the development of the Group’s culture, values and behaviours. – Oversees the execution of the Group’s strategy and holds executive management to account for its delivery. – Oversees key strategic matters and their related risks, including sustainability, technology (including cyber and AI) and human capital management. – Reviews and holds management to account for financial and business performance. – Ensures necessary resources are in place for the Group to be able to meet its objectives and measures performance against these. – Ensures the establishment of a framework of effective controls, which enable risk to be assessed and managed. – Bears ultimate responsibility for the oversight of risk management and internal controls. – Ensures that its responsibilities to shareholders and stakeholders are met, including through effective engagement (including having workforce policies and practices that are consistent with the Company’s values and that support the Company’s long-term sustainable success). In carrying out their duties, the Directors act in accordance with all relevant and applicable legislative and regulatory rules. In particular, they take into account Directors’ duties contained in the Companies Act 2006 (the “Act”) and will consider the factors listed in Section 172 of the Act and any other relevant factors. LSEG’s Section 172(1) statement for the year ended 31 December 2025, including details of certain Board decisions taken during the year, can be found on pages 50 to 51 of the Strategic Report. The Directors have full access to the advice and services of the Group Company Secretary, who is responsible for advising on corporate governance matters. Board Committees The Board has delegated certain responsibilities to four Board Committees: the Audit, Nomination, Remuneration and Risk Committees. Full details of the Committees’ responsibilities are set out in individual Terms of Reference which are available on the corporate website. The work undertaken by each Committee during the financial year is detailed within the respective Committee reports on pages 72 to 103. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 65 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Corporate governance report continued Division of responsibilities The Board maintains a division of responsibilities between the leadership of the Board and executive leadership of the Group. The responsibilities of the Chair, the Senior Independent Director and the Group Chief Executive are approved by the Board. The Board’s statement of division of responsibilities has been made publicly available on our website: www.lseg.com/en/about-us/ corporate-governance. Chair Don Robert CBE – Leads the Board and is responsible for the overall effectiveness of its operation – Manages and is accountable for Board succession planning – Ensures that there is effective communication by the Company with its shareholders and other key stakeholders, including personally engaging with these parties – Chairs all general meetings of the members of the Company, including the Annual General Meeting – Ensures that Board members receive accurate, timely, and clear information to make informed decisions Group Chief Financial Officer Michel-Alain Proch – Provides expert knowledge and experience on all financial matters – Collaborates with the CEO and other executives to shape and execute the Company’s strategic plans – Communicates the Company’s financial performance to shareholders, and other key stakeholders – Manages and oversees the budgeting and financial planning process – Supports the CEO in developing and executing the strategic and financial objectives of the Company Group Company Secretary Lisa Condron – Ensures that the Board has the policies, processes, information, time and resources it needs to function effectively – Ensures that good information flows within the Board, its Committees and between Senior Management and Directors – Facilitates new Directors’ inductions, and arranges Board training to assist with the Directors’ professional development – Ensures that the Board has access to independent professional advice when necessary – Reports to the Chair on all Board governance matters Non-Executive Directors – Provide independent oversight and challenge to management – Assist management in the development of strategy – Review the Group’s financial information – Engage key stakeholders – Perform additional duties as required by membership of the Board’s committees Senior Independent Director Cressida Hogg CBE – Acts as a sounding board for the Chair – Leads the review of the performance of the Chair – Develops succession plans for the Chair – Acts as an intermediary between the Chair and other Directors when necessary – Is available to shareholders as necessary Group Chief Executive Officer David Schwimmer – Leads the Company on strategy and overall commercial objectives – Manages the day-to-day business of the Company – Leads and promotes the Company’s purpose, culture, values and behaviours – Implements the decisions of the Board, together with the Executive Committee – Acts as a key representative of the Company, supported by the CFO and other members of the Executive Committee, during engagement with shareholders and other stakeholders LSEG governance framework Shareholders Board of Directors See biographies on pages 60 to 63 Board Committees Nomination Committee See page 72 Audit Committee See page 76 Risk Committee See page 80 Remuneration Committee See page 82 Group Chief Executive Officer Executive Committee See biographies on page 7 Group management committees London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 66 Governance ![]() Relevant sector experience: Non-Executive Directors Data and analytics Post trade Capital markets Technology Financial qualifications FTSE100/Listed experience as either NED (other than LSEG) or Executive FS regulated Sustainability 4 1 8 7 3 10 6 3 Corporate governance report continued Board composition As at the date of this report, the Board is comprised of 13 members: the Chair, nine independent Non-Executive Directors, one Non-Executive Director (the Director appointed in connection with the strategic partnership with Microsoft) and two Executive Directors. Five of the Directors are women; one of the Directors is from a minority ethnic background; and one senior position is held by a female Director (Senior Independent Director). Dominic Blakemore and Martin Brand will step down from the Board following the conclusion of the AGM in April 2026, after which the Board will be comprised of 11 members, including seven independent Non-Executive Directors. Further information about diversity, inclusion and equal opportunity in the Board and executive management can be found in the Nomination Committee report starting on page72. Skills and expertise The Board, with support of the Nomination Committee, keeps under review the skills and experience of the Board to ensure that it has the breadth and depth of expertise to carry out its duties and responsibilities. The Directors remain satisfied that the Board contains the necessary skills and expertise to fulfil the Company’s long-term strategic objectives. In December 2025, the Directors considered the relevant sector experience for each Non-Executive Director; this has been summarised in the adjacent table. Further details on the Nomination Committee review of Board composition can be found on pages 72 to 75. Director independence The Board, with support from the Nomination Committee, has evaluated the independence of all the Non-Executive Directors. In assessing each Director, the Board considers whether there are relationships or circumstances that are likely to affect or could appear to affect a Director’s judgement. Scott Guthrie was appointed to the Board as a Non-Executive Director in 2023. Scott represents Microsoft Corporation and was appointed in connection with the strategic partnership. The Board agreed that Scott would not be considered independent under the Code given his relationship with Microsoft. Scott is not a member of the Audit, Remuneration or Risk Committees. Kathleen DeRose and Lloyd Pitchford are directors on the Board of Experian plc. The Board is satisfied that this does not impair their independence as Non-Executive Directors as they both demonstrate independent thought, character and judgement, provide constructive challenge and are independent of management. As such, the Board considers them to be independent. The Board has evaluated the independence of the other Non-Executive Directors and concluded that each is independent in character and judgement. The Chair was independent on appointment. In line with the Code, at least half the Board, excluding the Chair, are independent Non-Executive Directors. All Directors are subject to annual re-election at the AGM. Time commitment and conflicts of interest The Nomination Committee is responsible for reviewing time commitments and significant external appointments being undertaken by the Directors. The Chairman’s additional external appointments require approval by the Board. During the year, the Nomination Committee reviewed the additional external appointment of William Vereker as a Non-Executive Director of Macquarie Group Limited. It was agreed that the proposed appointment would not create any material conflict of interest and it was confirmed that William would have sufficient time to undertake the new role in addition to existing commitments. In accordance with the Companies Act 2006, the Directors have adopted a policy and procedures for the disclosure and authorisation of conflicts of interest. The Company’s Articles of Association allow the Board to authorise conflicts of interest that may arise and to impose such limits or conditions as it thinks fit. The Company has established procedures whereby actual and potential conflicts of interest are regularly reviewed, appropriate authorisation is sought prior to the appointment of any new Director, and new conflicts are addressed appropriately. These procedures have been followed during 2025. The decision to authorise a conflict of interest can only be made by non-conflicted Directors and, in making such decisions, the Directors must act in a way they consider, in good faith, would be most likely to promote the Company’s success. Induction The Group Company Secretary oversees the development of induction programmes for new Directors. These are designed to be comprehensive, formal and tailored to each Director, including discussions with key members of management and certain of the Group’s advisers. The programmes focus on the Group’s purpose, values, culture, strategy, operations, governance and stakeholders while considering the new Director’s relevant and existing skills and experience, as well as any additional requirements for Board Committee membership. New Non-Executive Directors receive an induction pack containing corporate and governance documents outlining the responsibilities attached to their appointment. Dame Elizabeth Corley was appointed as a Non-Executive Director and a member of the Risk and Nomination Committees on 1 December 2025. Noting Dame Elizabeth’s extensive knowledge of financial services and capital markets, her induction programme was tailored to focus on LSEG’s business strategy and risk profile. The induction plan includes meetings with the Chair, Executive Directors, Committee Chairs, each of the Executive Committee members, the Divisional Heads of Risk Intelligence and FTSE Russell, the Chief Internal Auditor and senior colleagues from the Finance leadership team. In addition, Dame Elizabeth had in-depth sessions with the Group Company Secretary and the external auditors. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 67 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Corporate governance report continued Board performance and leadership The Board annually reviews its performance in line with the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024 (the “Code”), with a review being externally facilitated every three years. In 2025, the Board performance review was externally facilitated by No 4 Consulting. 2024 performance review The 2024 performance review was facilitated internally and identified areas for further focus by the Board during 2025. These are summarised below, together with the resulting actions taken in 2025. Area Area of focus Summary of actions taken Stakeholder oversight Continued focus on understanding customer views and requirements, including the opportunities and related risks, with increased insights from a broader range of external parties and experts. – Continued direct and indirect engagement with customers, as summarised in the ‘Board engagement with stakeholders’ section on page 48 and ‘Principal activities during the year’ table on page 64. Strategic oversight Continued focus on the key strategic areas including: delivery of the LSEG-Microsoft Partnership (LMP), operational transformation and resilience, technology and AI, Data & Analytics strategy; and further incorporation of sustainability matters into Board discussions. – Reviewed the progress of the LMP at every Board meeting during the year, including programmes to deliver next-generation data and analytics, cloud infrastructure and AI integration. – Monitored the ongoing transformation to a customer-centric and product-led organisation. – Received briefings on AI strategy and products. – Considered sustainability matters four times during the year. – Continued the focus on key strategic areas as summarised in the ‘Principal activities during the year’ table on page 64. Risk oversight Continued focus on technology resilience alongside delivery of the technology strategy. – Oversight of product development, in particular in relation to developments arising from the partnership with Microsoft and AI-ready products. – Received updates on technology and product initiatives, which included the associated risks and mitigations in place to support the technology strategy. – Received updates on technology risk, cyber security and operational resilience, including refreshed key risk indicators. People oversight Continued focus on plans to develop talent in senior management. – The Nomination Committee reviewed executive succession plans and development plans for senior leaders within the Group. – Directors had direct engagement with some of the top talent in senior management. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 68 Governance ![]() 2025 performance review In 2025, the Board undertook an externally facilitated review of the performance of the Board, its Committees, the Chair and the individual Directors. The Board engaged JanHall of No 4 to facilitate this review. No 4 is not currently engaged in any other work on behalf of the Company. Jan interviewed each of the Directors using agreed discussion guidelines as the basis for each conversation. She sought the views of Directors on areas including: – Strategy, transformation, performance delivery and culture – AI, data and product development – Risk management – Board organisation – Succession planning – Stakeholder management – Board dynamics and Non-Executive Director and Executive interaction – Board knowledge and inductions – Board Committees The outputs of the review were reported to, and considered by, the Board and actions and focus areas for the Board and its Committees to undertake in 2026 were agreed. These are set out below. The results of the review will also be used to assist the Board in its future development, together with the development of its Committees and individual Directors. Results The review found that the Board and its Committees are functioning well and are effective. The review identified a number of positive attributes including: – Board dynamics and leadership: how well the Board works together with everyone feeling able to speak up and the Chair’s effective leadership of the Board – Board composition: the current mix of skill sets and experience, recognising the need to continue to succession plan for the future – Board Committees: their overall effectiveness and the performance by each of the Committee Chairs, how each Committee member is able to contribute and the quality of discussions – Non-Executive Director and Executive relationships: strong relationships with open and constructive interactions – Board support and management of meetings: Board governance and Board support was positively rated The results indicated that the Board considers that it has the appropriate balance of skills, experience, independence and knowledge to enable it and its Committees to discharge their duties and responsibilities effectively. Board areas of focus for 2026 The Board agreed the areas of focus for 2026 should be: – Strategic oversight: focus on long-term strategy to ensure the Group is well placed for the next stage of development and is able to meet future opportunities and challenges – Board composition: continue to plan the future composition of the Board and its Committees to ensure it has the appropriate mix of skills and experience to support the Group’s future strategy and growth as well as navigate the evolving external landscape – People oversight: continued oversight of Executive succession planning and development, and ensuring that the organisation adapts and grows to support the future strategy – Deepening Board knowledge: ensure that the Board remains up to speed with the trends impacting the Group through additional Board deep dives Committee areas of focus for 2026 Audit Committee – Continued oversight of the programme of work being undertaken to ensure compliance with revised Provision 29 of the Code, in close alignment with the Risk Committee – Providing support to the new Chief Internal Auditor Risk Committee – Working with the Audit Committee to ensure compliance with Provision 29 of the Code – Technology resilience and cyber security remain key areas of focus Remuneration Committee – Preparation for the 2027 Remuneration Policy review Nomination Committee – Board and Executive succession planning to ensure that the Group is well placed to deliver its future strategy Corporate governance report continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 69 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Risk management and internal control The Board is ultimately responsible for the Company’s overall approach to risk management and internal control. The Board is supported in discharging its risk management and internal control responsibilities by the Audit and Risk Committees, which have been delegated specific duties as set out in their Terms of Reference. The Board has established and maintains a risk management framework which prescribes the extent of the principal risks the Group is willing to take to achieve its long-term strategy. The system of internal controls has been designed to manage the Group’s activities within the risk appetite set by the Board and provide reasonable assurance that risks are being effectively managed or mitigated. The framework covers all material controls, including those to manage financial, operational and compliance risks, and safeguards the quality and integrity of both internal and external financial and non-financial reporting. The Audit and Risk Committees work jointly to monitor the adequacy and effectiveness of the Company’s systems of risk management and internal control and oversee the work to further enhance and strengthen the internal control environment. Further details on the work of the Audit Committee can be found on pages 76 to 79 and further details on the work of the Risk Committee can be found on pages 80 to 81. The Group is committed to operating within a robust control environment. A summary of the Group’s risk management frameworks and internal controls are listed below. Principal and emerging risk management The Board, with support from the Risk Committee, conducted a robust assessment of the Company’s principal and emerging risks for the financial year. The Risk Committee monitors the Group’s risk profile including its principal and emerging risks during the year and updates the Board after each meeting. A summary of the Company’s principal and emerging risks and the procedures to identify and manage those risks can be found on pages 52 to 55. Risk management framework The Risk Committee reviews the Enterprise Risk Management Framework (ERMF) at least annually and recommends enhancements to the Board. The ERMF sets out the Company’s approach to managing risk and ensures that risks are adequately understood and managed within risk appetite across the Group. Further details on the ERMF can be found in the principal risks and uncertainties section of the Strategic Report on page 52. Risk appetite statement The Group Risk Appetite Statement outlines the key concepts of risk appetite and risk tolerance that the Group will accept in pursuit of its strategic objectives. The Board, following recommendation from the Risk Committee, approves the Group Risk Appetite Statement at least annually. Further information on the Group Risk Appetite Statement can be found in the Principal risks and uncertainties section in the Strategic report on page 52. Internal control framework The Audit Committee monitors the effectiveness of the Group’s internal control framework. The Board, with support from the Audit Committee, reviews the effectiveness of the Group’s key controls including those related to financial, operational, reporting and compliance. During 2025, the Board, with support from the Audit Committee, had oversight of enhancement programmes to the Group’s material and key internal controls in preparation for the new requirements of Provision 29 of the Code and the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. A summary of the Audit Committee’s oversight of the internal control framework can be found in the Report of the Audit Committee on page 78. Financial control framework The Group has an established Financial Control Framework (FCF) that seeks to maintain a robust financial control environment, that mitigates the risk of material financial misstatement and helps protect the Group against financial fraud. The FCF aims to ensure clear links between the Group’s financial reporting risks and the associated processes and control environment, making sure these are tested and appropriately documented. The FCF is also focused on ensuring the right culture and training is in place to support a risk-first mindset. The FCF is monitored by the Audit Committee, which receives regular updates on the FCF, including the results of controls assurance. The Audit Committee updates the Board on the effectiveness of the FCF, along with the progress being made to enhance the FCF, at least annually. Financial reporting controls The Group’s financial reporting process is facilitated using accounting policies and reporting formats and is supported by guidance issued to all reporting entities within the Group. Management is responsible for maintaining the control environment for financial reporting and ensuring that policies and procedures exist around the maintenance of records. The submission of financial reports from each material reporting entity is subject to a rigorous review. Management must provide assurance regarding the reliability and accuracy of the Group’s financial reports and controls. Relevant financial controls are subject to independent testing as well as self-attestation by control owners, the results of which are reported to the Audit Committee. The Audit Committee reviews the application of the Group’s accounting policies as well as significant estimates, assumptions and judgements. It also reviews the externally reported interim and full-year results and satisfies itself that these are fair, balanced and understandable. The Board, with support from the Audit Committee, reviews the effectiveness of the Group’s internal controls over financial reporting. Policy governance framework LSEG operates a Policy Governance Framework (PGF) which details the internal governance for all Group policies. The PGF outlines the development, maintenance, implementation and compliance requirements of all Group policies. It details how various risks within Group policies are addressed and ensures that all Group policies comply with the PGF. The Risk Committee is responsible for the oversight and approval of the PGF. Internal Audit The Board, together with the Audit Committee, is responsible for ensuring the independence and effectiveness of the Internal Audit function. Internal Audit’s primary function is to provide independent and objective assurance to the Board, Audit Committee and executive management on the adequacy and effectiveness of the Group’s system of internal controls. The Internal Audit function provides opinion and challenge on the control environment and provides assurance on the Group’s ERMF. Internal Audit provides an opinion on the adequacy and effectiveness of the Group’s framework of governance, risk management and controls on an annual basis. This is achieved through a programme of assurance over key risks applicable to the Group and audits required by regulation. To ensure independence, the Internal Audit function sits within the third line of defence in the Group’s risk control structure and has no operational responsibilities for the legal entities or processes which it reviews. The independence of the Internal Audit function from executive management is protected by the following measures: – The Audit Committee approves the Internal Audit budget, annual plan, charter and mandate. – The Chief Internal Auditor reports to the Group CFO for administrative matters, with a secondary reporting line to the Chair of the Audit Committee, and has direct access to the Chair of the Board. Corporate governance report continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 70 Governance ![]() – The Remuneration Committee, with input from the Chair of the Audit Committee and the Group CFO, assesses the performance of the Chief Internal Auditor. – The Audit Committee approves the appointment or removal of the Chief Internal Auditor. Further details on the Internal Audit function can be found in the internal audit charter which is available on the Group’s website at: www. lseg.com/en/about-us/corporate-governance. Management structure and delegation of authority The Group operates a matrix structure designed to optimise resource allocation and organisational capacity. Subject to the Schedule of Matters Reserved for the Board, the Board has delegated the day-to-day running of the Group to the CEO. The CEO is supported by the Group Executive Committee (ExCo), which is designed to ensure open challenge and support effective decision- making. Each ExCo member is accountable for a key operating division, business area or function. The ExCo meets regularly to assist the CEO in exercising his authority over material matters that have strategic, cross-business area or Group-wide implications. Delegation from the Board requires ExCo members to maintain responsibility for, and sustain, a control environment that is appropriate to their division, business area or function. The ExCo has established subcommittees: the Financial, Investment and Capital Committee (FICC); the Executive Risk Committee (ERC); the Group Investment Committee (GIC); and the Sustainability Committee. FICC’s responsibilities include: reviewing the financial and legal implications of Group contracts; approving changes to the Group’s corporate structure; reviewing the financial and reporting implications of acquisitions and disposals; annual reviews of the Group’s overall tax and treasury governance policies; and monitoring of the Group’s intragroup lending arrangements. The ERC oversees matters such as risk culture, risk profile oversight, risk policy oversight, risk appetite and risk disclosures and reporting. The GIC has delegated authority to set the strategic direction of the Group’s capital investment and oversee its delivery. The remit of the Sustainability Committee includes the oversight of sustainability and climate-related risks. Assessment and effectiveness In conjunction with the Board’s review of this Annual Report, the Board, with support from the Audit and Risk Committees, conducted a robust review of both the principal risks facing the Group, including those that would threaten its business model, future performance and liquidity, and the operation and effectiveness of the Group’s risk management and internal control framework through 2025 until the date of approval of the Annual Report. As part of its assessment, the Board reviewed the processes for identifying, assessing, managing and escalating principal and emerging risks and the integration of those processes within the Group. The Board concluded that overall, the risk management systems are adequate and are responsive to the Group’s risk profile and long-term strategic objectives, and that appropriate enhancement plans were in place to strengthen the control environment. The enhancements to the Group’s risk management arrangements that are being implemented as part of continuous improvement programmes are overseen by the Audit or Risk Committee as appropriate. The Board will continue to consider further enhancements to its risk management and internal control framework, to ensure that it complies with regulatory and legal developments, as well as changes to the external environment. Further information Further detail on the Group’s risk management (including an overview of the principal risks and a summary of emerging risks) is provided on pages 52 to 55. Corporate governance report continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 71 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Report of the Nomination Committee Priorities for 2026 The priorities set by the Committee for 2026are to: – Keep under review the succession plans for the Board and senior management and ensure those plans and the talent pipeline are merit-based and support diversity, inclusion and equal opportunity – Continue to ensure that Board succession is appropriately managed in a staggered and orderly way – Continue to ensure that the Board collectively maintains the right combination of skills, experience and knowledge – Ensure that the focus areas identified from the 2025 Committee effectiveness review are considered by the Committee Achievements for 2025 During the year, the Nomination Committee: – Oversaw the search, evaluation and nomination to the Board for the appointment of Dame Elizabeth Corley as Non-Executive Director with effect from 1December 2025 – Recommended to the Board the appointment of Lloyd Pitchford as Chair of the Audit Committee when Dominic Blakemore steps down from the Board in April 2026 – Focused on the areas identified in the 2024 Committee effectiveness review to further develop internal succession plans and the talent development strategy for senior management – Reviewed the current and future composition of the Board with consideration for the appropriate balance of skills, expertise, tenure and diversity Composition and meetings The Committee’s membership is comprised of all the Non-Executive Directors, with a majority being independent. Structuring the membership in this way enables Non-Executive Directors to participate in all discussions relating to Board composition and succession planning, which reflects the importance placed on these topics by the Company and the Code. The names and biographies of the Non-Executive Directors who form this Committee can be found on pages 60 to 63 of this annual report. On 4 December 2025, it was announced that Dominic Blakemore and Martin Brand will step down as Non-Executive Directors of the Company at the AGM to be held in April 2026. The Committee is grateful to Dominic and Martin for their guidance and support during their tenures as Committee members. The Group Chief Executive Officer, the Chief People Officer and external advisers attend meetings as requested by the Committee. The Group Company Secretary is the Secretary to the Committee and attends all meetings. During the year, the Committee met twice. In addition, the Committee members met with candidates for director and senior management positions as part of the Committee’s nomination processes. Purpose and responsibilities The responsibilities of the Committee include: ensuring that the Board retains the appropriate balance of skills, knowledge, experience and diversity to support the strategic objectives of the Group; maintaining a formal, rigorous and transparent approach to the appointment of new directors; and maintaining effective succession plans for the Board and senior management. Further details on the responsibilities of the Nomination Committee can be found in the Committee’s Terms of Reference, which are reviewed annually and are available on the Company’s website at: www.lseg.com/en/ about-us/corporate-governance. Committee performance The Committee’s performance was assessed as part of the 2025 Board and Committee performance review. The result of the review was that the Committee is performing effectively. Further details on the 2025 Board and Committee performance review and arising focus areas for the Committee can be found in the Governance section of this annual report on pages 68 to 69. Don Robert CBE Chair of the Nomination Committee London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 72 Governance ![]() Tenure of Independent Directors A. 0 to 2 years B. 3 to 4 years C. 5 to 6 years D. 7 to 9 years \* Includes nine independent directors and the Chair, as at 31 December 2025. 2 3 2 3 Board succession planning Board succession planning is a key role of the Committee. The Committee recognises the need to regularly refresh the Board to ensure that it is best placed to support and challenge management on its strategy and execution, with the appropriate balance of skills, tenure and diversity. During the year, the Committee reviewed the structure and composition of the Board and its Committees to ensure that critical skills and experience were refreshed. In its review, the Committee considered likely future changes, with consideration given to the expertise, diversity and tenure of the Board. The review helped the Committee to identify Board succession requirements. The Committee recognises that several Directors were appointed at a similar time and has therefore been undergoing a process of refreshing its composition to ensure that it has a mix of tenures as well as retaining the appropriate mix of skills and experience. Following his retirement from the Board at the AGM in April 2026, Dominic Blakemore will be succeeded as Chair of the Audit Committee by Lloyd Pitchford. Lloyd has been a member of the Audit Committee since his appointment to the Board in April 2025 and previously served as the Chair of the Audit Committee of Bunzl plc. The timing of the change allows for a meaningful handover period as part of a planned succession. In advance of Dominic Blakemore and Martin Brand stepping down from the Board, the Committee reviewed and updated the Board succession plans. Board appointments The Chair of the Board, with support from the Nomination Committee, leads the process for the appointment of new directors to our Board. During the year, the Committee supported the process to appoint a new Non-Executive Director, based on merit and objective criteria, resulting in the appointment of Dame Elizabeth Corley with effect from 1 December 2025 (as initially announced on 30 May 2025). DameElizabeth brings a wealth of investor, governance and boardroom expertise and extensive experience from across the global financial services industry. She is currently Chair of the Board at Schroders plc and previously held non-executive director roles at BAE Systems plc, Pearson plc and Morgan Stanley Inc. and senior management roles at Allianz Global Investors and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers. The process was supported by Russell Reynolds Associates, an external search consultant and a signatory to the Voluntary Code of Conduct for Executive Search Firms, which provided regular updates including a long-list and shortlist of candidates. In addition to its engagement as the Board’s external search consultant, Russell Reynolds Associates provided executive search services to the Company. Shortlisted candidates met the Chair, Don Robert, and a selection of candidates also met the CEO and/or the Senior Independent Director. The final candidate also met with Dominic Blakemore (Chair of the Audit Committee), Kathleen DeRose (Chair of the Risk Committee) and William Vereker (Chair of the Remuneration Committee). Feedback was reported to the Nomination Committee and the Committee recommended Dame Elizabeth’s appointment, which was approved by the Board. As discussed in last year’s Nomination Committee report, we welcomed Lloyd Pitchford as a Non-Executive Director on 30 April 2025. In December 2025, the Committee recommended to the Board his appointment as Chair of the Audit Committee as successor to Dominic Blakemore in that role. Principal activities during the year Area of focus Matters considered Key outcomes Future priorities Board appointments Oversaw the search, evaluation and nomination process of Non-Executive Directors. The nomination and appointment of DameElizabeth Corley as a Non-Executive Director. Continue to support in the search, nomination and appointment process for future new Directors. Senior management appointments Supported the search, evaluation and nomination process of Executive Committee members. The appointment of Steve John as Chief Corporate Affairs & Marketing Officer, Gianluca Biagini as Co-Head of Data & Analytics and Chris Coleman as Group Head of Sales & Account Management. Continue to support the selection process for future senior management appointments. Succession planning Reviewed succession plans for the Board and senior management. Further developed succession plans and ensured their alignment to the Group’s strategy. Continue to review and oversee the development of succession plans for the Board, its Committees and senior management to ensure that the Group is well placed to deliver its future strategy. Oversaw the nomination process for a successor to the current Audit Committee Chair, who will step down in April 2026. The nomination and appointment of LloydPitchford as Chair of the Audit Committee with effect from April 2026. Board composition Reviewed the structure, size, skills, expertise, diversity and tenure of the Board and its Committees. Identified future needs of the Board, which supported the development of succession plans. Continue to review the composition of the Board and its Committees to ensure that the right combination of skills, experience and knowledge is maintained. Report of the Nomination Committee continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 73 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Senior management succession plans and appointments During the year, the Committee reviewed succession plans for management. In its review, the Committee challenged management to further develop its internal talent and ensure the strategies used for talent development are merit-based and support inclusion across the Group. The Chair of the Board participates in the interview and selection process for Executive Committee members, along with other Nomination Committee members as appropriate. The Committee will continue to support the Chief Executive Officer to further develop senior management succession plans and talent pipelines, with consideration for inclusion. During 2025, we welcomed new members to the Executive Committee. In April, Steve John joined as Chief Corporate Affairs & Marketing Officer and in August, Gianluca Biagini joined as Co-Head of Data & Analytics. Ron Lefferts was appointed as Co-Head of Data & Analytics in August, working together with Gianluca, and continued to lead LSEG’s global Sales & Account Management (SAM) team until January 2026. On 12 January 2026, we welcomed Chris Coleman as Group Head of SAM. In the selection processes, the Chief Executive and Chief People Officer were supported by the Board Chair and other members of the Committee, who participated in the interview processes. Further details on the Executive Committee can be found on page 7. Board performance The results of the 2025 Board and Committee performance review and the actions taken during the year in relation to the 2024 Board and Committee effectiveness review are described in the Corporate Governance Report on pages 68 and 69. The work of the Nomination Committee during the year reflected the key area of focus for 2025 that arose from the 2024 evaluation, which was to continue focusing on internal succession plans and talent development for senior management. In addition to Board and Executive succession planning, the Committee will continue to keep talent development for senior management as a focus area during 2026 and will support the Board to ensure that all focus areas arising from the 2025 evaluation are actioned. Time commitment The Committee reviews the time commitments of the Directors and the Committee and/or the Board approves any significant external appointments being undertaken by the Directors. Further information about the Directors’ external appointments can be found in the Corporate Governance Report on page 67. Diversity, inclusion and equal opportunity Board composition The Board is comprised of Directors with a wide range of skills and business experience, drawn from a variety of sectors and industries, which brings valuable expertise and perspectives to Board discussions. As at 31 December 2025, the Board: (i) met two of the three targets laid out in the Financial Conduct Authority’s UK Listing Rule 6.6.6R(9); (ii) met one of the two recommendations of the FTSE Women Leaders Review; and (iii) met the recommendations of the Parker Review. As at that date, the Board had female representation of 38%, one of the four senior positions was held by a woman and one director was from a minority ethnic background. Following the departure of Dominic Blakemore and Martin Brand in April 2026, female representation on the Board will be 45% and all three of the FCA’s targets will be met at that time, as well as both recommendations of the FTSE Women Leaders Review. Board succession plans and appointments are based on merit and objective criteria. Other than appointments made under the relationship agreement with Microsoft, the appointments procedure continues to be conducted with a robust selection process, led by the Nomination Committee and supported by external search consultancies. These external search consultancies provide a wide range of candidates which supports the Board’s approach to succession plans and appointments. The Board, with support from the Nomination Committee, operates a diversity policy which enables diversity, inclusion and equal opportunity. The Board Diversity Policy states that in making appointments and forming succession plans, the Board will not discriminate on the basis of any diversity criteria, including: age; disability; gender identity or expression; marital or parental status; race, including colour, ethnicity, nationality, country of origin, or cultural background; religion or belief; and sex or sexual orientation; as well as other forms of diversity. The Board Diversity Policy also states the Board’s aim to maintain a minimum of 40% female representation on the Board; to have a woman in at least one of the roles of Chair, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer or Senior Independent Director; and have at least one Director from a minority ethnic background. The Policy, which is reviewed annually, is available on the Company’s website at www.lseg.com/en/about-us/ corporate-governance. Executive management composition The FCA’s UK Listing Rules and the recommendations of the FTSE Women Leaders Review and Parker Review require companies to report on the diversity balance of its Executive Management (Group Executive Committee and Group Company Secretary). As at 31 December 2025, our Executive Management had 25% female representation and 17% ethnicity representation. The Code and the recommendations of the FTSE Women Leaders Review and Parker Review require companies to report on the diversity balance of senior leadership (Executive Committee and Group Leaders). As at 31 December 2025, our senior leadership comprised 36% female representation (2024: 41%) and 15% underrepresented ethnic groups (2024: 16%). In addition, as at 31 December 2025, the gender diversity of the boards of our subsidiary companies increased to 35% (2024: 33%). LSEG operates a Group-wide Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Policy. The Policy is available on the Group website at: www.lseg.com/en/ sustainability-at-lseg/inclusive-culture. Other initiatives Our Group continues to be an active participant in industry-wide diversity initiatives. LSEG is a member of the Valuable 500, a collective of 500 CEOs and their companies, innovating together for disability inclusion. LSEG was an early signatory of HMTreasury’s Women in Finance Charter in the UK and fully met the recommendations of the Charter. For more information about our culture, please see pages 44 to 46 of the Sustainability section of this Annual Report. Report of the Nomination Committee continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 74 Governance ![]() Diversity reporting The table below sets out the diversity data of the Board and executive management as at 31 December 2025 in accordance with the Financial Conduct Authority’s UK Listing Rule 6.6.6R(10). Board diversity data is collected directly from each Director using a questionnaire and was provided on a self-identifying basis. Reporting table on sex/gender representation as at 31 December 2025 Number of Board members Percentage of the Board Number of senior positions on the Board (CEO, CFO, SID and Chair) Number in executive management 1 Percentage of executive management 1 Men 8 62 3 9 75 Women 5 38 1 3 25 Not specified/prefer not to say 0 0 0 0 0 Reporting table on ethnicity representation as at 31 December 2025 Number of Board members Percentage of the Board Number of senior positions on the Board (CEO, CFO, SID and Chair) Number in executive management 1 Percentage of executive management 1 White British or other White (including minority white groups) 12 92 4 10 83 Mixed/Multiple Ethnic Groups 0 0 0 0 0 Asian/Asian British 0 0 0 2 17 Black/African/Caribbean/Black British 1 8 0 0 0 Other ethnic group including Arab 0 0 0 0 0 Not specified/prefer not to say 0 0 0 0 0 1 Defined as the Executive Committee and the Group Company Secretary in accordance with the FCA’s UK Listing Rule 6.6.6R(10). Don Robert CBE Chair 25 February 2026 Report of the Nomination Committee continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 75 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Priorities for 2026 The priorities set by the Committee for 2026 are: – Reviewing the impact and accounting of any complex transactions and uncertain tax positions and ensuring these are accurately represented in the Group’s Annual Report and Accounts – Monitoring and reviewing the risk management and internal control framework and material controls in line with Provision 29 of the 2024 Code – Reviewing the progress of the external audit and the performance of the external auditor – Monitoring the work undertaken resulting from the risk-based methodology of the Internal Audit function Achievements for 2025 The main achievements of the Audit Committee in 2025 were: – Reviewing and recommending to the Board the full-year and half-year 2025 results and approving the associated key accounting judgements, estimates and assumptions – Reviewing and approving our Annual Report and Accounts and our Annual Sustainability Report – Oversight of the 2025 external audit – Monitoring and reviewing several matters including the Post Trade Solutions transaction and progress of specific uncertain tax provisions – Reviewing the financial control framework and the Group’s preparations for the revised UK Corporate Governance Code (the ‘2024 Code’) – Monitoring the progress of improving IT general controls against the remediation plan – Assessing the Group’s migration to a new ERP – Oversight of the transition to a new Group Chief Internal Auditor Composition and meetings The Committee comprises five (2024: four) Independent Non-Executive Directors. The Committee welcomed Lloyd Pitchford as a member on 30 April 2025. Dominic Blakemore will step down as the Chair of the Audit Committee in April 2026 with Lloyd Pitchford succeeding him as the Chair. The composition of the Committee and number of meetings held are shown in the Corporate Governance Report on page 63. The UK Corporate Governance Code (the Code) requires at least one member of the Committee to have recent and relevant financial experience and that members shall have competence relevant to the sector in which the company operates. The Chair of the Committee, Dominic Blakemore, is a qualified chartered accountant with a career in a variety of senior finance roles. LloydPitchford is also a qualified accountant and is Chief Financial Officer of Experian plc. The Chairs of the Audit and Risk Committees each sit on both committees, which makes sure that issues relevant to both committees are identified and managed. The skills and experience of each Committee member are provided in the Board of Directors section on pages 60 to 63. The Chair of the Company, Group Chief Executive Officer, Group Chief Financial Officer, Group Financial Controller, Group Chief Risk Officer, Group Chief Internal Auditor, and representatives of the external auditor, Deloitte LLP (Deloitte), are all regular attendees at Committee meetings. Other members of management may also be invited to present specific matters. The Group Company Secretary is the Secretary to the Committee. In addition to formal meetings, the Chair of the Committee and some Committee members met with senior management during the year. The Chair of the Committee also meets separately with the external auditor, as required, ahead of each meeting. Purpose and responsibilities The Audit Committee assists the Board through the following key responsibilities: – Overseeing and monitoring financial and sustainability reporting including the integrity of the financial statements – Reviewing significant financial reporting and tax matters, tax governance policy and accounting policies – Assessing the effectiveness of the Group’s risk management and internal control framework (along with the Risk Committee) – Monitoring and reviewing the effectiveness of the Group’s Internal Audit function, including its scope of work and findings, and ensuring that it has adequate resources and appropriate access to information to perform its duties effectively and independently from executive management Report of the Audit Committee Dominic Blakemore Chair of the Audit Committee London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 76 Governance ![]() – Overseeing the relationship with the external auditor, including monitoring their objectivity and independence, approving the annual audit plan and reviewing external audit findings – Approving the external audit fees, monitoring non-audit fees paid to the external auditor and ensuring that the external audit is put out to tender on a periodic basis Further details on the functions and responsibilities of the Audit Committee can be found in the Committee’s Terms of Reference which are reviewed annually and are available on the Company’s website at: www.lseg.com/ en/about-us/corporate-governance. Committee performance The Committee’s performance was assessed as part of the 2025 Board and Committee performance review. The result of the review was that the Committee is performing well and operating effectively. Further details on the review can be found on page 69. Matter considered How the Committee addressed the matter Carrying value of goodwill and purchased intangibles The Group carries significant amounts of goodwill and purchased intangible assets on its balance sheet. In line with IAS 36 Impairment of Assets, goodwill allocated to the Group’s cash-generating units (CGUs) is assessed for impairment. Purchased intangible assets are also reviewed for impairment, with their useful economic lives also assessed. Impairment tests for the Group’s CGUs are based on value-in-use calculations which require significant estimates over: – Future performance – Growth rates – Discount rates The Committee considered the approach and methodology to performing the detailed annual CGU impairment assessment. This included reviewing key assumptions: – Cash flow expectations – Short- and long-term growth rates – The Group’s cost of capital The Committee also considered and approved the approach to the impairment and useful life assessment of purchased intangibles. See note 9.1 to the consolidated financial statements on pages 141 to 142 for details of the impairment review. Uncertain tax positions The Group is subject to taxation in the many countries in which it operates. There are four main uncertain tax positions (UTPs) for which the Group has used guidance under IFRIC 23 Uncertainty over Income Tax Treatments to determine the possible outcomes, and to assign a probability to each of those outcomes: – Valuation of certain Refinitiv intellectual property – US tax credits – Intercompany financing arrangements – Diverted Profits Tax to Thomson Reuters During 2025 a significant matter with an associated UTP was resolved: – US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audit The Committee reviewed UTPs throughout the year with a particular focus on the in-year developments below: – US IRS audit: The Committee notes that this matter is now closed with agreement having been reached with the IRS. – Valuation of certain Refinitiv intellectual property: The Committee was updated on developments and notes that the Group expects to close this matter in due course following HMRC internal governance procedures. – US tax credits: The Committee noted that the Group is awaiting the resolution of another taxpayer’s legal proceedings on a similar matter. – Intercompany financing arrangements: The Committee noted the Group has received inquiries from HMRC in relation to the tax treatment of certain historical intercompany financing arrangements. The Audit Committee determined that the provisions and disclosure for these matters are appropriate. See note 6.3 to the consolidated financial statements on pages 136 to 137 for details of the uncertain tax positions. Income Statement presentation and alternative performance measures The Group separately identifies results before non-underlying items (these are referred to as “adjusted”) to provide a performance measure of the day-to-day operating results of the Group. Judgement is applied to ensure that the criteria for a non-underlying item is met. The Group changed its Income Statement presentation to a single column approach to align with best practice and peer companies. All alternative performance measures, including adjusted results, are shown in the Alternative Performance Measures section of this report. The Committee discussed and approved the change in Income Statement presentation, discussed the appropriateness of alternative performance measures and agreed on the classification of non-underlying items for the year. The Committee discussed the quality of earnings in relation to the Group’s adjusted operating profit. See the Alternative Performance Measures section of this report on pages 194 to 196. Activities during the year The Committee is satisfied that is has complied with the FRC Minimum Standard through undertaking its role and discharging its responsibilities. Below we set out the main work undertaken by the Audit Committee: 1. Financial reporting Significant accounting judgements, estimates and assumptions, and other matters related to the financial statements The Committee reviewed, discussed and approved the half-year and full-year financial results, significant accounting judgements and estimates and the adequacy of disclosures. The main topics considered are set out below: Report of the Audit Committee continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 77 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() 2. Internal controls, internal audit and risk management The Committee continued to exercise disciplined oversight of the effectiveness of the Group’s internal controls and Internal Audit function, in line with principles of the Code. It fulfilled its responsibilities by reviewing and discussing regular reports from management, the external auditor and the Internal Audit function. The Committee received a number of updates on the Group’s Financial Control Framework and preparations for compliance with Provision 29 of the UK Code. The Committee reviewed the results of independent testing of internal controls over financial reporting. It also reviewed the approach to material controls over non-financial reporting. The Committee assessed the progress being made on improving IT general controls following observations made by Deloitte as part of their 2024 audit. Management recognised that the IT control environment required enhancement and reported on the progress of the remediation plan to the Committee throughout 2025. The Committee reviewed management’s assessment that there are sufficient mitigating controls to reduce risk of a material financial misstatement down to an acceptable level. Internal Audit provides risk-based, objective and independent assurance, advice, insight and foresight to the Group. Internal Audit delivers assurance on the design and effectiveness of controls that support first line business activities as well as the Group’s risk management and governance frameworks. As regards the work of Internal Audit, the Committee: – Monitored Internal Audit’s progress against the 2025 audit plan, including reviewing and approving any changes to the plan during the course of the year – In December 2025, considered and approved the 2026 internal audit plan and budget – Received the annual Internal Audit Opinion which sets out the function’s view on the effectiveness of the Group’s control environment and risk culture as well as themes and root cause analysis arising from audit work performed – Received updates on emerging audit issues and themes during the course of the year – Tracked management’s progress to address actions within reasonable timeframes – Approved the Internal Audit Charter which was updated to reflect revised Global Internal Audit Standards (effective January 2025) and the UK Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors code – Received updates from the Internal Audit function on progress against the revised standards – Received a report from the Director of Audit Professional Practices on the results of the function’s quality assurance activities The Group Chief Internal Auditor meets regularly with the Chair of the Audit Committee. The Group Chief Internal Auditor reports to the Group Chief Financial Officer with a secondary reporting line to the Audit Committee Chair. The Group appointed a new Chief Internal Auditor during the year, who started in February 2026. The Committee was involved in the interview process and approved the appointment. The Committee assessed the effectiveness of the Internal Audit function throughout the year using qualitative and quantitative indicators. The Committee concluded that the Internal Audit function is both independent and effective, in line with principle M of the Code. In addition, the Committee (in conjunction with the Risk Committee) relied on this assurance process throughout the year, as well as the other evidence reviewed on internal controls, to advise the full Board on its reporting to shareholders on the Group’s risk management and internal control framework. This aligns with principle O of the Code. The Board statement can be found on pages 70 to 71. 3. Oversight of the external auditor The Committee has primary responsibility for overseeing the relationship with the external auditor, Deloitte. This includes: conducting the process to select the external auditor; recommending their appointment, reappointment and removal to the Board for approval by shareholders at each AGM; continuous assessment of the auditor’s independence, effectiveness and quality of work; approving the statutory audit fee and non-audit services; reviewing and approving the annual audit plan; and meeting with Deloitte to review any issues and the findings of the audit. The Committee reviewed and approved the 2025 audit plan presented by Deloitte. This included the scope of the audit, the assessment of the key audit risks and areas of focus as well as the materiality threshold for the Group. Reports from Deloitte on the status of their 2025 plan and the results of their work, as well as Deloitte’s own assessment of their independence, were received throughout the year. The external auditor’s reports were used to challenge decisions by the Group. The Committee assessed the effectiveness of the external audit throughout the year in accordance with principle M of the Code. The Committee relied on its own judgement supported by the following evidence: – A report from management on their own evaluation of the effectiveness of the external auditor based on a questionnaire prepared in accordance with the Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC’s) guidance and completed by key stakeholders – Review of the FRC’s Audit Quality Report on Deloitte – The separate meetings held with Deloitte at each Committee meeting without management being present The Committee satisfied itself that the external audit has been conducted effectively, with appropriate rigour and challenge, and that Deloitte had applied appropriate professional scepticism throughout the audit. Report of the Audit Committee continued Matter considered How the Committee addressed the matter Reallocation of goodwill The Group restructured its external segmental reporting to align with revised internal management reporting lines. This resulted in a reassessment of the Group’s CGU structure and the associated goodwill allocated to each CGU. The Committee reviewed the approach for the change in segmental reporting structure and its impact on the CGU structure and goodwill allocation. Further details on the goodwill reallocation can found in note 9.1 to the consolidated financial statements on pages 141 to 142. Other matters reviewed: – Discounts from partners and suppliers (significant judgement) – Pensions (significant judgement, estimates and assumptions) – Revenue recognition – Capitalisation and impairment of internally developed software The Committee discussed these items noting that there were no material changes in approach compared with the prior year. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 78 Governance ![]() Deloitte were appointed as the Group’s external auditor at the AGM in April 2024 for the 2024 year-end audit following an audit tender undertaken in 2022. Fiona Walker was appointed as lead audit partner for the 2024 year-end audit. In February 2026, the Audit Committee approved the appointment of James Polson as lead audit partner for the 2025 year-end audit with Fiona Walker expected to resume as lead audit partner for the 2026 year-end audit. The lead audit partner is required to rotate every five years. Report on external auditor’s fees and safeguards on non-audit services The Committee has a policy governing the engagement of the external auditor to provide non-audit services, which is reviewed on an annual basis. The policy permits the provision of some audit-related and non-audit services by the external auditor but prohibits certain services such as: accounting/ bookkeeping services; internal auditing; certain tax and payroll services; remuneration services; and more generally any work which could compromise their independence. All engagements are brought to the Committee for approval. The policy also places restrictions on the employment of former employees of the external auditor. The policy allows approval for any audit and non-audit services between £50,000 to £100,000 to be delegated to the Group Chief Financial Officer and any engagements under £50,000 to the Group Financial Controller. Any such approvals are then reported to the Audit Committee at the next meeting. The Committee fully complied with the policy in the year. A breakdown of audit and non-audit service fees paid and payable to the external auditor for the year ended 31 December 2025 is provided below and in note 4.2 to the consolidated financial statements. Year ended 31 December 2025 £m 2024 £m Services Audit of parent and consolidated financial statements 7 5 Audit of subsidiary companies 11 10 Non-audit services 2 1 Total 20 16 Deloitte provided non-audit services of £1.8 million; 9% of total fees (2024: £1.3 million; 8% of total fees). This comprised of audit- related assurance services of £0.5 million (2024: £0.5 million) and other non-audit services £1.3 million (2024: £0.8 million). In each case, the Committee concluded that the appointment of Deloitte to perform certain non-audit services would not impair their independence and represented the most effective way of obtaining the services. The Committee is satisfied that the Group and Deloitte have been compliant with IESBA and FRC auditor independence rules. The Committee has complied with the relevant parts of the Competition and Markets Authority Final Order on the statutory audit market for the year ended 31 December 2025. 4. Other matters Going concern and long-term financial viability statement The Directors are required to assess whether it is appropriate to prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis and, in accordance with the Code, provide a statement on the Group’s viability. At its meeting in February 2026, the Committee reviewed the Group’s forecasts and projections, taking into account reasonably possible changes in trading performance. It confirmed that the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements continues to be appropriate. See page 109 of the Statement of Directors’ responsibilities for the going concern statement. At the same meeting, the Committee also considered the Group’s long-term viability with reference to the Group’s current position and prospects, three-year business plan, risk appetite and possible downside scenarios. See page 56 of the Strategic Report for the financial viability statement. Fair, balanced, and understandable (FBU) reporting In line with principle N of the Code, the Committee satisfied itself that the Annual Report is fair, balanced and understandable and has presented its conclusions to the Board. The Committee reviewed drafts of the Annual Report and Accounts and considered: – That statutory measures have been given equal prominence to the alternative performance measures used – That information contained in the Strategic Report represents a fair reflection of performance during the year – Information within the Strategic Report and narrative reporting across the Annual Report is consistent with that reported in the Financial Statements – Key areas of estimation and judgement are consistently applied The Committee discussed with management the process undertaken to ensure that the relevant requirements of FBU reporting were met. This process included: – Independent reviews of the entire report by people not directly involved in preparing the report – Extensive review and verification processes by the appropriate departments and senior managers to ensure the accuracy of the content – Consideration of the balance of disclosure between positive and negative points on the Group’s performance in the year See page 109 of the Statement of Directors’ responsibilities for the fair, balanced and understandable statement. EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) Management provided the Committee with an update on its CSRD programme including the revised plan following the two-year postponement in the application date of CSRD for the Group. Whistleblowing investigations The Group’s whistleblowing policy provides a method of addressing concerns while at the same time offering whistleblowers protection from victimisation, harassment or disciplinary proceedings. During the year, the Committee continued to closely monitor the effectiveness and independence of the Speak-Up and whistleblowing arrangements of the Group. Dominic Blakemore Chair of the Audit Committee 25 February 2026 Report of the Audit Committee continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 79 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Priorities for 2026 The Committee’s priorities for 2026 include the following focus areas: – Oversight of the continued work maturing the risk culture across the Group – Monitoring of the Group’s risk profile against risk appetite, and the mitigation activities and progress of programmes in place to reduce risk exposure – Monitoring the external risk environment and the potential impacts to the Group’s strategy and performance – Any other areas identified for the Committee in the 2025 Board performance review. Achievements for 2025 The Risk Committee held four regular meetings during the year, providing oversight of key strategic risk reduction programmes and the emerging risk environment of the Group. These activities included: – Monitoring the Group risk profile against risk appetite, including the delivery of the ongoing programmes of work to reduce exposure to the most material risks – Oversight of the ongoing work to further enhance the risk culture across the Group – Monitoring the external risk environment and ongoing exposure of the Group to macroeconomic and geopolitical events – Reviewing and subsequently recommending the Enterprise Risk Management Framework (ERMF) and Risk Appetite Statement for Board approval – Reviewing and approving the Group’s counterparty limits The Group Chief Risk Officer (CRO) also provided regular updates on key risk matters to the Chair throughout the year. Composition and meetings The Committee comprises six independent Non-Executive Directors, (skills and experience detailed in the Board of Directors section on pages 60 to 63). The Chair of the Company, Group Chief Executive Officer, Group Chief Financial Officer, Group Chief Risk Officer (CRO), Group Head of Compliance and Group Chief Internal Auditor, are all standing attendees at Committee meetings. The Group Company Secretary is the Secretary to the Committee. Other members of management are also invited to present to the Committee on specific matters relevant to its remit. Purpose and responsibilities The Risk Committee has non-executive responsibility for overseeing high-level risk matters and risk governance across the Group. It regularly reviews the Group’s risk profile, including divisional risks, and assesses the adequacy of processes for identifying, managing, mitigating, and reporting key risks, including principal risks. The Committee advises the Board on overall risk appetite, tolerance and strategy, and evaluates the effectiveness of the ERMF and its integration into decision-making. The Committee also sets standards for timely and accurate reporting of material risks, including compliance reporting for regulated entities, and periodically reviews best practices in enterprise risk management. Further details on the Committee’s responsibilities are outlined in its Terms of Reference, which are reviewed annually and available in the corporate governance section of the Group’s website at: www.lseg.com/en/ about-us/corporate-governance. Committee performance review The Committee’s performance was assessed as part of the 2025 Board and Committee review, which this year was conducted by an external party. Further details can be found in the Governance section on page 69 of this report. Report of the Risk Committee Kathleen DeRose Chair of the Risk Committee London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 80 Governance ![]() Risk management function The CRO is responsible for leading and overseeing the Group’s risk management framework. The CRO reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer and, to safeguard independence, also to the Chair of the Risk Committee. The Committee approves the CRO’s mandate and ensures they have the authority and resources required to fulfil their responsibilities, and meets the CRO without the presence of executive management at each Committee meeting. The Committee is also consulted on the appointment or removal of the CRO. Compliance function Group Compliance forms part of the wider LSEG Legal and Compliance function. Led by the Group Head of Compliance, it supports the Group in managing compliance risks and by embedding a compliance culture by setting compliance frameworks and providing independent advice and challenge to the Group. The Group Head of Compliance reports to the Group’s General Counsel and has a standing agenda item at each Committee meeting to provide updates on the Compliance programme of work, and to provide an opinion on key business activities and decisions. Kathleen DeRose Chair of the Risk Committee 25 February 2026 Principal activities throughout the year The Committee established formal agendas covering all responsibilities delineated in the Committee’s Terms of Reference. During the year, the Committee discharged these responsibilities with the following activities: Matter considered How the Committee addressed the matter Principal and emerging risks Provided robust reviews of principal and emerging risks, which included: 1. Review and recommendation of the Group Risk Appetite Statement to the Board, which was approved 2. Review and challenge of scenario analyses, risk management, and risk mitigation across the Group 3. Review of focus topics including technology, third party, change execution, treasury and geopolitical risks 4. Monitoring of the potential impacts of emerging risks on the Group’s strategy and business model, including – Prolonged global inflation and associated central bank policies – Technology stock valuations and market concentration – Activity in public and private debt markets Compliance Monitored compliance in line with the Group’s regulatory obligations and in accordance with the defined risk appetite. Key updates to the Committee included: – Review of regular compliance reports, including the assessment of changes and remedial action required to ensure continued compliance with financial services regulations, such as financial crime and fraud – Review and challenge of identification of key regulatory compliance risks and Group-wide thematic observations – Review of the outcome of assurance activities conducted by the Compliance function Enterprise Risk Management Framework (ERMF) Focused on the continued embedding of the Group’s ERMF to support the Group’s 2025 strategic objectives, which included the focus topics of: – Delivery of the ongoing Risk Culture campaign, including the annual Risk Culture week, development and delivery of risk training and enhanced measurement of risk culture – Review and approval of the ERMF – Review of the Group’s counterparty credit limits which were approved during the year Report of the Risk Committee continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 81 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Contents Statement by the Chair 83 to 84 Remuneration at a glance 85 to 88 Summary of Executive Director Remuneration Policy 88 Annual Report on Remuneration 89 to 103 Composition and meetings The Committee is appointed by the Board and comprises the Remuneration Committee Chair and three independent Non-Executive Directors (NEDs). The Group Company Secretary is the Secretary to the Committee. Where appropriate, the Committee invites the views of the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief People Officer and the Chief Risk Officer via the Risk Committee. None of these individuals nor the Chair participated in any discussion relating to their own remuneration. Purpose, responsibility and terms of reference The Committee’s remit includes the remuneration of the Chair of the Company, Executive Directors and senior management (with NED fees determined by the Board), reviewing the design of all share incentive plans for approval by the Board and shareholders, and overseeing remuneration arrangements for all of our employees. Details of the Committee’s remit and activities are set out in this Report. The Committee has written Terms of Reference which are available from the Group Company Secretary and in the Corporate Governance section of our website at https://www.lseg.com/en/about-us/ corporate-governance. Committee performance The Committee’s performance was assessed as part of the 2025 Board and Committee effectiveness review. The review determined that the Committee is performing well and operating effectively. Further details can be found in the Corporate Governance section of this Annual Report on page 59. Directors’ Remuneration report William Vereker Chair of the Remuneration Committee Priorities for 2026 The priorities in 2026 include: – Triennial review of the Remuneration Policy and consultation with shareholders – Ensuring remuneration design remains effective in motivating high-performing talent and attracting future talent – Continue to progress towards pay clarity and pay free from bias, ahead of the EU Pay Transparency Directive implementation Activities for 2025 The key activities of the Remuneration Committee (Committee) included: – Shareholder engagement on the implementation of the 2024 Remuneration Policy (Policy) – 2025 remuneration outcomes and granting of 2025 Long-Term Incentive (LTI) awards – Remuneration approach for 2026, including the design of Annual Bonus and LTI awards – Remuneration design for senior leaders below Board level to ensure effectiveness in motivating high-performing talent and attracting future talent – Progress towards pay clarity and pay free from bias ahead of EU Pay Transparency Directive implementation – Continued evolution of the Reward Framework for the wider workforce Details of the agenda items for each Committee meeting are set out on page 103. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 82 Governance ![]() Directors’ Remuneration report continued 1 Annual Subscription Value (ASV) 2 Earnings per Share (EPS) Statement by the Chair of the Remuneration Committee On behalf of the Board, I am pleased to present the Directors’ Remuneration report for the year ended 31 December 2025. This statement on pages 83 to 84 provides further detail and context for the decisions made by the Committee in the year. A “Remuneration at a glance” section for our Executive Directors is set out on pages 85 to 88, summarising: – 2025 total remuneration including vesting outcomes for Annual Bonus and LTI – Remuneration structure and how this will be implemented for 2026 – Alignment of incentives to Company strategy – Wider workforce remuneration – Summary of the current Remuneration Policy Our Annual Report on Remuneration, which sets out remuneration outcomes for 2025 and explains how we intend to apply the Policy in 2026, is set out on pages 89 to 103. Shareholder feedback from the 2025 AGM At LSEG’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 1 May 2025, the 2024 Directors’ Remuneration Report was passed with 69.6% of votes in favour. Following the vote, the Board has continued to engage with shareholders around the implementation of the Remuneration Policy, particularly in relation to the 2025 LTI awards. These engagements confirmed that the large majority of shareholders continue to support the recommendations of the Remuneration Committee. However, we acknowledge that there were a range of views regarding the vesting curve for the global sector peer component of the Relative Total Shareholder Return (TSR) metric. Having carefully reflected on feedback, for the 2026 awards, we will revert to the structure of the 2024 LTI awards, with a payout starting from 25% for median TSR performance relative to our global sector peers. In line with our Policy, the Committee will also review the formulaic outcome of incentives to ensure these are reflective of the performance of the Company and the relevant individuals over the period. The Board would like to thank shareholders that took part in the engagement process and values the feedback and insights gained. LSEG performance for 2025 LSEG has delivered another year of strong and consistent performance, with all divisions contributing to organic income growth of 7.1%, 210bps Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) margin and 14.3% organic growth in Adjusted Operating Profit (AOP), all on a constant currency basis. During 2025, LSEG’s unique and diversified portfolio of businesses progressed significantly with its transformation. Our integrated solutions and strategic partnerships, grounded in expertise and trusted data, ensured our key role in keeping the markets moving for our customers in 2025. Key highlights for 2025 include: – Completing a significant partnership and investment in our Post Trade Solutions (PTS) business with 11 leading banks taking a 20% stake, enabling long-term value creation – Delivering our LSEG Everywhere AI strategy centred on Trusted Data, Transformative Products, and Intelligent Enterprise, including partnerships with Anthropic, Databricks, OpenAI, Snowflake and others – Deepening long-term industry partnerships and establishing new LSEG Data Access Agreements with several key customers – Progressing in delivery of our strategic partnership with Microsoft, enhancing our products and strengthening our competitive position – Significant EBITDA gains achieved through continued focus on operating leverage and efficiency across the Group – Strong free cash flow of £2.4 billion enabling us to grow the dividend by 15.4% and execute £2.1 billion of share buybacks 2025 Annual Bonus outcomes Executive Directors were eligible to receive an Annual Bonus based on meeting or exceeding targets that were set at the beginning of the year, looking at the Group’s financial performance, strategic objectives and their personal individual contribution. The Committee received input from the Risk Committee with regard to performance linked to risk culture (awareness, transparency and accountability) when assessing remuneration decisions. For FY2025, we exceeded our Group AOP target, with growth of 14.3% (organic, constant currency basis). There were significant achievements against the Strategic Business Case objectives and our Group Strategic Objectives (GSOs). The Group continues to make strong progress in the strategic transformation of our business, supported by ongoing enhancements in our investment and capital allocation processes, and improving operating leverage significantly. Summary of key decisions – No increase to salaries for Executive Directors in 2026 – 2025 Annual Bonus outcomes for Executive Directors are around 75% of maximum – 2023 LTI awards will vest at 46% of maximum – 2026 Annual Bonus and LTI award levels in line with Policy – Wider workforce average salary budget 2.5% overall LSEG performance for 2025 +7.1% Organic income growth +5.9% ASV 1 growth +15.7% Adjusted EPS 2 growth £2.1bn returned to shareholders via buybacks executed in 2025 150.0p Dividends per share London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 83 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report Directors’ Remuneration report continued Statement by the Chair of the Remuneration Committee continued In the context of this strong performance, the overall outcome of 72% of maximum for the FY2025 Group bonus pool underscores the stretching nature of the performance targets set by the Committee. As a result of the Group’s performance and the personal contribution of the Executive Directors, the Committee determined that the Executive Directors will be awarded Annual Bonuses of ~75% of their maximum opportunity. 40% of the bonus payment will be deferred into shares for three years. Further details can be found on pages 90 to 93. 2023 LTI award outcomes The Adjusted Earnings per Share (AEPS) element of the LTI awards made in 2023 will vest at 77% and the Relative TSR element will vest at 0%. The vesting outcome reflects the delivery of AEPS growth of 9.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). TSR performance over the performance period was 18.6%, representing 33rd percentile performance relative to the FTSE 100 peer group. Overall, this results in a vesting outcome of 46% of maximum. 2025 incentive outcomes 2025 Annual Bonus and 2023 LTI outcomes are based on reported financial figures where relevant. The Committee reviewed the incentive outcomes in the round and is comfortable they are reflective of overall Group financial and strategic performance. The Committee determined that no discretion should be exercised to adjust any of the formulaic outcomes. The Committee reviewed LSEG’s share price performance in determining the extent to which the 2023 LTI award should vest and concluded that no windfall gains had occurred. Implementation in 2026 The Committee is proposing to continue to apply a similar approach to the implementation of our Policy for 2026 as set out below. Salary The Committee has reviewed salaries for the Executive Directors and determined that no increases will be applied for 2026. Therefore, the salary for the CEO will remain at £1,375,000 and at £850,000 for the CFO. The Committee remains mindful of the wider workforce, for which the average salary budget is 2.5% overall. Annual Bonus There is no change to the bonus design for FY2026, with targets continuing to be set at stretching levels. Annual Bonuses will be awarded in line with our Policy, with 40% deferred into shares for three years. LTI awards The Committee has carefully considered how we will operate our LTI awards in 2026. The performance measures and weightings for the 2026 grant will continue to be 60% AEPS and 40% Relative TSR and awarded in line with our Policy. We have reviewed the AEPS element and, considering internal and external forecasts, have set the AEPS targets at 5% to 10% CAGR. To achieve maximum vesting, an incremental £1.2 billion AOP would be required in 2028, representing additional income of approximately £2.35 billion, relative to 2025. This will be driven primarily by organic growth, reflecting the transition from acquisition and integration- led profitability, to the organisation’s underlying performance and transformation driving EPS growth. We expect that this AEPS range will be aligned with both the FTSE 30 and our global sector peers. This demonstrates LSEG’s continued commitment to setting stretching targets. Relative TSR performance will continue to be assessed equally against our global sector peer group and the FTSE 100, the former consisting of organisations of comparable scale and complexity to LSEG and with which we compete for capital and talent. The vesting range will start from 25% payout for median performance, scaling to 100% payout for upper quartile performance for both peer groups. A summary of key remuneration decisions for FY2025 and FY2026 is provided in the Remuneration at a glance section overleaf. Concluding remarks The purpose of this statement and the wider Directors’ Remuneration report is to explain the Group’s approach to remuneration, which reflects best practice and market trends while continuing to support the commercial needs of the Group, and the interests of shareholders and all other stakeholders. The Committee places great importance on ensuring that there is a clear link between pay and performance, including a focus on culture and adherence to the Group’s risk framework, and that our remuneration outcomes are reflective of this wider context. The Committee remains committed to open and constructive engagement with shareholders and looks forward to further dialogue as we prepare for the triennial review of our Remuneration Policy, which will be presented for shareholder approval in 2027. This follows the Executive Director remuneration changes introduced in the previous review, which received strong shareholder support and have underpinned our ability to attract and retain high-calibre talent during a period of significant transformation. During 2026, the Committee will undertake a comprehensive review to ensure our remuneration continues to secure the talent required to deliver LSEG’s growth ambitions and transformation goals. As part of this, we will review alignment with our global sector peers on the full remuneration mix of salary, Annual Bonus, and Long-Term Incentives. I would like to thank my fellow Committee members and all internal and external stakeholders for their valuable input over the year, and I look forward to further engagement in 2026 as we undertake our triennial Policy review. William Vereker Chair of the Remuneration Committee 25 February 2026 London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 84 Governance ![]() Directors’ Remuneration report continued Remuneration at a glance Annual Bonus outcome Annual Bonus measures Weighting (%bonus opportunity) Outcome David Schwimmer Outcome Michel-Alain Proch Financial: Group AOP 60% 49.5% 49.5% Future Growth: ASV and Net Sales 10% 3.2% 3.2% Strategic Business Cases 5% 3.1% 3.1% Group Strategic Objectives 15% 9.8% 9.8% Personal Leadership Impact 10% 9.0% 9.5% Total 100% 74.6% 75.1% Final outcome approved by the Committee 74.6% 75.1% LTI outcome LTI measures Weighting (%LTI opportunity) Outcome David Schwimmer AEPS growth 60% 46% Relative TSR 40% 0% Total 100% 46% Final outcome approved by the Committee 46% LTI award is not applicable to Michel-Alain Proch who joined LSEG in 2024. Salary Pension and Benefits Annual Bonus Long-Term Incentive Total Remuneration Shareholding David Schwimmer Shareholding (as % of salary), as at 31 December 2025, using the closing MMQ share price of £89.52. Shares counting towards shareholding requirement (as % of salary) Unvested shares on a net of expected tax basis which do not count towards shareholding requirement (as % of salary) Shareholding requirement under the Policy (as % of salary) Michel-Alain Proch has five years from his date of appointment on 1 March 2024 to achieve his shareholding requirement. Michel-Alain Proch 902% 682% 341% 456% Value of shareholding at 31 December 2025: £12.4m Value of shareholding at 31 December 2025: £2.9m Total remuneration outcomes (£000) David Schwimmer (Chief Executive Officer) 2025 max 9,430 6,419 7,86 4 2025 actual 2024 actual 1,375 294 4,125 3,636 1,375 295 3,000 3,194 1,375 294 3,077 1,673 2025 LTI value represents the 2023 LTI award vesting in March 2026. Michel-Alain Proch (Chief Financial Officer) 2025 max 4,828 4,405 4,339 2025 actual 2024 actual 721 339 1,245 2,034 850 116 1,277 850 116 1,700 2,162 2,162 LTI award is not applicable as he joined LSEG in 2024. LTI values represent the buyout awards for forfeited compensation of his Publicis Groupe LTIPs. 2025 total remuneration (£000) 6,419 2025 total remuneration (£000) 4,405 London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 85 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Policy implementation for 2026 (unchanged from 2025) 1 Element David Schwimmer Michel-Alain Proch Salary £1,375,000 £850,000 Pension and Benefits Pension: 10% of salary Benefits: entitlement as per the Policy Pension: 10% of salary Benefits: entitlement as per the Policy Annual Bonus Max 300% of salary Based on financial, strategic and individual performance 40% mandatory deferral into shares for three years Max 200% of salary Based on financial, strategic and individual performance 40% mandatory deferral into shares for three years LTI Max 550% of salary Based 60% on AEPS and 40% on TSR performance assessed over three years Further two-year holding period Max 400% of salary Based 60% on AEPS and 40% on TSR performance assessed over three years Further two-year holding period Shareholding requirement 600% of salary 100% of requirement to be held for two years post departure 400% of salary 100% of requirement to be held for two years post departure 1 Following shareholder feedback, 2026 LTI awards will revert to start from 25% payout for median performance for both peer groups. Alignment of performance measures and strategy Weighting Performance measures Annual Bonus LTI Alignment to strategy and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Group AOP 60% Key profitability measure for the Group aligned to our growth objective, essential as we aim to drive sustainable value creation for all our stakeholders K ASV and Net Sales 10% ASV growth can be an indicator of future income growth 1 K Strategic Business Cases 5% Ensures focus on leading indicators of next year’s revenue growth and strategic businesscases that will drive multi-year growth 1 K Group Strategic Objectives 15% GSOs are determined annually in accordance with LSEG’s Board-approved strategy toguide us through our multi-year transformation journey to achieve our ambition 2 3 4 5 6 K Personal Leadership Impact 10% Aligned to the Company’s strategic priorities, with performance assessed equally on both “what” has been achieved with “how” it has been delivered, to reinforce the culture in driving sustainable high performance 2 3 4 5 6 K AEPS growth 60% Key growth measure; reflects our success in driving strong top-line performance, aswell as managing costs including tax, interest and capital allocation 5 K Relative TSR 40% Maintains focus on how LSEG’s business performance compares to appropriate peer groups, including from a talent perspective and investor expectations Key LTI measure for investors KPIs are set out on pages 16-19 of the Annual Report. Future Growth 1 KPI K Culture 2 Resilience 3 Customer 4 Efficiency 5 Sustainability 6 Delivery of remuneration Year 1 Salary Pension and Benefits Annual Bonus LTI Illustrative timing of when the different remuneration elements are normally received. Annual Bonus and LTI shares typically vest in March of the relevant year. Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Paid in cash Pension allowance paid in cash; Benefits paid per Policy 60% in cash 40% in deferred shares vesting after three years Three-year performance period Two-year holding period Directors’ Remuneration report continued Remuneration at a glance continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 86 Governance ![]() Wider workforce remuneration LSEG’s global Reward Framework provides alignment between our remuneration for Executive Directors and the broader employee population. The Committee oversees arrangements for all our employees, and reviews broader workforce policies and practices to support in executive pay decisions. As set out below, our single aligned global Reward Framework is based on the following principles: (i) we reward performance; (ii) we are rigorous and disciplined in our approach to pay; and (iii) we are focused on clarity and pay free from bias. Variable pay Fixed pay Salary Reflects value of individual roles, which is linked with individual performance, internal peers, market context and role criticality to the business. Base salary bands vary by grade, location and job family. Reviewed annually, increases not guaranteed. Executive Director alignment Salary review considers the same factors. Annual Bonus Discretionary plan, with target bonus opportunity based on grade, outcome based on Group, personal and/or divisional performance. Otherteams participate in performance-based plans such as discretionary sales incentive plans. Senior employees are subject to 40% bonus deferral into shares. All eligible – 86% participate in the discretionary performance-related Annual Bonus. Remainder participate in other performance-based plans. Deferral applies for the Executive Committee and Group Leaders (~100). Executive Director alignment Eligible for discretionary plan on similar basis. Annual Bonuses aresubject to 40% deferral into shares for three years. Pension andBenefits Competitive benefits and pension plans aligned to country marketpractices. Available to all. Executive Director alignment Eligible for market-aligned benefits and receive a pension allowance aligned with wider workforce. Long-Term Incentives Employee share plans offer employees the opportunity to acquire LSEG shares on a favourable basis. Senior employees are eligible for LTIs to incentivise and reward long-term performance, driving shareholder alignment. Performance share awards vest after three years subject to performance, restricted share awardsvest over three years. 35% participation in employee share plans across 38 countries. Executive Committee and Group Leaders (~100) eligible for performance share awards, nextmost senior cohort (~400) eligible for restricted share awards. Executive Director alignment Participation in employee share plan on same terms. Eligible for same performance share awards but with further two year holding period. Not eligible for restricted share awards. Remuneration at a glance continued Directors’ Remuneration report continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 87 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Directors’ Remuneration report continued Element and purpose Operation and performance measures Maximum Salary Core pay reflecting role responsibilities and enables recruitment and retention. Reviewed annually considering size and scope of role, organisation size, market competitiveness, skills and expertise of individual, performance, wider market, economic conditions and increases across the Group. Not performance-linked. No defined maximum; increases based on same factors described in middle column. Benefits Market-competitive benefits and supports wellbeing. UK flexible benefits plan with core cover (private medical, life assurance, income protection) and cash allowance for elective benefits. Car transportation may be provided where necessary to perform the duties of their role. Participation in Sharesave Plan. Directors’ and Officers’ insurance and indemnification is provided. Not performance-linked. No defined maximum; set at market-competitive levels. Retirement benefits Provides retirement benefits and supports recruitment and retention. Annual pension allowance through defined contribution plan or cash allowance. Not performance-linked. 10% of salary (aligned with wider UK workforce). Annual Bonus Rewards annual performance against challenging financial, strategic and individual targets. Deferral reinforces retention and alignment with shareholders. Group-wide bonus pool funded on the achievement of Group financial and strategic goals. Executive Directors’ bonuses are allocated from the pool, based on Group financial and strategic goals plus individual performance. At least 70% of the bonus pool and bonuses are linked to financial metrics. 40% of bonus is deferred into shares for three years. Malus and clawback apply. CEO: 300% of salary; other Executive Directors: 200%. Long-Term Incentives Incentivises long-term performance and aligns reward with shareholder value. Annual share awards vest after three years and further two year holding period. Dividends (or equivalents) may apply. Performance targets are TSR and other financial metrics. Straight-line vesting applies between threshold and maximum performance. Malus and clawback apply. CEO: 550% of salary; other Executive Directors: 400%. Shareholding Aligns with shareholders’ interests. Minimum shareholding requirement (MSR): CEO 600% of salary, other Executive Directors 400% of salary, to be built within five years. Must hold 100% of MSR for two years post departure. No defined maximum. Summary of Executive Director Remuneration Policy The Remuneration Policy (Policy) was approved by shareholders at the 25 April 2024 AGM with 89% support. The table below summarises the key terms of the Policy for Executive Directors. The Policy for Non-Executive Directors is outlined on page 99. The full Remuneration Policy Report is set out on pages 127 to 136 of the 2023 Annual Report, available at our website: www.lseg.com/en/ investor-relations/annual-reports/2023. The Committee applies the principles prescribed by the UK Corporate Governance Code when determining remuneration policy and practices, as described on page 128 of the 2023 Annual Report. There have been no changes to the Policy during the financial period. Remuneration at a glance continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 88 Governance ![]() Annual Report on Remuneration This section sets out how remuneration arrangements have operated during FY2025, and also provides details on how we intend to operate our Policy during FY2026. This report will be subject to an advisory vote at the 2026 Annual General Meeting (AGM). The Policy has operated as intended in 2025 in terms of Company performance and quantum. Single total figure of remuneration for Executive Directors (audited) David Schwimmer Michel-Alain Proch FY2025 £000 % of total FY2024 £000 % of total FY2025 £000 % of total FY2024 £000 % of total Fixed remuneration Salary 1,375 1,375 850 721 Flexible benefits allowance 15 15 1 1 Benefits 1 142 143 30 266 Pension 2 137 137 85 72 Variable remuneration Annual Bonus 3,077 3,000 1,277 1,245 Long-Term Incentive – performance 3 1,381 2,460 – – Long-Term Incentive – share price growth 3 292 578 4 – – Buy-out award – 2,162 5 2,034 6 Total remuneration of which 6,419 7,708 4,405 4,339 Fixed remuneration 1,669 26% 1,670 22% 966 22% 1,060 24% Variable remuneration 4,750 74% 6,038 78% 3,439 78% 3,279 76% Fixed remuneration 1 Benefits include the value of private medical, income protection and life assurance plus expatriate allowances (including tax filing support) and commuting expenses (including car transportation where appropriate) with associated taxes. David Schwimmer receives a flexible benefits annual allowance of £15,000. Michel-Alain Proch receives an annual wellness allowance of £1,000. These allowances are not used to calculate bonus payments or pension allowances. As an expatriate from the US to UK, David Schwimmer receives the following: tax preparation and filing assistance in the US and the UK; the Group will meet the costs of repatriating Mr Schwimmer’s effects back to the US if the company terminates his employment other than in circumstances such as serious misconduct which would justify termination. As an expatriate from France to the UK, Michel-Alain Proch received 30 days of temporary accommodation following his relocation to the UK and a one-off contribution of £100,000 to support with mobility-related costs associated with establishing residency in the UK (as reported in FY2024) and receives tax filing support in accordance with LSEG’s usual practices and approved Policy. David Schwimmer and Michel-Alain Proch contributed £500 per month to the Sharesave plan during 2025; this benefit has been valued based on the 20% discount to market value on the Sharesave option exercise price. 2 David Schwimmer and Michel Alain-Proch each received a pension allowance of 10% of base salary as a taxable non-consolidated cash supplement, which is in line with the wider workforce. Variable remuneration 3 The FY2025 value represents the estimated value of the 2023 award vesting in March 2026. The value delivered through performance is calculated as the number of shares forecast to vest in 2026 multiplied by the share price on the grant date. The value delivered through share price growth is calculated as the same number of shares multiplied by the difference between the average share price in the last three months of the financial year, being £88.77, and the share price on the grant date, being £73.26. The Committee does not intend to amend the outcome or make any adjustments in regard to share price growth, on the basis that this reflects our view of the Group’s underlying performance and returns for shareholders over the performance period. 4 Performance shares vested at 82% on 7 April 2025 at £103.25 per share. 5 As disclosed in the 2023 Directors’ Remuneration Report, a buy-out award was granted to Michel-Alain during 2024 to compensate for the forfeiture of his Publicis Groupe 2022 LTIP. The Group replaced the forfeited Publicis Groupe 2022 LTIP with a performance share award (PSU), which vested as soon as practicable following Publicis Groupe’s formal confirmation of the performance outcome. The amount disclosed reflects the actual vesting outcome of this Publicis Groupe award of 100% and £110.85 per share. 6 As also disclosed in the 2023 Directors’ Remuneration Report, a buy-out award was granted to Michel-Alain during 2024 to compensate for the forfeiture of his Publicis Groupe 2021 LTIP. Given the proximity of the vesting date with Michel-Alain’s start date at LSEG, the Group replaced the Publicis Groupe 2021 LTIP with a cash buy-out award of £2,034k reflecting the actual outcome of this Publicis Groupe award. Executive Directors are covered by the Directors’ and Officers’ insurance and indemnification. There are no contractual malus or clawback provisions in place in relation to benefits. There were no money or assets reported in any previous financial year that were subject to a recovery of sums paid or withholding during the year. Payments for loss of office (audited) No payments were made for loss of office during the year. Payments to past directors (audited) No payments were made to past directors during the year. Directors’ Remuneration report continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 89 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Directors’ Remuneration report continued Annual Report on Remuneration continued Annual Bonus (audited) Executive Directors are eligible to receive an Annual Bonus based on meeting or exceeding the Group’s financial performance metrics and strategic objectives as well as personal performance, with targets set at the beginning of the year. The Remuneration Committee also receives input from the Risk Committee with regard to performance linked to risk culture (awareness, transparency and accountability) when assessing remuneration decisions. The 2025 Group bonus pool was assessed 60% against Group AOP, 15% against Future Growth and 25% against GSOs. The Committee considers Group AOP to be of particular significance for the Group and believes it should continue to be the main financial measure for the Annual Bonus plan. Balanced with this, the Future Growth measure enables the Committee to apply specific focus to the achievement of future revenue targets. We remain committed to driving financial stability, empowering economies and enabling customers to create sustainable growth. Whilst each individual objective is not formulaically weighted, environment, social and governance (ESG) considerations are embedded throughout our GSOs as shown in the summary assessment table on page 92. The maximum bonus opportunity for FY2025 was CEO: 300% of salary and CFO: 200% of salary. Executive Directors must defer 40% of their bonus into shares for three years. Dividend equivalents will be paid in respect of deferred shares on vesting. The Executive Directors’ awards are funded from the Group bonus pool. FY2025 bonus awards for the Executive Directors are determined: Group AOP (60%); Future Growth (15%); Group Strategic Objectives (15%); and Personal Leadership Impact (10%) measures. Personal Leadership Impact is assessed against contribution to the GSOs, including cultural objectives, and against role-related goals and expected leadership behaviours, taking into account both what has been achieved and how the individuals achieved their targets. Based on the assessments set out on pages 91 to 93, and confirming that no discretion was applied, the Remuneration Committee determined the following 2025 Annual Bonus outcomes for each Executive Director: David Schwimmer (Chief Executive Officer) Michel-Alain Proch (Chief Financial Officer) Total Annual Bonus outcome (% maximum) 74.6% 75.1% Maximum Annual Bonus (% of salary) 300% 200% Salary £1,375,000 £850,000 2025 Annual Bonus £3,077,038 £1,276,613 of which 40% deferred (into shares) £1,230,815 £510,645 Fixed Pay in 2026 Salary There are no changes to the base salaries of the CEO and CFO which are therefore: CEO: £1,375,000 CFO: £850,000 Wider workforce average salary budget is 2.5% overall. Benefits Benefit arrangements for 2026 remain unchanged and in line with Policy. Pension Pension arrangements for 2026 remain unchanged and in line with Policy. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 90 Governance ![]() Directors’ Remuneration report continued Annual Report on Remuneration continued 2025 Annual Bonus outcome (audited) FY2025 Annual Bonus outcomes The Committee determined the overall 2025 Annual Bonus outcome with reference to the 12-month performance period ending 31 December 2025 as set out below. Performance measure Weighting Threshold Target Maximum Actual Outcome (% max) Weighted outcome £3,277m (15% vests) £3,469m (30% vests) £3,628m (60% vests) Group AOP 60% £3,589m 82.5% 49.5% Future Growth 2.5% 5% 10% ASV and Net Sales 10% 3.2% 32% 3.2% Strategic BusinessCases 1.25% 2.5% 5% 5% 3.1% 63% 3.1% Details of performance are set out below. Group Strategic Objectives: 15% 3.75% 7.5% 15% 9.8% 65% 9.8% Culture P Resilience Details of performance against each of these are set out overleaf. P Customer P Efficiency L Sustainability O Personal Leadership Impact 10% 2.5% 5% 10% 9.0% David Schwimmer 90% 9.0% 9.5% Michel-Alain Proch 95% 9.5% Details of performance against this are set out on page 93. Total Annual Bonus outcome (% max) David Schwimmer 74.6% Michel-Alain Proch 75.1% P P O Further details on performance outcomes The Committee determined that no discretion should be exercised to adjust any of the formulaic outcomes. The outcome under the Group AOP measure is based on the reported figure. ASV growth of 5.9% reflected a resilient performance and delivery on our commitment to reacceleration into year end, notwithstanding progress against Net Sales being below the targets set. For the Strategic Business Cases metric, the Committee’s evaluation reflected continued progress in the strategic delivery of our partnership with Microsoft, significant benefit realised from the programme of app migrations and on-site systems’ decommissioning and strong progress onboarding clients to new PTS services. The assessment also acknowledges significant benefits of the PTS consortium transaction and the successful extension of the SwapClear revenue-surplus sharing arrangements by 10 years; combined, these improved Group EBITDA margin by 100 basis points and have been immediately EPS accretive. Not performing N Underperforming U Performing P Outperforming O Leading L London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 91 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Summary assessment of Group Strategic Objectives Measure Objective KPIs (including alignmentto ESG) Performance against objective Culture P Develop leadership capability, embed a product-led operating model and build an inclusive, high-performance culture – Engagement score – Inclusive leadership – Product-led organisation S – Maintained a strong engagement score of 74 reflecting colleagues’ empowerment as we continue to transform our businesses and operating model – Maintained an inclusive leadership culture – Significant progress in the transition to a customer-centric and product-led organisation Resilience P Drive risk awareness andmanagement, and improve infrastructure and processes to deliver reliably for the markets and our customers – Critical (P1) and significant (P2) risk events – Critical and significant issue closure – Business risk maturity assessment G – Continued year-on-year reduction in the number of critical risk events, having embedded the Group’s Enterprise Risk Management Framework – Further strengthened the organisation’s resilience through enhanced controls, process automation and an enhanced, robust risk culture across the organisation – Further improvement in business risk maturity, including delivery of the firm-wide control enhancement plan, resulting in strengthened results against external benchmarks Customer P Deliver an exceptional customer experience and drive engagement with our products across the trade lifecycle and data value chain – Operations customer experience (CX) score – Yield from pricing strategy – Brand familiarity S – Delivered improvements in customer experience including improvements to time-to-market and speed in answering customer queries. Over 80% of customer cases use our AI-powered Question and Answer Service (QAS) enabling half of customer queries to be resolved within an hour – Continued to integrate our leading content and products with LSEG Workspace, offering customers a more integrated and seamless end-to-end experience – Increase in brand familiarity was supported by steps taken to simplify and scale the LSEG brand, the LSEG Insight Series reaching 17 countries and the Eurasia Group Strategic Partnership Efficiency L Simplify and modernise our platforms and processes; enable scalable growth and drive operating leverage – Realisation of Fit for Growth savings – Operating leverage – Capex portfolio outcomes S G – Fit for Growth efficiency programme delivered £131 million exit-rate opex savings to drive margin improvement – Significant improvement in operating leverage facilitated incremental reinvestment into existing growth initiatives, including LSEG Everywhere, and our transition to a product-led organisation – Significant progress to optimise staff costs including workforce in-sourcing programme, and introducing use of AI tools in core functions to drive productivity and efficiency gains Sustainability O Establish LSEG as strategic enabler and steward of sustainable economic growth – ESG ratings – CSRD 1 -readiness milestones and pre-assurance – Stakeholder perception E S G – Significant progress in LSEG’s ESG ratings, with upgrades from three of the four benchmarks – Completed major CSRD milestones and Deloitte pre-assurance – Increased stakeholder perception score with 81% of stakeholders perceiving LSEG as a leader in sustainable finance and investment 1 Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. P P P L O Environmental E Social S Governance G Not performing N Underperforming U Performing P Outperforming O Leading L Directors’ Remuneration report continued Annual Report on Remuneration continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 92 Governance ![]() Annual Bonus for 2026 There is no change to the bonus design for FY2026, with targets continuing to be set at stretching levels. Annual Bonus targets have not been disclosed as they are considered commercially sensitive and will be disclosed retrospectively in the 2026 Directors’ Remuneration Report. Annual Bonus maximum opportunities will be awarded in line with our Policy (CEO: 300% of salary, CFO: 200% of salary), with 40% of any bonus deferred into shares for three years. Assessment of Personal Leadership Impact The Committee assessed the outcome of the Personal Leadership Impact objective of the Executive Directors based on the following. David Schwimmer, Chief Executive Officer Michel-Alain Proch, Chief Financial Officer – Under David’s leadership, LSEG delivered strong financial performance in 2025, achieving 7.1% organic income growth (excl. recoveries), above the mid-point of guidance. AOP organic growth was very strong at 14.3%. He continued to oversee active and value-creating capital allocation through M&A and share buybacks, bringing the total buybacks to £4.6bn since 2022. He also drove enhanced scalability and operating efficiency, resulting in a 210bps increase in Group EBITDA margin. – David is driving LSEG’s strategic transformation, with major internal and external programmes including leading our accelerated AI transformation, driving digitalisation capabilities across our market infrastructure and advancing partnerships. David has displayed a strong focus on communications to colleagues, customers and markets. – LSEG is innovating at pace, facilitated by an active capital allocation policy across all of our divisions. David oversaw the completion of the Post Trade Solutions partnership and investment, which generated financial benefits to group EBITDA margin and AEPS in 2025, while creating a deeper strategic partnership with 11 leading banks taking a 20% stake. The LSEG Everywhere AI strategy, LSEG’s unmatched data and our infrastructure position us as a long-term strategic partner of choice, as do the new LSEG Data Access Agreements. The migration of customers to Workspace from Eikon, a common platform for innovation and growth providing hundreds of enhancements a year, was one of the largest financial services workflow migrations in history. – David has continued to strengthen the Microsoft Partnership and advance the product-led transformation by championing and supporting delivery, complemented by his sustained prioritisation of a strong risk culture, embedding risk awareness and resilience across the Group. – He continued to foster an inclusive, high-performance culture, with employee engagement scores remaining strong at 74 during a period of organisational change. This was underpinned by his hiring and development of talent at both the Executive Committee and Group Leader levels, including the smooth onboarding of the Co-Head of Data and Analytics and Chief Corporate Affairs and Marketing Officer enhancing the effectiveness of senior leadership. – David successfully evolved LSEG’s external profile, leading an extensive international programme of media and public engagements supporting policy priorities, brand visibility and customer objectives. He also maintained strong investor engagement to discuss performance and strategy. – Michel-Alain had a strong year as CFO, delivering cost efficiency and driving our transition to a product-led operating and profitability model. He continues to enhance the Group’s capability and rigour in data-driven investment planning and capital allocation, and champions performance management and cost discipline across the Group. – Under Michel-Alain’s guidance, LSEG has delivered 210bps of in-year margin improvement, including 110bps of underlying gains. This continues the upward trajectory that started during his first year of office and provides confidence in further improvement in 2026. This reflects Michel-Alain’s continued focus on operating leverage through cost discipline and improved scalability across the Group. Free cash flow was also strong at £2.4bn, in line with guidance, allowing dividend growth of 15.4% and the completion of £2.1bn in share buybacks in 2025. – He led LSEG’s active role in debt capital markets, effectively managing the Group’s financing costs while diversifying our sources of funding. – Michel-Alain is a trusted figure amongst shareholders, markets and customers, displaying his rigorous understanding of our business and its growth opportunities when co-hosting LSEG’s recent Innovation Forum. – He continues to be a highly effective leader and complementary partner to the CEO, providing strong enterprise leadership and driving growth programmes. – Michel-Alain robustly managed the transition in the financial control framework audit and advanced key functional transformation initiatives. This included the first phase of implementation of our new Enterprise Resource Platform (ERP), strengthening Finance’s planning and operating foundations and driving faster insights on business performance. Figures are on a constant currency basis. Directors’ Remuneration report continued Annual Report on Remuneration continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 93 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() David Schwimmer, Chief Executive Officer Performance measure Weighting Threshold (25% vests) Maximum (100% vests) Actual Outcome (% max) Weighted outcome Average adjusted EPS growth 60% 6.0% 11.5% 9.8% 77% 46% Relative TSR growth 40% Median Upper Quartile 33rd percentile 0% 0% Below Threshold Total 100% 46% Measure Weighting Awards Threshold (25% vesting) Stretch (100% vesting) Average AEPS growth Average earnings per share, adjusted to remove any non-underlying items. 60% 2024 7.0% p.a. 12.5% p.a. 2025 5.0% p.a. 11.0% p.a. 2026 5.0% p.a. 10.0% p.a. Relative TSR vs global sector peers 1 Measures the total returns delivered to shareholders (share price growth plus dividends paid) over the three-year performance period, relative to LSEG’s global sector peers. 20% 2024 50th percentile 75th percentile 2025 50th percentile 2 75th percentile 2026 50th percentile 75th percentile Relative TSR vs FTSE 100 As above, measuring LSEG’s performance relative to UK FTSE 100 firms. 20% 2024 50th percentile 75th percentile 2025 50th percentile 75th percentile 2026 50th percentile 75th percentile 1 Global sector peers for 2024 includes CME, Intercontinental Exchange, MSCI, Deustche Börse, Nasdaq, Cboe, Euronext, S&P Global, Moody’s, FactSet, Morningstar, Experian, RELX, and Wolters Kluwer, and for 2025 and 2026 additionally includes MarketAxess, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, Equifax, Verisk and Transunion. 2 For the 2025 award, the Relative TSR element vests from 50% for relative TSR performance at median against global sector peers. Awards vest on a straight-line basis for performance between threshold and stretch, with nil vesting for performance below threshold. Directors’ Remuneration report continued Annual Report on Remuneration continued Long-Term Incentives (audited) 2023 LTI award outcome (vesting in 2026) The Committee determined the 2023 LTI award vesting outcome with reference to the three-year performance period ending 31 December 2025 as set out below. The 2023 LTI award granted to David Schwimmer was 300% of his salary at the grant date. 2023 LTI award is not applicable to Michel- Alain Proch who joined LSEG in 2024. The buy-out award granted to Michel-Alain Proch during 2024 to compensate for the forfeiture of his Publicis Groupe 2022 LTIP vested during 2025 as set out on page 89. In relation to the 2023 LTI award, the outcome under the AEPS measure is based on the reported figure. The AEPS element will vest at 77% and the Relative TSR element will vest at 0%. The vesting outcome reflects the delivery of AEPS growth of 9.8% CAGR. TSR performance over the performance period was 18.6%, representing 33rd percentile performance relative to the FTSE 100 peer group. Overall, this results in a vesting outcome of 46% of the maximum. The Committee does not intend to amend the outcome or make any adjustments in regard to share price growth, on the basis that this vesting reflects our view of the Group’s underlying performance and returns for shareholders over the performance period. Overall, the Committee determined that no discretion should be exercised to adjust any of the formulaic outcomes. The award is subject to a two-year post-vesting holding period. The final vesting outcome (incorporating the actual share price at vesting) will be disclosed in the 2026 Directors’ Remuneration Report. 2022 LTI award (vesting in 2025) As disclosed in the 2024 Directors’ Remuneration Report, the 2022 LTI award granted to David Schwimmer vested at 82%, based on relative TSR performance and adjusted EPS performance in the performance period to December 2024. The vesting price at 7 April 2025 was £103.25. These values are shown in FY2024 in the single total figure table. LTI (granted under the Equity Incentive Plan) The Equity Incentive Plan (EIP) was approved by shareholders at the 2024 AGM. LTI awards are granted under the EIP and for Executive Directors are subject to a two-year holding period in addition to the three-year vesting period, resulting in a total five-year period from the date of grant. Malus and clawback provisions will apply to these awards, allowing the Committee to reduce subsisting awards or request the re-transfer of value in respect of already paid or vested awards in certain circumstances (see page 96). The performance conditions applying to awards from 2024 are shown below. Details of the performance conditions for awards granted before 2024 are provided in the respective Annual Reports available on our website. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 94 Governance ![]() Directors’ Remuneration report continued Annual Report on Remuneration continued LTI awards granted in FY2025 (audited) Awards during FY2025 were granted on 12 March 2025 under the EIP as follows for the Executive Directors. David Schwimmer Michel-Alain Proch LTI (conditional award) % of salary 550% 400% Face value £7,562,500 £3,400,000 Share price 1 £110.55 £110.55 Number of shares granted 2 68,407 30,755 1 The share price of £110.55 was determined using the closing price (MMQ) on 11 March 2025 as approved by the Share Scheme Committee (a sub-committee of the Remuneration Committee). 2 The applicable performance conditions are set out on the previous page. TSR is measured over a two-month trailing average at the start and end of the three-year performance period (ending 31 December 2027) and compared to the relevant peer group. EPS is measured over the same three-year performance period ending 31 December 2027. At minimum performance, 30% of the award is receivable. Long-Term Incentives for 2026 Based on the context and an assessment of personal performance, the Remuneration Committee intends to make grants to the Executive Directors as set out below. David Schwimmer Michel-Alain Proch Long-Term Incentive award (subject to performance) % of salary 550% 400% Amount £7,562,500 £3,400,000 2026 LTI awards will remain subject to the same performance measures and weightings as for 2025. The Committee has given careful consideration to the target ranges applicable to the 2026 grant, in particular to ensure that AEPS growth targets are appropriately stretching taking into account both internal and external forecasts. For the AEPS element (60% weighting), the performance targets will range from 5% to 10% CAGR. To achieve maximum vesting, an incremental £1.2 billion AOP would be required in 2028, representing additional income of approximately £2.35 billion, relative to 2025. This will be driven primarily by organic growth, reflecting the transition from acquisition and integration- led profitability, to the organisation’s underlying performance and transformation driving EPS growth. We expect that this AEPS range will be one aligned with both the FTSE 30 and our global sector peers. This continues to demonstrate LSEG’s commitment to setting stretching targets. For the Relative TSR element (40% weighting), performance will continue to be assessed against our global sector peers and the FTSE 100, weighted 50:50. The vesting range will start from 25% payout for median performance, scaling to 100% payout for upper quartile performance for both peer groups. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 95 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Directors’ Remuneration report continued Annual Report on Remuneration continued Malus and clawback provisions Malus and clawback provisions apply to all share incentive awards granted to Executive Directors. Clawback provisions apply to annual bonuses paid to Executive Directors. In respect of awards under the EIP, the malus provisions allow the Committee in its absolute discretion to determine, at any time prior to the payment or vesting of an award, to reduce, cancel or impose further conditions in certain circumstances, including: (a) material misstatement or restatement in the Company’s or any member of the Group’s audited financial accounts (other than as a result of a change in accounting practice); (b) the negligence, fraud or serious misconduct of an individual, or fraud or serious misconduct with the knowledge of a participant; (c) conduct by an individual which results in, or is or was reasonably likely to result in (whether or not such result has transpired e.g., if undiscovered and/or if no mitigating steps had been taken): (i) significant reputational damage to the Company, any member of the Group or to a relevant business unit (as appropriate); (ii) a material adverse effect on the financial position of the Company, any member of the Group or to a relevant business unit (as appropriate); (iii) a material downturn in the financial performance of the Company, any member of the Group or to a relevant business unit (as appropriate); Other share plans All permanent employees in Sri Lanka and the UK, including Executive Directors, can join the HMRC-approved Save As You Earn (SAYE) scheme, saving up to £500 per month (or local equivalent) for three years. At maturity, savings can be used to buy shares at up to a 20% discount, with no performance conditions attached. (iv) a material corporate failure of the Company, any member of the Group or to a relevant business unit (as appropriate); (v) a material adverse effect on the business opportunities and prospects for sustained performance or profitability of the Company, any member of the Group or relevant business unit (as appropriate); or (vi) a material failure of risk management in the Company, any member of the Group or to a relevant business unit (as appropriate), or an individual being (or having been): a member of; an employee of; or responsible for, a business unit, the Company or a member of the Group that suffers (or may or could reasonably have suffered) any of the same; (d) where the grant, vesting, exercise, payment or release of an award would not be sustainable according to the financial situation of the Group as a whole nor justified on the basis of the performance of the Group, the relevant business unit and the relevant individual; (e) conduct or behaviour by an individual that, following an investigation, is reasonably considered by the Committee to constitute a breach of the Company’s values and/or standards as stipulated by the Group’s Code of Conduct or any of the Company’s policies, procedures or any provision of any staff handbook in force from time to time; (f) unreasonable failure by an individual to protect the interests of the Group’s stakeholders; Our SharePurchase Plan offers similar benefits to employees outside Sri Lanka and the UK, allowing employees to purchase up to £500 of LSEG shares per month with an award of matching shares that vest after three years, also without performance conditions. In 2025, SharePurchase expanded to China, giving 98% of permanent employees worldwide access to share plans. (g) where a participant ceases to be an employee by reason of their retirement (as determined by the Committee) at any time prior to payment or vesting, but becomes employed in an executive role by any entity other than a role for which they receive no remuneration; (h) an error in assessing any performance conditions applicable to an award or in the information or assumptions on which the award was granted, vests or is exercised, paid or released; or (i) any other circumstances that the Committee, in exercising appropriate discretion and acting fairly and reasonably, considers to be similar in nature or effect to those above. Clawback provisions allow the Committee in its absolute discretion to claw back from individuals some or all of the vested EIP awards or paid bonus in the same circumstances outlined for malus above. Clawback will normally apply for a period of three years following vesting of share awards and/or payment of cash bonus unless the Committee determines otherwise. The Committee believes this is an appropriate time period which aligns with the length of the performance period for long-term incentives. Similar but not identical malus and/or clawback triggers apply to existing awards under other LSEG discretionary share incentive plans, and to annual bonuses. The malus and clawback provisions were not used in FY2025 for any awards granted to Executive Directors. David Schwimmer and Michel-Alain Proch contribute to the SAYE on the same terms as other employees. These all-employee share plans are a key part of our benefits offering and support retention, with 35% of eligible employees participating globally across 38 countries in 2025. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 96 Governance ![]() Directors’ Remuneration report continued Annual Report on Remuneration continued Shareholding requirements for 2026 There are no changes to the in-employment and post-employment MSR for 2026. Minimum shareholding requirement (audited) All Directors are subject to an MSR, as set out in the Remuneration Policy. The MSR is 600% of salary for the CEO, 400% of salary for the CFO and 100% of base fee for NEDs. Any Executive Director who steps down from the Board continues to be subject to an MSR for two years post departure at the lower of their actual shareholding and 100% of their MSR. Current shareholdings are summarised in the following table: Requirement (% salary/fee) Shareholding as at 31 December 2025 (% salary/fee) 1,2 Requirement met 3 Executive Directors David Schwimmer 600 902% Michel-Alain Proch 4 400 341% – Non-Executive Directors Don Robert CBE 100 124% Dr. Val Rahmani 100 135% Professor Kathleen DeRose 100 141% Cressida Hogg CBE 100 100% Dominic Blakemore 100 152% Martin Brand 5 – N/A N/A Tsega Gebreyes 100 113% William Vereker 100 132% Scott Guthrie 5 – N/A N/A Lloyd Pitchford 100 141% Dame Elizabeth Corley 6 100 – – 1 For Executive Directors, this includes shares held outright plus deferred share awards granted under the Deferred Bonus Plan (DBP), on a ‘net of expected taxes’ basis, that are unvested and subject to continued employment. 2 Based on a share price of £89.52 (being the closing MMQ share price on 31 December 2025). 3 MSR (percentage of base salary or basic fee) required to be reached within five years of appointment for Executive Directors and within three years for NEDs. 4 Has five years from the date of appointment on 1 March 2024 to achieve his MSR. 5 MSR does not apply as are not paid a fee for their service. 6 Has three years from the date of appointment on 1 December 2025 to achieve her MSR. There have been no further changes in these interests between 31 December 2025 and 25 February 2026. Outside appointments Executive Directors are allowed to accept appointments as NEDs of other companies with the prior approval of the Chair or Nomination Committee, as appropriate. Approval will only be given where the appointment does not represent a conflict of interest with the Company’s activities, the director has sufficient time to undertake the additional role and where the wider exposure gained will be beneficial to the development of the individual. Executive Directors may retain fees to encourage them to seek out the development opportunities and valuable experience afforded by these appointments and in recognition of the personal responsibility they assume in such roles. Service contracts for Executive Directors The Executive Directors’ service contracts do not have a fixed term and provide for a period of 12 months’ notice by either party. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 97 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Statement of Directors’ shareholdings and share interests at 31 December 2025 (audited) The interests of the Executive Directors and NEDs in the shares of LSEG plc, or scheme interests in relation to those shares, including the interests of their connected persons, were: Shares held Awards held Owned outright 1 Unvested and subject to performance conditions Unvested and subject to continued employment 2 Vested but not exercised Executive Directors David Schwimmer 122,720 194,424 29,814 – Michel-Alain Proch 30,000 69,000 16,007 – Non-Executive Directors Don Robert CBE 10,000 – – – Dr. Val Rahmani 1,429 – – – Professor Kathleen DeRose 1,500 – – – Cressida Hogg CBE 1,683 – – – Dominic Blakemore 1,611 – – – Martin Brand – – – – Tsega Gebreyes 1,200 – – – William Vereker 1,400 – – – Scott Guthrie 623 – – – Lloyd Pitchford 1,500 – – – Dame Elizabeth Corley 3 – – – – 1 Ordinary shares include both ordinary shares listed on the London Stock Exchange and American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) representing ordinary shares (at a ratio of 1 ordinary share (LSEG): 4 ADR (LNSTY)). 2 Refers to the Deferred Bonus Plan (DBP) and share options granted under Sharesave. Since 2021, LTI performance share and DBP awards have been granted as conditional awards. All subject to continued employment and malus provisions. 3 Date of appointment is 1 December 2025. There are no vested but unexercised options and no options were exercised in the relevant financial year. There have been no further changes in these interests between 31 December 2025 and 25 February 2026. The original date of appointment as Directors of the Company is as follows: Name Date Appointed Effective date of letter of appointment Time to expiry Notice period LSEG Committee membership/chairmanship Don Robert CBE 01/01/2019 01/01/2025 AGM in 2028 6 months Dr. Val Rahmani 20/12/2017 20/12/2023 19/12/2026 None Professor Kathleen DeRose 28/12/2018 28/12/2024 27/12/2027 None Cressida Hogg CBE 08/03/2019 08/03/2025 07/03/2028 None Dominic Blakemore 1 01/01/2020 01/01/2023 23/04/2026 None Martin Brand 1 29/01/2021 17/05/2024 16/05/2027 None Tsega Gebreyes 01/06/2021 01/06/2024 31/05/2027 None William Vereker 03/10/2022 03/10/2025 02/10/2028 None Lloyd Pitchford 30/04/2025 30/04/2025 29/04/2028 None Dame Elizabeth Corley 01/12/2025 01/12/2025 30/11/2028 None Shareholder director Scott Guthrie 2 01/02/2023 01/02/2026 31/01/2029 A Audit Committee N Nomination Committee Re Remuneration Committee Ri Risk Committee S SID   Committee Chair 1 Dominic Blakemore and Martin Brand will step down from the Board following the AGM In April 2026 as announced on 4 December 2025. 2 Shareholder director representing Microsoft. N Re N Re Ri Ri A N S A N Re A N Ri N A N Ri Re N Ri A N Ri N Ri N A Directors’ Remuneration report continued Annual Report on Remuneration continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 98 Governance ![]() Directors’ Remuneration report continued Annual Report on Remuneration continued Non-Executive Directors’ remuneration table (audited) Committee membership as at 31 December 2025 FY2025 LSEG fees £000 FY2025 Taxable benefits 1 £000 FY2025 Total £000 FY2024 LSEG fees £000 FY2024 Taxable benefits 1 £000 FY2024 Total £000 Don Robert CBE      720 6 726 625 12 637 Dr. Val Rahmani         95 53 148 95 61 156 Professor Kathleen DeRose       135 47 182 135 49 184 Cressida Hogg CBE           150 4 154 150 4 154 Dominic Blakemore       135 4 139 135 4 139 Tsega Gebreyes       95 5 100 95 2 97 William Vereker       135 4 139 135 4 139 Martin Brand 2 – 11 11 – 6 6 Scott Guthrie 3 – 25 25 – 24 24 Lloyd Pitchford 4 64 – 64 – – – Dame Elizabeth Corley 4 8 – 8 – – – Total Non-Executive Directors’ fees 1,537 159 1,696 1,370 167 1,537 A Audit Committee N Nomination Committee Re Remuneration Committee Ri Risk Committee S SID   Committee Chair 1 Taxable benefits relate to any travel allowance payments and travelling expenses, including grossed up taxes where applicable. 2 Does not receive a fee for his role. Under his letter of appointment, Martin Brand is entitled to receive a travel allowance of £4,000 per intercontinental trip. Mr Brand chose to waive this travel allowance during 2025. 3 Shareholder director appointed to the Board on 1 February 2023 who does not receive a fee for his role. 4 Appointed during 2025 and FY2025 remuneration reflects the part-year. Non-Executive Directors’ fees for 2026 Fees for the NEDs are reviewed every three years by the Board to ensure they remain competitive and aligned to market practice. Fees were last updated in 2023. During the year, the Board reviewed fees relative to FTSE 30 companies and global sector peers. As a result, the Board has agreed to increase the fee for the Senior Independent Director and the Non-Executive Director base fee, and introduce a fee for committee membership (excluding the Nominations Committee) for 2026, as outlined below. NEDs are also required to build up a shareholding requirement of 100% of their annual base fees within three years of appointment. Fees With effect from 1 Jan 2025 With effect from 1 Jan 2026 Chair of the Company £720,000 £720,000 Senior Independent Director £150,000 £180,000 Non-Executive Director base fee £95,000 £120,000 Audit/Remuneration/Risk Committee Chair £40,000 £40,000 Audit/Remuneration/Risk Committee member £0 £15,000 N Re N Re Ri Ri A N S A N Re A N Ri A N Ri Re N Ri N N A N Ri N Ri A Non-Executive Directors’ remuneration NED remuneration is determined by the Board and is neither performance related nor pensionable. The Chair’s fee is determined by the Remuneration Committee. The fees for NEDs are set at a level to recognise the significant responsibilities and to attract individuals with the necessary experience and capability to make a meaningful contribution to the Company. Fees are reviewed every three years, relative to global sector peers, FTSE 30 companies and other companies of a similar size and complexity. Neither the Chair nor the NEDs participate in any of the Company’s annual bonus or long-term incentive plans and are not entitled to any payments on termination. To recognise the global nature of the Company’s business and the additional time commitment required for travel, a travel allowance of £4,000 per intercontinental trip is paid. The Group Chair is not eligible for this allowance as he receives an all-inclusive fee for his role. Travel and other appropriate expenses with associated taxes (including fees incurred in obtaining professional advice) incurred while performing their duties are reimbursed to the Chair and to the NEDs. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 99 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() 0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 £m Relative importance of spend on pay 2024 Dividends paid and share buyback Total employee costs 2025 2024 2025 Directors’ Remuneration report continued Annual Report on Remuneration continued Percentage change in Directors’ remuneration The table below shows year-on-year percentage changes in salary, benefits, and annual bonus for each Executive and NED compared to the global average for employees. Amounts have been annualised where appropriate for comparability. Variations reflect the following specific circumstances: (i) NED benefits reduced in 2021 due to lower travel costs during the Covid-19 pandemic and increased in 2022 with the resumption of global travel; (ii) 2021 reductions for employees reflected the integration of Refinitiv and changes in geographic mix; (iii) 2023 CEO benefit increase was mainly due to tax filing and immigration costs; and (iv) 2024 Remuneration Policy reset Executive Director pay to align more closely with the median of our global sector peer group. 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 Salary/ fees Benefits Annual Bonus Salary/ fees Benefits Annual Bonus Salary/ fees Benefits Annual Bonus Salary/ fees Benefits Annual Bonus Salary/ fees Benefits Annual Bonus Executive Directors 1 David Schwimmer 0% 0% 3% 38% -36% 90% 0% 63% 10% 2% -14% -12% 24% -23% 19% Michel-Alain Proch 3 0% -90% 3% – – – – – – – – – – – – Non-Executive Directors 2 Don Robert CBE 15% -49% – 0% -11% – 0% -58% – 19% 584% – 0% -85% – Dr. Val Rahmani 0% -13% – 0% -7% – 19% 31% – 0% 1093% – 0% -73% – Professor Kathleen DeRose 0% -4% – 0% 41% – 23% -16% – 0% 640% – 38% -44% – Cressida Hogg CBE 0% 0% – 0% – – 0% – – 39% – – 35% – – Dominic Blakemore 0% 3% – 0% – – 23% – – 0% – – 9% – – Tsega Gebreyes 3 0% 97% – 0% 55% – 19% -94% – 0% – – – – – William Vereker 3 0% 2% – 0% – – 34% – – – – – – – – Martin Brand 4 – 87% – – – – – – – – – – – – – Scott Guthrie 3,4 – 5% – – 54% – – – – – – – – – – Lloyd Pitchford 3 – – – Dame Elizabeth Corley 3 – – – Average pay of our employees 2% -5% 5% -3% 3% 10% 5% 4% 16% 14% 17% -15% -29% -37% -47% 1 Calculated using data from the single total figure of remuneration table on page 89. 2 Calculated using data from the Non-Executive Directors’ Remuneration Table on page 99. 3 Following Directors were appointed to the Board during the year and their amounts have been annualised where appropriate for comparability: Michel-Alain Proch on 1 March 2024, Tsega Gebreyes on 1 June 2021, William Vereker on 3 October 2022, Scott Guthrie on 1 February 2023, Lloyd Pitchford on 30 April 2025, and Elizabeth Corley on 1 December 2025. 4 Does not receive a fee for their role. Relative importance of spend on pay The table right shows the relative FY2025 versus FY2024 expenditure of the Group on dividends and share buyback versus total employee costs. These figures are underpinned by amounts from the Notes to the Financial Statements at the back of this Annual Report. Year-on-year increases (%) FY2025 FY2024 Annual increase Dividends paid and share buyback in financial period £2,790m £1,647m +69% 1 Total employee costs £2,846m £2,735m 2 +4% 1 The increase in dividends paid and share buybacks in 2025 is largely driven by the higher overall buyback amount, with £2.1 billion executed in-year. 2 FY2024 total employee costs have been re-presented to show total payments to employees. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 100 Governance ![]() 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 0 100 200 300 400 500 TSR and CEO remuneration Dec 15 Dec 16 Return index rebased to 100 CEO remuneration (£000s) Dec 17 Dec 18 Dec 19 Dec 20 Dec 21 Dec 22 Dec 23 Dec 24 Dec 25 LSEG TSR David Schwimmer was appointed as CEO on 1 August 2018. FTSE 100 TSR CEO remuneration Directors’ Remuneration report continued Annual Report on Remuneration continued Alignment between pay and performance Total Shareholder Return performance and CEO pay The following graph shows, for the financial period ended 31 December 2025 and for each of the previous ten financial periods, the TSR on a holding of the Company’s ordinary shares of the same kind and number as those by reference to which the FTSE 100 is calculated. The TSR graph represents the value, at 31 December 2025, of £100 invested in LSEG plc on 31 December 2015, compared with the value of £100 invested in the FTSE 100 Index over the same period. The FTSE 100 Index has been chosen for the purposes of this graph as it is widely used and understood, and LSEG plc is a constituent of the index. The CEO single total figure of remuneration is additionally provided. Historic levels of CEO pay Period ended: (12 months unless otherwise stated) CEO CEO Single total figure of remuneration (£’000) Annual Bonus payout as % of maximum opportunity Long-Term Incentive vesting as % of maximum opportunity 31 December 2025 David Schwimmer 6,419 75% 46% 31 December 2024 David Schwimmer 7,708 73% 82% 31 December 2023 David Schwimmer 5,392 70% 60% 31 December 2022 David Schwimmer 4,854 64% 82% 31 December 2021 David Schwimmer 6,847 72% 100% 31 December 2020 David Schwimmer 6,479 76% 100% 31 December 2019 David Schwimmer 2,456 75% – 3 31 December 2018 David Schwimmer 1 2,153 76% – 3 29 November 2017 Xavier Rolet 2 5,799 79% 100% 31 December 2016 Xavier Rolet 6,880 91% 91% 1 Appointed as CEO on 1 August 2018. 2 Stepped down from the Board on 29 November 2017; data therefore represents 11-month figures. 3 Awards vesting in 2019 and 2020 vested at 89.6% and 100% respectively; these grants were not applicable to David Schwimmer. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 101 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Directors’ Remuneration report continued Annual Report on Remuneration continued The Committee has reviewed the ratios and pay data for the individuals identified at each of the relevant quartiles and believe they are reflective of the Company’s wider pay policies. The remuneration received by each of the individuals is in line with our Reward Framework. Executive Directors’ and other senior managers’ remuneration includes a greater proportion of performance-related pay when compared to the identified employees. The Committee considers this is essential to differentiate levels of responsibility and align pay to sustainable long-term performance and shareholders’ interests. This is consistent with our 2024 Remuneration Policy which reset Executive Director remuneration to align more closely with the median pay of our global sector peers. As a significant proportion of the CEO’s remuneration is linked to performance and share price, it is expected that annual changes in the pay ratio will be significantly influenced by LTI outcomes each year and will fluctuate accordingly. This is evidenced in the fluctuations in the median pay ratio over time. Notes to the calculation We have chosen to use Option C in the regulations to determine the pay ratios. The best equivalents for the UK individuals at the 25th, 50th and 75th percentiles were determined using the hourly rate from our gender pay analysis. To ensure a sufficiently robust representation at each quartile, we calculate the average total pay and benefits of a number of employees centred around each quartile. Any anomalies arising in the amounts (for example, if an employee left part way through the year) are adjusted or excluded. Option C leverages the comprehensive analysis we have completed as part of our UK gender pay gap reporting exercise. It comprises 92% of the UK population (from the entities with 250 or more employees, excluding Tradeweb). Total pay and benefits reflect remuneration earned in the financial year, including a best estimate of the accrued FY2025 bonus, which will not be finalised until after the signing of this report. Our approach to calculating the pay ratio ensures that the best equivalents determined are a reflective and true representation of workforce pay at the relevant percentiles. Further information on our Pay Equity reporting is in our 2025 Sustainability Report. Details on total pay and benefits figures – The 2025 total pay and benefits of the identified employees was determined based on data as at 31 December 2025 – The 2025 base salary for the 25th, 50th and 75th percentile employees are as follows: £69,700, £90,500, £114,500 – The 2025 total pay and benefits for the 25th, 50th and 75th percentile employees are as follows: £91,400, £125,400, £159,100 – The CEO is the highest paid individual in the Group Year Method 25th percentile pay ratio 50th percentile pay ratio 75th percentile pay ratio 2025 C 70 51 40 2024 C 83 62 52 2023 C 61 46 34 2022 C 61 40 31 2021 C 97 63 49 2020 C 93 67 49 2019 C 31 21 19 CEO to employee pay ratio Paying our employees competitively relative to their role, skills, experience and performance is central to our approach to remuneration, and our Reward Framework and policies support us in doing this. The Committee consider pay ratios as a useful reference point to inform pay decisions, but also take into account a number of other internal and external factors when determining executive pay outcomes, including: – Our Reward Framework which establishes the compensation structure, elements and leverage for each career stage in the organisation, providing the Committee with oversight of workforce remuneration – The Group’s financial and strategic performance, including consideration of risk – Each individual’s performance, including conduct and behaviour, against personal objectives – External market surveys – Wider context and the views of shareholders and investor bodies The table below shows the ratios of the CEO single total figure of remuneration to the total pay and benefits of UK employees at the 25th, 50th and 75th percentile. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 102 Governance ![]() Directors’ Remuneration report continued Annual Report on Remuneration continued Engagement with stakeholders The Committee is mindful of shareholder views when setting and evaluating ongoing remuneration principles and commits to consulting with key shareholders including institutional investor bodies prior to any key decisions and changes to the Remuneration Policy. In formulating the current Policy, we consulted extensively with nearly 100 shareholders, representing approximately 80% of LSEG’s voting rights, and proxy agencies. We are grateful for the valuable input provided during this process, which informed the detail of our Policy. The Committee looks forward to further dialogue as we prepare for the triennial review of our Remuneration Policy, which will be presented for shareholder approval in 2027. We hold annual briefings with people leaders and Executive Committee members to explain in detail the Reward Framework and alignment with the Executive Director Remuneration Policy, achieving attendance from over 85% of people leaders. While employees are not directly consulted on the development of the Remuneration Policy for Executive Directors, employee forums held in key regional locations give employees the opportunity to provide feedback and express their views on any topic including executive remuneration. In addition, this Annual Report is used to communicate and engage with our employees regarding executive remuneration alignment with the wider workforce. The Annual Report is also shared in employee communications. Advisors Until 30 April 2025, Willis Towers Watson (WTW) was the principal advisor appointed by the Committee to provide independent advice on executive remuneration policy and practice. Following a competitive tender process, PwC was appointed by the Remuneration Committee as independent remuneration consultants to the Committee with effect from 1 May 2025. Ellason was appointed as an additional independent advisor by the Committee in 2023 to support with the review of LSEG’s Remuneration Policy. PwC, WTW and Ellason are members of the Remuneration Consultants Group and, as such, voluntarily operate under the code of conduct in relation to executive remuneration consulting in the UK. The Committee is satisfied that their advice was independent and objective. WTW provides a range of unrelated professional services to the Group in the ordinary course of business, including actuarial and accounting services and wider reward advisory work. PwC provides unrelated professional services to the Group in the ordinary course of business including tax, advisory and risk compliance services. The fees paid to these advisors for services to the Committee in the year ended 31 December 2025, based on hours spent, were as follows: Advisor Fees paid in the year PwC £50,123 WTW £51,478 Ellason £8,600 To assist the Committee, the results of market surveys are made available. Where appropriate, the Committee invites the views of the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief People Officer and the Chief Risk Officer via the Risk Committee. None of these individuals nor the Chair participated in any discussion relating to their own remuneration. Remuneration Committee activities in 2025 February July December Executive Directors’ and Executive Committee remuneration outcomes Executive Directors’ and Executive Committee performance review Annual Bonus and LTI performance measures and design Directors’ Remuneration Report All employee remuneration Global Pay Equity review Business performance and bonus pool outturn Governance Shareholder feedback AGM season market and governance update Group Chair fee review Remuneration Committee Terms of Reference Statement of shareholder voting The table below sets out the results of the advisory vote on the Directors’ Remuneration Report at the 2025 AGM and the binding vote on the Remuneration Policy Report at the 2024 AGM. Votes for Votes against Votes cast Votes withheldNumber % Number % Remuneration Policy Report (2024 AGM) 399,211,048 88.99 49,413,030 11.01 448,624,078 82,082 Annual Report on Remuneration (2025 AGM) 1 292,722,684 69.61 127,792,714 30.39 420,515,398 3,919,580 1 An update to the response to the voting result on the Annual Report on Remuneration resolution at the 2025 AGM is provided in the Statement by the Remuneration Committee Chair on page 83. Signed on behalf of the Board of Directors William Vereker Chair of the Remuneration Committee 25 February 2026 This report has been prepared in accordance with Schedule 8 to The Large and Medium- sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 (as amended), and the relevant sections of the Listing Rules. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 103 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() The Directors of the Company are pleased to present their Annual Report to shareholders, together with the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 with comparatives for the year ended 31 December 2024. This report has been prepared in accordance with requirements outlined within The Large and Medium-sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and forms part of the management report as required under the FCA’s Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rule (DTR) 4. This section, together with the Strategic Report and other sections of the Annual Report as set out in the table below, fulfils the requirements of the Directors’ Report. For information on matters of strategic importance, including a review of the Group’s business areas, a financial review and the principal risks and uncertainties of the Company, refer to the Strategic Report. Index to the Directors’ Report and other disclosures AGM 199 Articles of Association 105 Board of Directors 60 Branches 108 Business model 14 Conflicts of interest 67 Directors’ indemnity 105 Directors’ loss of office 89 Dividends 104 Employee engagement 47 Employment information 106 Engagement with suppliers 48 Engagement with stakeholders and Section 172(1) statement 47 Essential contracts and change of control 107 Financial instruments 157 Going concern 123 Greenhouse gas emissions reporting 43 UK Listing Rule 6.6.1R cross-reference table 104 Modern slavery 46 Political donations 106 Purchase of own shares 105 Related party transactions 124 Share capital 104 Substantial shareholders 199 Viability statement 56 Information required to be disclosed by UK Listing Rule 6.6.1R (starting on the page indicated) is set out in the adjacent table. UK Listing Rule 6.6.1R cross-reference table Interest capitalised N/A Publication of unaudited financial information N/A Details of long-term incentive schemes N/A Waiver of emoluments by a Director 106 Waiver of future emoluments by a Director N/A Non pre-emptive issues of equity for cash N/A Item 7 (in relation to major subsidiary undertakings) N/A Parent participation in a placing by a listed subsidiary N/A Contracts of significance 107 Provision of services by a controlling shareholder N/A Shareholder waivers of dividends 104 Shareholder waivers of future dividends 104 Agreements with controlling shareholders N/A Strategic Report LSEG presents a fair review of the Group during the financial year in the Strategic Report set out on pages 1 to 56, as required by the Companies Act 2006. The Strategic Report, which includes a review of the Group’s business areas, a financial review and the principal risks and uncertainties of the Company, was approved by the Board on 25 February 2026 and is incorporated into this Directors’ Report by reference. Results The Group made a profit before taxation, before non-underlying items for the year, of £3,338 million (2024: £2,970 million). After taking into account amortisation of purchased intangible assets and other non-underlying items, the profit of the Group before taxation for the year was £1,969 million (2024: £1,258 million). Profit after taxation for the year was £1,506 million (2024: £921 million). Dividends The Directors are recommending a final dividend for the year of 103 pence (2024: 89 pence) per share which is expected to be paid on 20 May 2026 to shareholders on the register on 17 April 2026. Together with the interim dividend of 47 pence (2024: 41 pence) per share paid on 17 September 2025, this produces a total dividend for the period of 150 pence (2024: 130 pence) per share, estimated to amount to £718 million (2024: £688 million). The Group maintains a progressive dividend policy, with a payout ratio of 33-40% of full-year AEPS, and the interim dividend being calculated as approximately one-third of the expected full-year dividend. A standard dividend waiver agreement is in place for the employee benefit trust (EBT). Information on the EBT can be found in note 18 of the consolidated financial statements on page 172. Share capital As at 31 December 2025, the Company’s share capital consisted of 531,859,674 ordinary shares of 6 ⁄ pence each (“ordinary shares”), made up of: (i) 510,408,075 ordinary shares (excluding treasury shares) (95.97%), which carry one vote each; and (ii) 21,451,599 ordinary shares held in treasury (4.03%). The total number of voting rights in the Company on 31 December 2025 was 510,408,075. More information on the Company’s share capital can be found in note 18 of the consolidated financial statements on page 173. During the period from 1 January 2025 to the date of this report, the Company returned capital to shareholders via its on-market share buyback programmes: – on 3 March 2025, a £500 million share buyback programme commenced, which completed on 13 June 2025. 4,482,734 ordinary shares were purchased and placed in treasury. – on 4 August 2025, a £1 billion share buyback programme commenced and completed on 3 November 2025. 11,011,759 ordinary shares were purchased and placed in treasury. – on 4 November 2025, a further £1 billion share buyback programme commenced and completed on 10 February 2026. 11,675,487 ordinary shares were purchased and cancelled upon settlement. For further information on the rationale for these share purchases see page 27 of the Strategic Report. During the year to 31 December 2025: – 965,000 ordinary shares held in treasury were transferred to the EBT and 120,231 ordinary shares were issued and allotted to the EBT. These transactions were made to satisfy awards made under the Company’s employee share plans. – 5,200,000 of the ordinary shares that had been purchased during the year and placed in treasury were cancelled. As at 25 February 2026, the total number of voting rights in the Company was 505,367,111. The figure 505,367,111 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the DTR. Directors’ report London Stock Exchange Group plc|Annual Report 2025 104 Governance ![]() Share rights The rights and obligations attached to the Company’s ordinary shares are set out in the Company’s Articles of Association. The Company has one class of shares in issue, consisting of ordinary shares of 6 ⁄ pence each. No shareholder shall be entitled to vote at a general meeting, either in person or by proxy, in respect of any share held by him or her unless all monies presently payable by him or her in respect of that share have been paid. In addition, no shareholder shall be entitled to vote, either in person or by proxy, if he or she has been served with a notice under Section 793 of the Companies Act 2006 (concerning interests in those shares) and has failed to supply the Company with the requisite information. Other than restrictions considered to be standard for a UK listed company (for example, restrictions on partly paid certificated shares), there are no limitations on the holding, transfer or voting rights of ordinary shares in the Company, all of which are governed and regulated by the Company’s Articles of Association and applicable legislation and regulation. The Company is not aware of any other agreements between holders of shares that may result in restrictions on the transfer of shares or on voting rights. Corporate Governance Statement The Company has applied the principles and complied with the provisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024 (the “Code”) throughout the year. The Code is publicly available on the Financial Reporting Council website (www.frc.org.uk). Further information on compliance with the Code can be found on page 58. The Corporate Governance Statement sets out how the Company complies with the Code and includes a description of the main features of our internal control and risk management arrangements in relation to the financial reporting process; this is set out on pages 70 and 71. The information required by DTR 7.2 can be found in the Directors’ Report on page 104. Further information regarding the composition and operation of the Board and its Committees, including the Board Diversity Policy, can be found on pages 64 to 103. Articles of Association The Company’s Articles of Association may only be amended by special resolution at a general meeting of the shareholders. The Company’s Articles of Association contain provisions relating to the appointment and removal of Directors. The Articles of Association can be obtained from Companies House in the UK and are available on the Company’s website at: www.lseg.com/en/about-us/corporate- governance. Authority to issue shares Subject to the provisions of the Companies Act 2006 and without prejudice to any rights attached to any existing shares or class of shares, any share may be issued with such rights or restrictions as the Company may by ordinary resolution determine or, subject to and in default of such determination, as the Board shall determine. Authority to allot shares The authority conferred on the Directors at last year’s AGM to allot shares in the Company up to a maximum nominal amount of £12,236,935 (representing 33.3% of the issued share capital of the Company (excluding treasury shares) as at the latest practicable date before publication of the Notice of the Company’s last AGM) or, in connection with a pre-emptive offer to existing shareholders by way of a rights issue, up to a maximum nominal amount of £24,473,871 (representing 66.6% of the issued share capital of the Company (excluding treasury shares) as at the latest practicable date before publication of the Notice of the Company’s last AGM), expires on the date of the forthcoming AGM. Shareholders will be asked to give a similar authority to allot shares at the forthcoming AGM. Authority to purchase shares The authority for the Company to purchase in the market up to 53,060,997 of its ordinary shares (representing 10% of the issued share capital of the Company as at the latest practicable date before publication of the Notice of the Company’s last AGM) granted at the Company’s last AGM, expires on the date of the forthcoming AGM. The Company has utilised the authority obtained at the last AGM to conduct share buyback programmes to purchase ordinary shares with an aggregate value of up to £2.5 billion, as summarised on page 104 of the Directors’ Report. This includes share purchases made under the authority granted at the Company’s 2024 AGM in the period between March 2025 and the last AGM. As at 31 December 2025, 22,129,016 ordinary shares had been purchased by the Company at an average purchase price of £93.44 per ordinary share for a total consideration of £2,068 million. These ordinary shares represented 4.34% of the Company’s issued share capital (excluding treasury shares) as at 31 December 2025. 15,494,493 of these ordinary shares were placed in treasury and 6,634,523 were cancelled upon settlement. A further 5,040,964 ordinary shares were purchased by the Company from 1 January to 10 February 2026 at an average purchase price of £82.34 per ordinary share for a total consideration of £415 million. All shares purchased during this period were cancelled upon settlement. In aggregate, the Company had as at 25 February 2026 purchased 27,169,980 ordinary shares (nominal value of 6 ⁄ pence) as part of the share buyback programmes for a total consideration of £2,483 million. These purchased ordinary shares represent 5.38% of the company’s issued share capital (excluding treasury shares) as at 25 February 2026. Shareholders will be asked to give a similar authority to purchase shares at the forthcoming AGM. Directors’ interests Directors’ interests in the shares of the Company as at 31 December 2025, according to the register maintained under the Companies Act 2006, are set out in the Directors’ Remuneration Report on page 98. No company in the Group was, during or at the end of the year, party to any contract of significance in which any Director was materially interested. Directors’ indemnity There were qualifying third-party indemnity provisions (as defined by Section 3 of the Companies Act 2006) in force during the course of the year ended 31 December 2025. Directors have the benefit of indemnity arrangements from the Company in respect of liabilities incurred as a result of their office and execution of their powers, duties and responsibilities. The Company maintained a Directors’ and Officers’ liability insurance policy throughout the year. This policy covers the Directors for any such liabilities in respect of which they are not indemnified by the Company and, to the extent to which it has indemnified the Directors, also covers the Company. Neither the Company’s indemnity nor insurance provides cover for a Director in the event that the Director is proved to have acted fraudulently or dishonestly. Such qualifying third-party indemnity provisions remain in force as at the date of approving this Directors’ Report. Directors’ report continued London Stock Exchange Group plc|Annual Report 2025 105 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report Waiver of Directors’ emoluments Under his letter of appointment, Martin Brand is entitled to receive a travel allowance of £4,000 per intercontinental trip. Mr Brand has chosen to waive this travel allowance during 2025. Employees Information on the Group’s employees, including the Group’s approach to human rights, inclusion and pay equity, the outcomes relating to the Group’s employee engagement survey and further examples of employee engagement, can be found in the Sustainability section starting on page 37. Information on the Group’s share schemes is provided in the Directors’ Remuneration Report starting on page 82. The Group welcomes and gives full, fair and merit-based consideration to applications from diverse candidates, including persons with visible and non-visible disabilities. As with all areas of inclusion, our focus is on providing the right tools to support people to be successful in the workplace. The Group assists all employees who have a disability with training, career development and progression opportunities and, in a situation where an existing employee develops a disability, our approach is to provide continuing support and training as appropriate. Where changes to working practices or structure affect employees, they are consulted and given the appropriate assistance. LSEG is a Valuable 500 Iconic Leader and as such has made a pledge to ensure that it: – drives towards removing bias related to disability hiring and provides the necessary tools for people with a disability to succeed – has inclusive hiring and onboarding practices – makes subtitles available for all videos it publishes – creates inclusive offices and infrastructure across all its locations, relying on consistent guidelines – has a Company-wide leadership pledge and commitment to support disability – improves physical accessibility for existing locations We are committed to providing a safe and inclusive environment for everyone. The LSEG Accessibility Network works in partnership with the Group to make sure commitments are implemented. We recognise key observances, such as International Day of Persons with Disabilities and World Mental Health Day, to raise awareness, reduce stigma and celebrate the contribution of people with disabilities. All employees are provided with information on matters of concern to them in their work through regular briefing meetings and internal publications. To inform employees of the economic and financial factors affecting our business, regular updates are posted on our intranet and engagement events are hosted, such as townhall style meetings, with members of our Executive Committee, providing a briefing on specific areas of the business. Alongside this, information is cascaded to employees through people leaders, also supporting employee engagement. Sustainability We are committed to the pursuit of sustainable economic development. As a Group, we recognise that this requires us to use resources in ways that deliver long-term sustainability and profitability for the business. These considerations are also built into how we develop our products and services. Further details of our approach to climate, our targets and progress on environmental matters, as well as methodology and verification, can be found in the Sustainability section on pages 37 to 46. Research and development LSEG undertakes research and development activities that align with new revenue opportunities. The research combines significant domain expertise with modern quantitative, data science and cloud- engineering practices. The large variety of data and analytics available at LSEG enables research and development to apply current techniques and technologies. Technical expertise features prominently in LSEG research functions, including AI and large language models, quantitative and data-driven modelling, machine learning and natural language processing. Research also includes significant expertise in customer experience design and user experience. Political donations During the year, the Group did not make any direct political donations or incur any political expenditure. It remains LSEG’s policy not to make direct political donations or to incur direct political expenditure; however, the application of the relevant provisions of the Companies Act 2006 is potentially very broad in nature and, like last year, the Board is seeking shareholder authority to ensure that the Group does not inadvertently breach these provisions as a result of the breadth of its business activities, although the Board has no intention of using this authority. As with previous years, the Board is proposing that shareholders pass a resolution at the forthcoming AGM to authorise the Group to: – make political donations to political parties and independent election candidates not exceeding £100,000 in total – make political donations to political organisations other than political parties not exceeding £100,000 in total – incur political expenditure not exceeding £100,000 in total – provided that in any event the aggregate amount of any such donations and expenditure made or incurred by the Group shall not exceed £100,000 Notwithstanding LSEG’s policy not to make political donations, we recognise the rights of our employees to participate in the political process. Their rights to do so are governed by the applicable laws in the countries in which we operate. For example, in the US under the Federal Election Campaign Act, eligible employees can establish non-partisan political action committees (PACs) to support voluntary employee participation in the political process. Corporate PACs are a common feature of the US political system and operate independently of any political party or candidate. LSEG US Holdco, Inc. operates a PAC for eligible employees. Consistent with US law, LSEG US Holdco, Inc. pays for the PAC’s administrative expenses; providing such support is not considered to be a political donation or expenditure under US law. In accordance with the applicable law, contributions from the PAC are funded entirely by voluntary contributions from eligible employees. All decisions on the amounts and recipients of contributions are directed by a steering committee comprising employees eligible to contribute to the PAC. All PAC receipts and disbursements are publicly disclosed on the FEC’s website: www.fec.gov/data/browse-data. Directors’ report continued London Stock Exchange Group plc|Annual Report 2025 106 Governance ![]() Significant agreements There are no agreements between the Company and its directors or employees providing for compensation for loss of office or employment (whether through resignation, purported redundancy or otherwise) that arise specifically in connection with a takeover bid. The following are significant agreements as at 31 December 2025, to which the Company is a party, that take effect, alter or terminate upon a change of control of the Company following a takeover bid. Strategic Initiatives Agreement with Microsoft As part of the strategic partnership with Microsoft Corporation, certain subsidiaries of the Company are party to a strategic initiatives agreement with Microsoft Ltd (the “Strategic Initiatives Agreement”). Under the Strategic Initiatives Agreement, the parties have agreed to jointly pursue strategic initiatives in relation to LSEG’s data architecture, Workspace solution and analytics capabilities, as well as explore the development of digital market infrastructure based on cloud technology. The Strategic Initiatives Agreement includes a provision permitting Microsoft to terminate the agreement in circumstances where the Company comes under the control of an entity that Microsoft are prohibited from dealing with by a sanctioning body, or that is based in a jurisdiction subject to international sanctions. Thomson Reuters News Agreement Certain subsidiaries within the Group are party to an agreement with Reuters News dated 1 October 2018, under which Reuters News provides, for a 30-year term, various categories of general news and financial content, alongside certain accompanying intellectual property licence agreements in relation to the provision of such content (the “Thomson Reuters News Agreement”). The Thomson Reuters News Agreement includes a provision requiring consent to assign the agreement pursuant to a change in control of the Company in certain circumstances, a breach of which could potentially lead to a termination of the agreement. Facility agreements Amended 2017 Revolving Credit Facility On 22 November 2023, the amended and restated £1,425 million syndicated, committed, revolving credit facility agreement was further amended and extended (the “Amended 2017 RCF”). The facility limit was increased to £1,925 million and the maturity date was extended to 16 December 2027. The facility provides flexible financing capacity for the general corporate purposes of the Group and includes £1,925 million euro and US dollar swingline facilities as backstop support for commercial paper issuance. 2020 Revolving Credit Facility The Company has a syndicated, committed revolving credit facility agreement dated 16December 2020 (the “2020 Facility”), which came into effect upon the completion of the Refinitiv acquisition. The facility offers the Group additional flexible financing and is available for the general corporate purposes of the Group. It contained two one-year extension options, both of which have been exercised. Consequently, the final maturity date of the revolving credit facility is now 16 December 2027. Terms of Amended 2017 and 2020 Revolving Credit Facilities The terms of the Amended 2017 and 2020 Facilities are appropriate for an investment- grade borrower and each includes change of control provisions which, if triggered, allow the relevant facility agent, upon instructions from the majority lenders, to cancel the facility and declare all outstanding loans under the relevant agreement, together with accrued interest and all other amounts accrued, due and payable. These facilities apply SONIA and SOFR rates (including an appropriate credit adjustment spread) where applicable. Tradeweb Revolving Credit Facility Tradeweb has a $500 million revolving credit facility, entered into in April 2019 and maturing in November 2028. The facility provides borrowing capacity to be used to fund ongoing working capital needs, letters of credit and for general corporate purposes, including potential future acquisitions and expansions. Notes Euro Medium-Term Notes The Company, together with its subsidiaries LSEG Netherlands B.V., LSEG Finance plc (formerly LSEGA Financing plc) and LSEG US Fin Corp., has issued to the wholesale fixed income market under its Euro Medium-Term Note Programme (the value of which is £10billion), six tranches of euro notes for a total of €3.5 billion due from 2026 to 2031, one $100 million tranche of US dollar notes due in 2027, four tranches of Japanese yen notes for a total of ¥40 billion, one CHF150 million tranche of Swiss Franc notes maturing in 2032, and two tranches of sterling notes for a total of £900 million maturing from 2028 to 2032. The notes contain a ‘redemption upon change of control’ provision which, if triggered by the combination of a change of control and, within 120 days thereafter, a credit rating downgrade to non-investment grade, allows noteholders to exercise their option to require the Company or where applicable its subsidiaries to redeem the notes and pay any accrued and unpaid interest due. Global Medium-Term Notes The Company, together with its subsidiaries LSEG Netherlands B.V. and LSEG Finance plc (formerly LSEGA Financing plc), has issued to the wholesale fixed income market under its Global Medium-Term Note Programme (the value of which is £10 billion) one £500 million tranche of sterling notes due in 2030, two tranches of euro notes due from 2028 to 2033 for a total of €1 billion, and four tranches of US dollar notes for a total of $3.5 billion due from 2026 to 2041. The notes contain a ‘redemption upon change of control’ provision which, if triggered by the combination of a change of control and, within 120 days thereafter, a credit rating downgrade to non-investment grade, allows noteholders to exercise their option to require the Company and/or its subsidiaries to redeem the notes and pay any accrued and unpaid interest due. Standalone 144A Notes LSEG US Fin Corp., a subsidiary of the Company, has issued to the wholesale fixed income market under standalone documentation two tranches of US dollar notes due from 2027 to 2034 for a total of $1,250 million. The notes contain a ‘redemption upon change of control’ provision which, if triggered by the combination of a change of control and, within 120 days thereafter, a credit rating downgrade to non-investment grade, allows noteholders to exercise their option to require LSEG US Fin Corp. to redeem the notes and pay any accrued and unpaid interest due. Commercial Paper The Company’s subsidiaries, LSEG Netherlands B.V., LSEG Finance plc (formerly LSEGA Financing plc) and LSEG US Fin Corp. issue commercial paper to the debt capital markets from time to time under the £2,250 million Euro Commercial Paper (ECP) Programme and the $2,500 million US Commercial Paper (USCP) Programme. The programmes provide flexible financing capacity for the general corporate purposes of the Group and are backstopped by the £1,925 million euro and US dollar swingline facilities available under the Amended 2017 Revolving Credit Facility and the £1,075 million 2020 Revolving Credit Facility. At 31 December 2025, there were balances outstanding of $944 million under the USCP programme, and €252 million and £75 million under the ECP programme. Directors’ report continued London Stock Exchange Group plc|Annual Report 2025 107 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report Employee share plans The rules of the Company’s employee share plans set out the consequences of a change of control of the Company on employees’ rights under the plans. Generally, such rights will vest on a change of control and participants will become entitled to acquire shares in the Company (although in certain circumstances the Remuneration Committee has the discretion to defer vesting and to require rights to be exchanged for equivalent rights over the acquiring company’s shares). More information on Employee Share Plans can be found in the Directors’ Remuneration Report on page 87. Employee Benefit Trust As at 31 December 2025, the trustee of the London Stock Exchange Employee Benefit Trust, which is an independent trustee, held 1,398,424 ordinary shares under the terms of the trust for the benefit of employees and former employees of the Company and its subsidiaries. The trust is a discretionary trust and the shares are held to meet employees’ entitlements under the Company’s share plans. Employees have no voting rights in relation to the unencumbered shares while they are held in trust. The trustee has full discretion to exercise the voting rights attached to the unencumbered shares or to abstain from voting. Shares acquired by employees through the Company’s employee share plans rank equally with the ordinary shares in issue and have no special rights. Branches outside the UK The Company does not directly operate any branches outside of the UK. Certain subsidiaries of the Company have established branches in a number of different countries in which they operate. A full list of the Company’s subsidiary entities can be found in note 10.1 of the Company financial statements starting on page 186. Financial risk management The use of financial instruments by the Group and the Group’s financial risk management have been specifically considered by the Directors, and relevant disclosures appear in the Principal risks section, on pages 52 to 55 of this Annual Report; and in note 17.5 of the consolidated financial statements, on pages 166 to 172 of this Annual Report. Directors’ statement as to disclosure of information to auditors In accordance with Section 418(2) of the Companies Act 2006, the Directors confirm, in the case of each Director in office at the date the Directors’ Report is approved as listed on pages 60 to 63, that: – so far as the Director is aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the Company’s auditors are unaware; and – they have taken all the steps that they ought to have taken as a Director in order to make himself or herself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the Company’s auditors are aware of that information. Future developments The Group’s likely future developments can be found in the Market trends and our response section of the Annual Report (pages 8 to 9). Events since the financial year end There were no important events that occurred since the end of the financial year other than as disclosed in notes 8 and 18.1 of the consolidated financial statements. Auditors Deloitte LLP was reappointed as the Company’s external auditor for the financial year ended 31 December 2025 following shareholder approval at the AGM held on 1 May 2025. The reappointment of Deloitte LLP as the Company’s external auditor for the financial year ended 31 December 2026 will be subject to shareholder approval at the AGM to be held on 23 April 2026. By Order of the Board Lisa Condron Group Company Secretary 25 February 2026 Directors’ report continued London Stock Exchange Group plc|Annual Report 2025 108 Governance ![]() Statement of Directors’ responsibilities The Directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report, the Directors’ Remuneration Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable United Kingdom law and regulations. Company law requires the Directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the Directors have elected to prepare the Group financial statements in accordance with UK-adopted international accounting standards (“IFRS”), and the parent company financial statements in accordance with the Companies Act 2006 and Financial Reporting Standard (“FRS”) 101 Reduced Disclosure Framework. Under company law, the Directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of the affairs of the Group and the parent company and of the profit or loss for that year. In preparing those financial statements, the Directors are required to: – in respect of the Group financial statements, select suitable accounting policies in accordance with IFRS, including IAS 1 and IAS 8: Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors, and then apply them consistently; – in respect of the parent company financial statements, select suitable accounting policies in accordance with FRS 101 and then apply them consistently; – present information, including accounting policies, in a manner that provides relevant, reliable, comparable and understandable information; – make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent; – provide additional disclosures when compliance with the specific requirements in IFRS and in respect of the parent company financial statements, FRS 101, is insufficient to enable users to understand the impact of particular transactions, other events and conditions on the Group and the Company’s financial position and financial performance; – in respect of the Group financial statements, state whether UK-adopted international accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; – in respect of the parent company financial statements, state whether applicable UK accounting standards, including FRS 101, have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and – prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis, unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Group and the Company will continue in business. The Directors confirm that they have complied with the above requirements in preparing the financial statements. The Directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Group and the Company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Company and the Group and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements and the Directors’ Remuneration Report comply with the Companies Act 2006, as well as other applicable laws and regulations, including the requirements of the UK Listing Rules and the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules. As regards the Group financial statements, the Directors are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Company and the Group and for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. Under applicable law and regulations, the Directors are also responsible for preparing a strategic report, directors’ report, directors’ remuneration report and corporate governance statement that comply with that law and those regulations. The Directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information on the Company’s website. Legislation in the UK governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions. The Group’s business activities, together with the factors likely to affect its future development, performance and position are set out in the Strategic Report sections of the Annual Report on pages 1 to 56. In particular, the Principal risks and uncertainties for the Group are set out on pages 52 to 55. The financial risk management objectives and policies of the Group and the exposure of the Group to capital risk, credit risk, market risk and liquidity risk are discussed in note 17.5 of the consolidated financial statements on pages 166 to 172. The Group continues to meet Group and individual entity capital requirements and day-to-day liquidity needs through the Group’s cash resources and available credit facilities. The combined total of committed facilities and bonds issued at 31 December 2025 was £14,470 million (2024: £12,747 million). The Directors have reviewed the Group’s forecasts and projections, taking into account reasonably possible changes in trading performance, which show that the Group has sufficient financial resources. On the basis of this review, and after making due enquiries, the Directors have a reasonable expectation that the Company and the Group have adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements. The Group’s business activities, together with the factors likely to affect its future development, performance and position, its objectives and its policies in managing the financial risks to which it is exposed, and its capital, are set out in the Strategic Report on pages 1 to 56. Each of the Directors, whose names and functions are set out on pages 60 to 63 of this Annual Report confirms that, to the best of their knowledge and belief: – the Group financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with IFRS, and the parent company financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with FRS 101, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the Group and the parent company taken as a whole; – the report of the Directors contained in the Annual Report, including the Strategic Report, includes a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the parent company and the Group taken as a whole, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties that they face; and – they consider that the Annual Report, the Group financial statements and the parent company financial statements, taken as a whole, are fair, balanced and understandable and provide the information necessary for shareholders to assess the Group and the parent Company’s position, performance, business model and strategy. By Order of the Board Lisa Condron Group Company Secretary 25 February 2026 London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 109 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Financial Statements In this section Independent Auditor’s Report 111 Consolidated financial statements Consolidated income statement 118 Consolidated statement of comprehensive income 119 Consolidated balance sheet 120 Consolidated statement of changes in equity 121 Consolidated cash flow statement 122 Notes to the consolidated financial statements 1 Accounting policies 123 2 Segment information 126 3 Total income and contract liabilities 128 4 Operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation and impairment 132 5 Finance income and costs, and other gains 133 6 Taxation 134 7 Earnings per share 137 8 Dividends 138 9 Intangible assets 138 10 Property, plant and equipment 143 11 Investments in financial assets 144 12 Pension and other retirement benefit schemes 145 13 Receivables 149 14 Cash and cash equivalents 150 15 Payables 151 16 Borrowings, lease liabilities and net debt 152 17 Financial assets and financial liabilities 157 18 Share capital, share premium and other reserves 172 19 Non-controlling interests 174 20 Share-based payments 176 21 Commitments and contingencies 178 Company financial statements Company balance sheet 180 Company statement of changes in equity 181 Notes to the Company financial statements 1 Accounting policies 182 2 Income statement 183 3 Investments in subsidiaries 183 4 Receivables 183 5 Cash and cash equivalents 184 6 Payables 184 7 Borrowings 184 8 Share-based payments 185 9 Financial guarantees 185 10 Group companies 186 Key to symbols used in this section Accounting policy Significant accounting estimates, assumptions and judgements 110London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 Financial Statements ![]() Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of London Stock Exchange Group plc Report on the audit of the financial statements 1. Opinion In our opinion: – the financial statements of London Stock Exchange Group plc (the ‘Parent Company’) and its subsidiaries (the ‘Group’) give a true and fair view of the state of the Group’s and of the Parent Company’s affairs as at 31 December 2025 and of the Group’s profit for the year then ended; – the Group financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom adopted international accounting standards; – the Parent Company financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice, including Financial Reporting Standard 101 “Reduced Disclosure Framework”; and – the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006. We have audited the financial statements which comprise: – the consolidated income statement; – the consolidated statement of comprehensive income; – the consolidated and Parent Company balance sheets; – the consolidated and Parent Company statements of changes in equity; – the consolidated cash flow statement; and – the related notes 1 to 21 to the consolidated financial statements and notes 1 to 10 to the Parent Company financial statements. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in the preparation of the Group financial statements is applicable law and United Kingdom adopted international accounting standards. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in the preparation of the Parent Company financial statements is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 101 “Reduced Disclosure Framework” (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). 2. Basis for opinion We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the Group and the Parent Company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the Financial Reporting Council’s (the ‘FRC’s’) Ethical Standard as applied to listed public interest entities, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. The non-audit services provided to the Group and Parent Company for the year are disclosed in note 4.2 to the Group financial statements. We confirm that we have not provided any non-audit services prohibited by the FRC’s Ethical Standard to the Group or the Parent Company. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. 3. Summary of our audit approach Key audit matters The key audit matters that we identified in the current year were: – Revenue recognition; – Valuation of intangible assets arising from business combinations, including goodwill; and – Capitalisation and subsequent impairment assessment of internally-developed intangible assets. Within this report, key audit matters are identified as follows: Newly identified Increased level of risk Similar level of risk Decreased level of risk Materiality The materiality that we used for the Group financial statements was £99 million which was determined on the basis of 5% of profit before tax. Scoping Our Group audit scoping accounted for 97.5% of revenue, 99.6% of profit before tax and 99.0% of net assets. Significant changes in our approach The risk in respect of our key audit matter on revenue recognition has been reduced in the current year because we have revisited our risk assessment and determined the asset-based revenue accrual in FTSE Russell (“FTSE AUM”) involves limited management judgement and was tested in the prior period without issue. The risk in respect of our key audit matter on the valuation of intangible assets arising from business combinations, including goodwill, has also decreased in the year due to the availability of headroom on certain CGUs which were within the scope of this key audit matter in the prior year. The focus of our testing in the current year is on the CGU most sensitive to changes in assumptions, being Post Trade Solutions CGU. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 111 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() 4. Conclusions relating to going concern In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the Directors’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate. Our evaluation of the Directors’ assessment of the Group’s and Parent Company’s ability to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting included: – We obtained the going concern assessment prepared by the Group and assessed the basis for the assumptions used in the forecast information including operational profitability, the Group’s debt repayment obligations and capital expenditure requirements as well as undrawn facilities. We also considered the achievability of budgeted growth with reference to historical performance, external market data and the Group’s existing commitments. – We considered the effect of key risks on the Group’s business model and analysed how these risks might affect the Group’s liquidity position, including access to debt, and thus its ability to continue to operate as a going concern. – We re-built the Group’s going concern model to evaluate arithmetic accuracy. – We assessed the downside stress scenarios applied by the Directors in their analysis and whether these represented appropriately robust sensitivities. In addition to Directors’ scenarios, we performed independent sensitivity testing to assess the robustness of liquidity headroom and the feasibility of mitigating actions. – We assessed the Directors’ reverse stress scenario and the Directors’ conclusion that such a scenario is remote. – We considered the regulatory requirements over specific entities in the Group and any potential impact on the wider Group’s going concern assessment. – We read the disclosures included in note 1.2 and assessed their consistency with the going concern assessment and compliance with relevant reporting requirements. Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the Group’s and Parent Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue. In relation to the reporting on how the Group has applied the UK Corporate Governance Code, we have nothing material to add or draw attention to in relation to the Directors’ statement in the financial statements about whether the Directors considered it appropriate to adopt the going concern basis of accounting. Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Directors with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report. 5. Key audit matters Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgement, were of most significance in our audit of the financial statements of the current period and include the most significant assessed risks of material misstatement (whether or not due to fraud) that we identified. These matters included those which had the greatest effect on: the overall audit strategy; the allocation of resources in the audit; and directing the efforts of the engagement team. These matters were addressed in the context of our audit of the financial statements as a whole, and in forming our opinion thereon, and we do not provide a separate opinion on these matters. 5.1. Revenue recognition Key audit matter description The Group recognised revenue from external customers of £9,081 million for the year ended 31 December 2025 (2024: £8,579 million). Of this, £4,338 million relates to Data & Analytics (“D&A”) (2024: £4,223 million) as outlined in note 3. 91% of revenue that arises in D&A is subscription revenue. Due to its quantum and the ongoing IT control deficiencies outlined in Section 7.2, this continues to be an area of significant audit effort. How the scope of our audit responded to the key audit matter We performed the following procedures: – Obtained an understanding of relevant controls over the Group’s material revenue streams. However, as a result of continuing IT control deficiencies set out in Section 7.2, we were not able to rely on controls over revenue and in response to these deficiencies we altered the nature and extent of our procedures accordingly; – Obtained the underlying revenue data from relevant systems within the subscription revenue data flow and, where possible, used data analytics to reconcile subscription revenue to invoice and cash records; – For any amounts where we were unable to reconcile to invoices and/or cash using data analytics, we agreed a sample of transactions back to order forms, contracts, evidence of the Group fulfilling the performance obligation, billing documents and bank statements; and – We tested the datasets utilised as inputs into the data analytics model by tracing a sample to underlying source documentation. Key observations We are satisfied that subscription revenue is appropriately recognised for the year-ended 31 December 2025. Report on the audit of the financial statements continued Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of London Stock Exchange Group plc continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 112 Financial Statements ![]() Report on the audit of the financial statements continued 5.2. Valuation of intangible assets arising from business combinations, including goodwill Key audit matter description At 31 December 2025, and as outlined in note 9 and page 77 of the Report of the Audit Committee, the Group reported £18,689 million of goodwill (2024: £19,668 million) and £9,031 million of assets arising from business combinations, such as customer relationships, brands and databases and content (“purchased intangible assets”) (2024: £10,785 million), net of amortisation. As outlined in the Group’s accounting policy in note 9 and the Audit Committee Report on page 77, goodwill is assessed for impairment at least annually, irrespective of whether or not indicators of impairment exist and for intangible assets whenever an indication of impairment is identified. The Group performs its annual impairment assessment as at 30 September, and a roll forward assessment at 31 December. Impairment assessments are performed by comparing the carrying amount of each cash generating unit (“CGU”), or group of CGUs, to its recoverable amount, using the higher of value in use or fair value less costs to dispose. In performing the impairment test, a number of estimates are required, the most significant of which are: – Short-term revenue forecasts and related cash flows; – Selection of appropriate discount rates; and – Long-term growth rates. Impairment of purchased intangible assets and goodwill has been identified as a key audit matter as a result of the quantitative significance to the financial statements, and the application of management judgement and estimation in performing impairment reviews. Additionally, our key audit matter focused on the CGU most sensitive to changes in assumptions, being Post Trade Solutions. How the scope of our audit responded to the key audit matter We performed the following procedures: – Obtained an understanding of relevant controls over the identification of impairment indicators and impairment tests; – Challenged the Group’s impairment methodology for compliance with IAS 36, Impairment of assets (“IAS 36”), and performed procedures to confirm that the impairment tests were performed in line with the documented methodology; – Performed an independent recalculation of the Group’s impairment model to test the accuracy of the model; – Challenged management’s impairment tests as at 30 September 2025, including: – Assessing the budgets by: – comparing future revenue growth forecasts against historical performance; and – inspecting other management information and considering whether key judgements made are in line with our understanding of the business and third party data; – Alongside our valuation specialists, compared the discount rate and long-term growth rate used by management to our own independently determined ranges; – Evaluated management’s roll forward assessment of impairment tests at 31 December 2025, including an independent assessment of any potential impairment triggers between 30 September and the year-end; and – Evaluated management’s disclosures in note 9 for compliance with IAS 36. Key observations We are satisfied that the Group’s judgements and estimates in relation to the valuation of goodwill and purchased intangible assets are reasonable. 5.3. Capitalisation and subsequent impairment assessment of internally-developed intangible assets Key audit matter description The Group reported £3,553 million of internally-developed intangible assets, net of amortisation and impairment, at 31 December 2025 (2024: £2,517 million), as outlined in note 9. The capitalisation of certain expenditure on internally-developed assets is subjective and management judgement is required to assess whether expenditure should be capitalised in accordance with IAS 38, Intangible Assets (“IAS 38”). The Group’s criteria for capitalisation are outlined in note 9. Additionally, internally-developed intangible assets are assessed for indicators of impairment annually in accordance with IAS 36. Judgement is required by the Group in identifying whether events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amounts may not be recoverable, and, where impairment indicators are identified, the appropriate recoverable amount. In the prior year, a detailed review of internally-developed intangible assets identified an impairment of £216 million. In the current year, management has performed a similar detailed review and recognised an impairment of £12 million. As a result of the reduction in impairment identified by the Group, we have focused our key audit matter on those assets where management did not identify an impairment in the current year and the risk that impairment indicators may be present but not identified by management. How the scope of our audit responded to the key audit matter We performed the following procedures: – Obtained an understanding of relevant controls over the capitalisation of expenses, as well as the relevant controls over the impairment assessment for internally-developed intangible assets; – For a sample of additions, we assessed whether the costs had been appropriately capitalised including to the relevant projects, in accordance with IAS 38. This included tracing to supporting documentation, such as business cases and relevant committee approvals and, where required, inquiry of individual software developers; and – For a sample of assets including those under development, where impairments were not identified by management, we challenged management’s assessment of impairment indicators with reference to the criteria in IAS 36. Key observations We are satisfied that the Group’s judgements in relation to the capitalisation and subsequent impairment assessment of internally- developed intangible assets are reasonable. Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of London Stock Exchange Group plc continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 113 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() 6. Our application of materiality 6.1. Materiality We define materiality as the magnitude of misstatement in the financial statements that makes it probable that the economic decisions of a reasonably knowledgeable person would be changed or influenced. We use materiality both in planning the scope of our audit work and in evaluating the results of our work. Based on our professional judgement, we determined materiality for the financial statements as a whole as follows: Group financial statements Parent Company financial statements Materiality £99 million (2024: £74 million) £89 million (2024: £74 million) Basis for determining materiality 5% of profit before tax (2024: 5% of normalised profit before tax) 0.4% of net assets and capped at 90% of Group materiality (2024: 0.4% of net assets) Rationale for the benchmark applied In determining the Group materiality, we considered a number of factors, including industry benchmarks and the needs and interests of the users of the Group financial statements, for whom profit before tax remains the key performance measure. In the prior year, materiality was based on a normalised profit before tax to adjust for significant non-recurring impairments. No similar significant non-recurring events were identified in the current year. As a result, reported profit before tax is considered to provide an appropriate, stable and representative benchmark for determining materiality for the current year. The Parent Company holds the Group’s investments and is not profit driven. The balance sheet is the key measure of financial health that is important to shareholders since the primary concern for the Parent Company is the receipt and payment of dividends. However, given the size of the entity’s balance sheet, we have capped materiality at 90% of the Group’s materiality. Reported profit before tax £1,969m Group materiality £99m Component performance materiality range £35m to £62m Audit Committee Reporting Threshold £4.9m Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of London Stock Exchange Group plc continued 6.2. Performance materiality We set performance materiality at a level lower than materiality to reduce the probability that, in aggregate, uncorrected and undetected misstatements exceed the materiality for the financial statements as a whole. Group financial statements Parent Company financial statements Performance materiality 70% of Group materiality (2024: 65%) 70% of Parent Company materiality (2024: 65%) Basis and rationale for determining performance materiality In determining performance materiality, we considered the following factors: – the degree of centralisation and commonality of processes; – the quality of the control environment; and – the low number of misstatements (corrected and/or uncorrected) identified in our previous audit. Performance materiality increased to 70% based on our increased understanding of the entity, now that this is no longer a first-year audit. 6.3. Error reporting threshold We agreed with the Audit Committee that we would report to the Committee all audit differences in excess of £4.9 million (2024: £3.7m), as well as differences below that threshold that, in our view, warranted reporting on qualitative grounds. We also report to the Audit Committee on disclosure matters that we identified when assessing the overall presentation of the financial statements. 7. An overview of the scope of our audit 7.1. Identification and scoping of components Our audit was scoped by obtaining an understanding of the Group and its environment and assessing the risks of material misstatement at the Group level. We structured our audit approach to reflect how the Group is organised, taking into account any changes in structure, business environment and effectiveness of controls, whilst ensuring our audit was both effective and risk focused. Due to the centralised nature of the business, which includes a number of shared service centres and central management of financial reporting for components, a significant portion of our testing was performed centrally by the Group audit team in the UK and India. The Group team was structured in line with the Group’s operating segments, with divisional partners working alongside the Group engagement partner. Report on the audit of the financial statements continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 114 Financial Statements ![]() Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of London Stock Exchange Group plc continued Where we identified that processes, controls and financial reporting were not centrally managed, and instead performed locally, we considered quantitative and qualitative factors regarding our scoping. We identified Tradeweb Markets Inc (“Tradeweb”) as a component where an audit of the entire financial information was required. We also identified LCH Ltd and LCH SA as components where an audit of one or more account balances, classes of transactions, and disclosures was required. LCH Ltd was identified as a separate component in the current year due to key processes, controls, and financial reporting being performed locally rather than centrally. The range of component performance materialities used was £35m to £62m. Our scoping accounted for 97.5% of revenue (2024: 97.8%), 97.6% of profit before tax (2024: 94.5%) and 98.7% of net assets (2024: 98.7%). At the Group level, we also tested the consolidation process and carried out analytical procedures to confirm our conclusion that there were no significant risks of material misstatements of the aggregated financial information of the remaining account balances not subject to audit procedures. 7.2. Our consideration of the control environment The Group relies on the effectiveness of a number of IT systems and applications to ensure that financial transactions are recorded completely and accurately. The main financial accounting, reporting, trading and treasury systems were identified as key IT systems relevant to our audit. The IT control environment, including certain aspects of LCH SA and LCH Ltd, is managed centrally at a Group or divisional level and was tested by IT specialists who were part of the Group audit team. Tradeweb operates under a separate IT environment and therefore testing was performed by the component audit team. As a result of certain IT control deficiencies related to application user access management and the management of privileged access accounts, we were unable to rely on controls over key IT systems and adopted a fully substantive approach to our audit testing, with the exception of certain elements of operating expenses and payroll. As the same deficiencies were not identified in Tradeweb, a controls reliant approach was adopted by that component team. The Audit Committee has discussed these internal control deficiencies, and management’s response as discussed on page 78. As deficiencies in the control environment increase the risk of fraud and error within the financial statements, we performed additional procedures to respond to the potential risks, including, and as described in the “Revenue recognition” Key Audit Matter, using data analytics to perform 100% testing for elements of certain revenue streams. 7.3. Our consideration of climate-related risks In planning our audit, we considered the potential impact of climate change on the Group’s business and its financial statements. The Group continues to evolve its assessment of and response to the potential impacts of environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) related risks, including climate change, as outlined in the Sustainability Report and climate related financial disclosures. We held discussions with management to understand the process for identifying climate-related risks, the consideration of mitigating actions and the impact on the Group’s financial statements which can be found in the Climate-related financial disclosures aligned to the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (“TCFD”) requirements on pages 38 to 43. Management do not expect any material climate change related financial impact on their business. We performed our own qualitative risk assessment of the potential impact of climate change on the Group’s account balances and classes of transactions based on our understanding of the nature of the Group’s underlying operations. We read the climate-related disclosures included in the Annual Report and considered whether they are materially consistent with note 1.8 in the financial statements and our knowledge obtained in the audit. 7.4. Working with other auditors Detailed audit instructions were sent to the auditors of each in-scope component. These instructions identified the significant audit risks, other areas of audit focus, the account balances, classes of transactions and disclosures considered material and their relevant risks of material misstatement as assessed by the Group audit team. The instructions also set out certain audit procedures to be performed and the information to be reported back to the Group audit team, and other matters relevant to the audit. For all in-scope components, the Group audit team was involved in the audit work performed by component auditors through a combination of providing referral instructions, regular interaction with component teams during the year using video conferencing tools including planning and closing calls, physical onsite visits by the Group engagement partner and other team members to all components and overseas audit teams, and review and challenge of related component inter-office reporting, their audit files and of findings from their work. 8. Other information The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The Directors are responsible for the other information contained within the Annual Report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard. 9. Responsibilities of Directors As explained more fully in the Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities, the Directors are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Directors determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements, the Directors are responsible for assessing the Group’s and the Parent Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Directors either intend to liquidate the Group or the Parent Company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so. Report on the audit of the financial statements continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 115 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report 10. Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements. A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the FRC’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report. 11. Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below. 11.1. Identifying and assessing potential risks related to irregularities In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we considered the following: – the nature of the industry and sector, control environment and business performance including the design of the Group’s remuneration policies, key drivers for Directors’ remuneration, bonus levels and performance targets; – the Group’s own assessment of the risks that irregularities may occur either as a result of fraud or error; – results of our enquiries of management, internal audit, members of the legal, risk and compliance functions, the Directors and the Audit Committee about their own identification and assessment of the risks of irregularities, including those that are specific to the Group’s sector; – any matters we identified having obtained and reviewed the Group’s documentation of their policies and procedures relating to: – identifying, evaluating and complying with laws and regulations and whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance; – detecting and responding to the risks of fraud and whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud; – the internal controls established to mitigate risks of fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations; – the matters discussed among the audit engagement team including component audit teams and relevant internal specialists, including data analytics, tax, valuations, pensions, IT, regulatory and forensic specialists regarding how and where fraud might occur in the financial statements and any potential indicators of fraud. As a result of these procedures, we considered the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the organisation for fraud and identified the greatest potential for fraud in the following areas: valuation of intangible assets arising from business combinations, including goodwill and capitalisation and subsequent impairment assessment of internally- developed intangible assets. In common with all audits under ISAs (UK), we are also required to perform specific procedures to respond to the risk of management override. We also obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks that the Group operates in, focusing on provisions of those laws and regulations that had a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The Group operates in multiple countries and locations around the world which are regulated by the local regulator and is required to comply with local frameworks. The key laws and regulations we considered in this context included the UK Companies Act, UK Corporate Governance Code, The Financial Conduct Authority’s (“FCA”) Listing Rules, and tax legislation. In addition, we considered provisions of other laws and regulations that do not have a direct effect on the financial statements but compliance with which may be fundamental to the Group’s ability to operate or to avoid a material penalty. These included the Group’s specific regulatory solvency requirements and other requirements set out in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, European Markets Infrastructure Regulations and other rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) and other relevant FCA. 11.2. Audit response to risks identified As a result of performing the above, we identified valuation of intangible assets arising from business combinations, including goodwill and capitalisation and subsequent impairment assessment of internally- developed intangible assets as key audit matters related to the potential risk of fraud. The key audit matters section of our report explains the matters in more detail and also describes the specific procedures we performed in response to those key audit matters. Our procedures to respond to risks identified included the following: – reviewing the financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with provisions of relevant laws and regulations described as having a direct effect on the financial statements; – enquiring of management, the Audit Committee and in-house and external legal counsel concerning actual and potential litigation and claims; – performing analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud; – reading minutes of meetings of those charged with governance, reviewing internal audit reports and reviewing correspondence with regulatory bodies, such as the FCA and HMRC; and – in addressing the risk of fraud through management override of controls, testing the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments; assessing whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias; and evaluating the business rationale of any significant transactions that are unusual or outside the normal course of business. We also communicated relevant identified laws and regulations and potential fraud risks to all engagement team members including internal specialists and component audit teams, and remained alert to any indications of fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations throughout the audit. Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of London Stock Exchange Group plc continued Report on the audit of the financial statements continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 116 Financial Statements ![]() Report on other legal and regulatory requirements 12. Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006 In our opinion the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited has been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006. In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit: – the information given in the Strategic Report and the Directors’ Report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and – the Strategic Report and the Directors’ Report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements. In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the Group and the Parent Company and their environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified any material misstatements in the Strategic Report or the Directors’ Report. 13. Corporate Governance Statement The Listing Rules require us to review the Directors’ statement in relation to going concern, longer-term viability and that part of the Corporate Governance Statement relating to the Group’s compliance with the provisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code specified for our review. Based on the work undertaken as part of our audit, we have concluded that each of the following elements of the Corporate Governance Statement is materially consistent with the financial statements and our knowledge obtained during the audit: – the Directors’ statement with regards to the appropriateness of adopting the going concern basis of accounting and any material uncertainties identified set out on page 104; – the Directors’ explanation as to its assessment of the Group’s prospects, the period this assessment covers and why the period is appropriate set out on page 56; – the Directors’ statement on fair, balanced and understandable set out on page 79; – the Board’s confirmation that it has carried out a robust assessment of the emerging and principal risks set out on page 70; – the section of the Annual Report that describes the review of effectiveness of risk management and internal control frameworks set out on page 70; and – the section describing the work of the Audit Committee set out on page 77. 14. Matters on which we are required to report by exception 14.1. Adequacy of explanations received and accounting records Under the Companies Act 2006 we are required to report to you if, in our opinion: – we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or – adequate accounting records have not been kept by the Parent Company, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or – the Parent Company financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns. We have nothing to report in respect of these matters. 14.2. Directors’ remuneration Under the Companies Act 2006 we are also required to report if in our opinion certain disclosures of Directors’ remuneration have not been made or the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited is not in agreement with the accounting records and returns. We have nothing to report in respect of these matters. 15. Other matters which we are required to address 15.1. Auditor tenure Following the recommendation of the Audit Committee, we were appointed by the shareholders at the annual general meeting on 25 April 2024 to audit the financial statements for the year ending 31 December 2024 and subsequent financial periods. The period of total uninterrupted engagement including previous renewals and reappointments of the firm is accordingly two years, covering the years ending 31 December 2024 to 31 December 2025. 15.2. Consistency of the audit report with the additional report to the Audit Committee Our audit opinion is consistent with the additional report to the Audit Committee we are required to provide in accordance with ISAs (UK). 16. Use of our report This report is made solely to the Company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Company and the Company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed. As required by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rule (DTR) 4.1.15R – DTR 4.1.18R, these financial statements will form part of the Electronic Format Annual Financial Report filed on the National Storage Mechanism of the FCA in accordance with DTR 4.1.15R – DTR 4.1.18R. This auditor’s report provides no assurance over whether the Electronic Format Annual Financial Report has been prepared in compliance with DTR 4.1.15R – DTR 4.1.18R. James Polson (Senior statutory auditor) For and on behalf of Deloitte LLP Statutory Auditor London, United Kingdom 25 February 2026 Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of London Stock Exchange Group plc continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 117 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Consolidated income statement | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | 2024 | | Year ended 31 December | Notes | £m | £m | | Revenue | 2.1, 3.1 | 9,0 81 | 8,579 | | Net treasury income | 2.1, 3.1 | 257 | 266 | | Other income | 2.1, 3.1 | 8 | 13 | | Total income | | 9, 346 | 8 ,858 | | Cost of sales | 2.1 | (1,113) | (1 ,17 3) | | Gross profit | | 8, 233 | 7, 6 8 5 | | Operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation and impairment | 4 | (3,869) | (3, 771) | | Profit on disposal of business | | – | 8 | | Income from equity investments | 11.1 | – | 27 | | Share of profit/(loss) after tax of associates and joint ventures | | 1 | (4) | | Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and impairment | | 4, 365 | 3,9 45 | | Depreciation, amortisation and impairment | 9, 10 | (2, 238) | (2,482) | | Operating profit | | 2 ,12 7 | 1,4 63 | | Finance income | 5.1 | 153 | 175 | | Finance costs | 5.1 | (340) | (380) | | Gains on digital and related assets | 5.2 | 29 | – | | Profit before tax | | 1,9 69 | 1 , 258 | | Income tax expense | 6.1 | (4 63) | (337) | | Profit for the year | | 1,506 | 921 | | Profit attributable to: | | | | | Equity holders | | 1, 249 | 685 | | Non-controlling interests | 19 | 257 | 236 | | Profit for the year | | 1,506 | 921 | | Earnings per share attributable to equity holders | | | | | Basic earnings per share | 7 | 238.4p | 128 .8p | | Diluted earnings per share | 7 | 2 3 7. 0p | 128.0p | | Dividend per share in respect of the financial year | | | | | Dividend per share paid during the year | 8 | 47. 0p | 41 .0p | | Dividend per share declared for the year | 8 | 1 03.0p | 8 9.0p | London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 118 Financial Statements ![]() Consolidated statement of comprehensive income | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | 2024 | | Year ended 31 December | Notes | £m | £m | | Profit for the year | | 1,506 | 921 | | Other comprehensive (loss)/income | | | | | Items that will not be subsequently reclassified to the income statement | | | | | Actuarial gains/(losses) on retirement benefit assets and obligations | 12.2 | 64 | (3) | | (Losses)/gains on equity instruments designated as fair value through other comprehensive income (FVOCI) | 11.1 | (11) | 60 | | Tax relating to items that will not be reclassified | 6.1 | (13) | 42 | | | | 40 | 99 | | Items that may be subsequently reclassified to the income statement | | | | | Net (losses)/gains on net investment hedges | 17.4e | (29) | 47 | | (Gains)/losses recycled to the income statement | 17.4e | (5) | 6 | | Debt instruments at FVOCI: | | | | | – Net gains from changes in fair value on debt instruments at FVOCI | | 7 | 16 | | Net exchange (losses)/gains on translation of foreign operations | | (1,39 5) | 224 | | Tax relating to items that may be reclassified | 6.1 | 5 | (4) | | | | (1,417) | 289 | | Other comprehensive (loss)/income net of tax | | (1,3 77) | 388 | | Total comprehensive income | | 129 | 1, 309 | | Total comprehensive income attributable to: | | | | | Equity holders | | 17 | 1 ,043 | | Non-controlling interests | 19 | 112 | 266 | | Total comprehensive income | | 129 | 1, 309 | London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 119 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Consolidated balance sheet | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | 2024 | | At 31 December | Notes | £m | £m | | Assets | | | | | Non-current assets | | | | | Intangible assets | 9 | 31,273 | 32,970 | | Property, plant and equipment | 10 | 695 | 681 | | Investments in associates and joint ventures | | 13 | 9 | | Investments in financial assets | 11 | 79 | 58 | | Derivative financial instruments | 17.1 | 112 | 63 | | Receivables | 13 | 196 | 175 | | Retirement benefit assets | 12.3 | 238 | 162 | | Deferred tax assets | 6.2 | 528 | 659 | | | | 33, 134 | 34, 777 | | Current assets | | | | | Receivables | 13 | 1,7 53 | 1 ,665 | | Clearing member assets | 17.1 | 7 5 7, 2 6 1 | 692,4 80 | | Investments in financial assets | 11 | 130 | – | | Derivative financial instruments | 17.1 | 84 | 50 | | Current tax receivable | | 384 | 372 | | Cash and cash equivalents | 14 | 3,949 | 3, 475 | | Digital assets | | 9 | – | | | | 763 ,570 | 698 ,042 | | Total assets | | 796,7 04 | 7 32,8 19 | | Liabilities | | | | | Current liabilities | | | | | Payables | 15 | 2, 300 | 1,8 85 | | Contract liabilities | 3.4 | 27 3 | 290 | | Borrowings and lease liabilities | 16 | 3 ,325 | 1 ,592 | | Clearing member financial liabilities | 17.2 | 75 7 ,444 | 692,6 40 | | Derivative financial instruments | 17.2 | 15 | 14 | | Current tax payable | | 114 | 97 | | Provisions | | 44 | 17 | | | | 76 3, 51 5 | 69 6,5 35 | | Non-current liabilities | | | | | Borrowings and lease liabilities | 16 | 8, 393 | 8 ,373 | | Payables | 15 | 636 | 5 24 | | Contract liabilities | 3.4 | 72 | 68 | | Derivative financial instruments | 17.2 | 10 | 63 | | Retirement benefit obligations | 12.3 | 86 | 64 | | Deferred tax liabilities | 6.2 | 1 ,78 5 | 1 ,995 | | Provisions | | 39 | 44 | | | | 11 ,021 | 11,131 | | Total liabilities | | 7 74 , 53 6 | 707 ,666 | | Net assets | | 22 ,1 6 8 | 25, 15 3 | | Equity | | | | | Capital and reserves attributable to the Company’s equity holders | | | | | Ordinary share capital | 18.1 | 37 | 38 | | Share premium | 18.1 | 978 | 97 8 | | Retained earnings | | 1, 399 | 1 ,879 | | Other reserves | 18.2 | 1 7, 3 6 5 | 20 ,11 8 | | Total equity attributable to the Company’s equity holders | | 19,7 79 | 23,01 3 | | Non-controlling interests | 19 | 2, 389 | 2 ,14 0 | | Total equity | | 22 ,1 6 8 | 25, 15 3 | The financial statements on pages 118 to 192 were approved by the Board on 25 February 2026 and signed on its behalf by: David Schwimmer Michel-Alain Proch Chief Executive Officer Chief Financial Officer 25 February 2026 London Stock Exchange Group plc Registered number 5369106 London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 120 Financial Statements ![]() Consolidated statement of changes in equity | | | | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | Attributable to equity holders | | | | | | | | | | | | | Total | | | | | | | | | | attributable | Non- | | | | | Ordinary | Share | Retained | Other | to equity | controlling | | | | | share capital | premium | earnings | reserves 1 | holders | interests | Total equity | | | Notes | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | | 1 January 2024 | | 38 | 978 | 2,9 17 | 1 9 , 8 74 | 23 ,8 07 | 2,1 37 | 25, 94 4 | | Profit for the year | | – | – | 685 | – | 685 | 23 6 | 92 1 | | Other comprehensive income | | – | – | 114 | 24 4 | 358 | 30 | 388 | | Total comprehensive income | | – | – | 799 | 24 4 | 1,0 43 | 266 | 1, 309 | | Share buyback by the Company | | – | – | (1,005) | – | (1,0 05) | – | (1,005) | | Dividends | 8, 19 | – | – | (6 42) | – | (642) | (75) | (717) | | Share-based payments | 20 | – | – | 1 02 | – | 102 | 73 | 1 75 | | Tax on share-based payments less | | | | | | | | | | than expense recognised | 6.1 | – | – | 14 | – | 14 | – | 14 | | Purchase of non-controlling interests | | – | – | (3 06) | – | (306) | (201) | (507) | | Tradeweb share buyback 2 | | – | – | – | – | – | (47) | (47) | | Shares withheld from employee | | | | | | | | | | options exercised (Tradeweb) 3 | | – | – | – | – | – | (38) | (38) | | Tax on investment in partnerships | 6.1 | – | – | – | – | – | (11) | (11) | | Adjustments to non-controlling | | | | | | | | | | interest | | – | – | – | – | – | 36 | 36 | | 31 December 2024 | | 38 | 978 | 1 ,879 | 20 ,11 8 | 23 ,013 | 2 ,14 0 | 25,1 53 | | Profit for the year | | – | – | 1 , 249 | – | 1 , 249 | 257 | 1 ,506 | | Other comprehensive income/(loss) | | – | – | 50 | (1, 282) | (1, 232) | (145) | (1 ,37 7) | | Total comprehensive income/(loss) | | – | – | 1, 299 | (1, 282) | 17 | 112 | 12 9 | | Share buyback by the Company | 18.1 | (1) | – | (2,497) | 1 | (2,497) | – | (2,497) | | Dividends | 8, 19 | – | – | (718) | – | (718) | (42) | (760) | | Share-based payments | 20 | – | – | 103 | – | 1 03 | 81 | 184 | | Tax on share-based payments less | | | | | | | | | | than expense recognised | 6.1 | – | – | 27 | – | 27 | – | 27 | | Transfer between reserves | 18.2 | – | – | 1,300 | (1 ,30 0) | – | – | – | | Purchase by non-controlling interests | 19 | – | – | 6 | – | 6 | 198 | 204 | | Put option liability for non-controlling interests’ shares | 15, 18.2 | – | – | – | (172) | (172) | – | (172) | | Tradeweb share buyback 2 | | – | – | – | – | – | (80) | (80) | | Shares withheld from employee | | | | | | | | | | options exercised (Tradeweb) 3 | | – | – | – | – | – | (37) | (37) | | Tax on investment in partnerships | 6.1 | – | – | – | – | – | 17 | 17 | | 31 December 2025 | | 37 | 978 | 1, 399 | 1 7, 3 6 5 | 1 9,7 79 | 2 ,389 | 22 ,1 6 8 | 1 See note 18.2 for details of other reserves. 2 In 2022, Tradeweb Markets Inc. (Tradeweb), a subsidiary of the Group, authorised a share repurchase programme, primarily to offset annual dilution from stock-based compensation plans. Its share repurchase programme authorises the purchase of up to US$30 0 million of Tradeweb’s common stock. The share repurchase programme does not require Tradeweb to acquire a specific number of shares and may be suspended, amended or discontinued at any time. 3 Tradeweb is required to withhold shares issued as a result of employee share plans in order to settle the associated taxes payable by the employee. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 121 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Consolidated cash flow statement | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | 2024 | | Year ended 31 December | Notes | £m | £m | | Operating activities | | | | | Profit for the year | | 1,506 | 921 | | Adjustments to reconcile profit to net cash flow: | | | | | – Taxation | 6.1 | 463 | 3 37 | | – Net finance costs | 5.1 | 187 | 205 | | – Gain on digital and related assets | 5.2 | (29) | – | | – Amortisation and impairment of intangible assets | 9 | 1 ,985 | 2,1 67 | | – Depreciation and impairment of property, plant and equipment | 10 | 253 | 282 | | – Impairment of investment in associate | | – | 33 | | – Profit on disposal of business | | – | (8) | | – Share-based payments | 20 | 1 76 | 1 62 | | – Foreign exchange gains | | (3) | (22) | | – Fair value losses/(gains) on embedded foreign exchange contracts | | 25 | (40) | | – Dividend income | | – | (27) | | – Other movements 1 | | 61 | 11 | | Working capital changes and movements in other assets and liabilities: | | | | | – (Increase)/decrease in receivables, contract and other assets 1 | | (183) | 3 20 | | – Decrease in payables, contract and other liabilities 1 | | (236) | (60) | | – Decrease in net clearing member balances | | – | (310) | | Cash generated from operations | | 4, 205 | 3 ,971 | | Interest received | | 117 | 145 | | Interest paid | | (304) | (325) | | Net taxes paid | | (39 6) | (395) | | Net cash flows from operating activities | | 3,622 | 3 ,396 | | Investing activities | | | | | Payments for intangible assets | 9 | (8 61) | (93 4) | | Payment for SwapClear intangible asset | 9 | (92 1) | – | | Payments for property, plant and equipment | | (124) | (74) | | Acquisition of subsidiaries, net of cash acquired | | – | (666) | | Investments in financial assets and joint ventures | 11 | (279) | (17) | | Proceeds from disposal of financial assets | 11 | 128 | 37 7 | | Proceeds from disposal of digital assets and other business | | 11 | 8 | | Dividends received | | – | 27 | | Net cash flows used in investing activities | | (2,0 46) | (1 , 279) | | Financing activities | | | | | Payment of principal portion of lease liabilities | 16.4 | (161) | (156) | | Repayment of borrowings and settlement of derivative financial instruments 2 | 16.4 | (730) | (1, 340) | | Proceeds from borrowings 2 | 16.4 | 2 ,605 | 1 ,700 | | Dividends paid to equity holders | 8 | (71 8) | (642) | | Dividends paid to non-controlling interests | 19 | (42) | (75) | | Repurchase of shares by Company | 18.1 | (2 ,072) | (1 ,005) | | Repurchase of shares by subsidiary (Tradeweb) | | (80) | (47) | | Proceeds from changes in non-controlling interests | 19 | 20 4 | – | | Purchase of non-controlling interests | 19 | – | (5 07) | | Other financing activities | | (67) | (92) | | Net cash flows used in financing activities | | (1 ,0 61) | (2 ,16 4) | | Increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents | | 51 5 | (47) | | Foreign exchange translation | | (41) | (58) | | Cash and cash equivalents at 1 January | | 3, 475 | 3,580 | | Cash and cash equivalents at 31 December 3 | 14 | 3,949 | 3, 475 | 1 For 2024, movements of £197 million have been reallocated between other assets and other liabilities. In addition, £1 2 million has been reclassified from other liabilities to other movements. These have no overall impact on the cash generated from operations. 2 For 2025, proceeds from borrowings include a net increase in borrowings with short-term maturities of £851 million. For 2024, repayment of borrowings and settlement of derivative financial instruments include a net decrease in borrowings with short-term maturities of £192 million. 3 Group cash flow does not include cash and cash equivalents held by the Group’s post trade operations on behalf of the Group’s clearing members for use in their operations as managers of the clearing and guarantee systems. These balances represent margins and default funds held for counterparties for short periods in connection with these operations. See notes 17.1 and 17.2. The movement in clearing balances represents change in member cash collateral balances and interest paid to members thereon. Interest received through placement of clearing member collateral is included within other working capital adjustments within operating cash flows. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 122 Financial Statements ![]() Notes to the consolidated financial statements These consolidated financial statements have been prepared for London Stock Exchange Group plc (the “Company”) and its subsidiaries (the “Group”). The Group is a diversified global financial markets infrastructure and data business. The Company is a public company, incorporated and domiciled in England and Wales. The address of its registered office is 10 Paternoster Square, London, EC4M 7LS. 1. Accounting policies This section describes our material accounting policy information and significant accounting judgements and estimates that relate to the financial statements as a whole. Where an accounting policy or a significant accounting judgement or estimate is applicable to a specific note to the financial statements, it is disclosed in that note. These policies have been consistently applied to all the periods presented, unless otherwise stated. We have also detailed below the new accounting pronouncements that we will adopt in future years and how we have assessed the impact of climate change on our financial statements. 1.1 Compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) The Group’s consolidated financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom adopted international accounting standards. 1.2 Basis of preparation The financial statements are prepared under the historical cost basis except for certain clearing member balances, derivative financial instruments, debt and equity financial assets and contingent consideration, which are measured at fair value. Going concern The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis. The Group’s business activities (together with the factors likely to affect its future development, performance and position), its objectives, policies in managing risk and its capital are set out in the Strategic Report on pages 1 to 56. In addition: – the Group’s borrowing facilities and respective repayment dates, and the net debt position of the Group, are included in note 16; and – the financial risk management objectives and policies of the Group, together with its exposure to capital, credit and concentration, country, liquidity, settlement, custodial and market risk, are discussed in note 17.5. Business planning process The Group’s forecasting and planning process includes the Group’s three-year business plan. The business plan makes certain assumptions about the performance of the core revenue streams and segments, the use of existing product lines and the take up of new product lines. It also makes assumptions on appropriate levels of investment to support expected performance, known inorganic activity, the ability to refinance debt as required and expected returns to shareholders. Performance management The Group’s performance is analysed monthly by management. Monthly results are reviewed and compared against the business plan, and previous and updated full-year forecasts are also assessed. Key variances and associated drivers are reviewed and reported upon. Reporting entity Cash flows and liquidity headroom When performing our going concern assessment, the main factors considered are forecasts of the Group’s cash flow and liquidity headroom (defined as undrawn committed facilities less issued commercial paper plus available cash), both of which are outputs of the business plan. The business plan is stress-tested using severe but plausible downside scenarios as determined by the Financial Risk Committee over the full three-year plan period. The impact of these stress tests on the performance of core revenue streams and segments is modelled, with appropriate mitigating factors also considered. The outputs of this stress- testing on the Group’s cash flow and liquidity are then evaluated against thresholds set by the Group’s risk appetite. These thresholds include liquidity headroom and leverage ratio (operating net debt to adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and impairment (EBITDA) and before foreign exchange gains or losses). The scenarios modelled are included in the viability statement on page 56. No scenario over the three-year period leads to a breach in the Group’s risk appetite thresholds or would mean the Group is unable to meet its obligations as a result of insufficient liquidity. A reverse stress test has also been completed, to evaluate the financial impacts that would breach the Group’s risk appetite thresholds. We concluded that the scenarios required to breach the thresholds are all deemed improbable. Conclusion The Directors therefore consider there to be no material uncertainties that may cast significant doubt on the Group’s ability to continue to operate as a going concern. The Directors have a reasonable expectation that the Group has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for 12 months from the date when these financial statements are authorised for issue. Accordingly, the going concern basis has been adopted in the preparation of these financial statements. 1.3 Basis of consolidation The consolidated financial statements comprise the financial statements of the Company, subsidiaries controlled by the Company and the results of associates and joint ventures. Subsidiaries are consolidated from the date on which control is obtained by the Group. They are deconsolidated from the date on which control ceases. Control is achieved when the Group is exposed, or has rights, to variable returns from its involvement with the investee and has the ability to affect those returns through its power over the investee. The results of subsidiaries are consolidated for the period to 31 December, even if the subsidiary’s financial year-end is different. The principal operating subsidiaries of the Group are given on the next page and a full list of subsidiaries is given in note 10.1 of the Company financial statements. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 123 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 1. Accounting policies continued Name Principal activity Country of incorporation and principal operations Group ultimate economic interest % Banque Centrale de Compensation (LCH SA) CCP clearing services France 94.4 Financial & Risk Organisation Limited IP owner England & Wales 100.0 Frank Russell Company Market indices provider United States 100.0 FTSE International Limited Market indices provider England & Wales 100.0 LCH Limited CCP clearing services England & Wales 94.4 London Stock Exchange plc Recognised investment exchange England & Wales 100.0 LSEG Finance plc Treasur y management England & Wales 100.0 LSEG Netherlands B.V. Treasur y management Netherlands 100.0 LSEG US Fin Corp Treasury management United States 100.0 Refinitiv Germany GmbH Market and financial data provider Germany 100.0 Refinitiv Japan KK Market and financial data provider Japan 100.0 Refinitiv Limited Market and financial data provider England & Wales 100.0 Refinitiv US LLC Market and financial data provider United States 100.0 Refinitiv US Organization LLC IP owner United States 100.0 Tradeweb Markets LLC (Group) 1 Multilateral trading facility United States 50.9 1 Includes the Institutional Cash Distributors sub-group. On an acquisition-by-acquisition basis, the Group elects whether to measure the non-controlling interests in the acquiree, if any, at fair value or at the proportionate share of the acquiree’s identifiable net assets. Non-controlling interests in the results and equity of subsidiaries are shown separately in the consolidated income statement, consolidated statement of comprehensive income, consolidated balance sheet and consolidated statement of changes in equity (see note 19). Intercompany transactions and balances between Group companies are eliminated on consolidation. Where necessary, adjustments are made to the results of subsidiaries and associates to bring their accounting policies in line with those of the Group . 1.4 Related parties The Group’s related parties includes associates, joint ventures, Directors and Executive Committee members (see note 4.1 for compensation for key management personnel). All significant transactions with related parties are carried out on an arm’s length basis. 1.5 Foreign currencies Functional and presentation currency The consolidated financial statements are presented in sterling, which is also the functional currency of London Stock Exchange Group plc, the Company. The Group determines the functional currency for each of its subsidiary entities and items included in the financial statements of each entity are measured using that functional currency. Transactions and balances in foreign currencies Transactions in foreign currencies are initially recorded and translated into the functional currency of the relevant Group entity at the exchange rate ruling at the date of the transaction. Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated into the respective functional currency of the entity at the exchange rate prevailing at the reporting date. Foreign exchange gains and losses resulting from the settlement of such foreign currency transactions or from the translation of monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are recognised in the income statement, either within operating expenses or finance income or costs, depending on the nature of the item or transaction. Non-monetary items measured at historical cost are not retranslated. Non-monetary items measured at fair value that are denominated in foreign currencies are retranslated at the exchange rate at the date when the fair value was determined. Any foreign exchange gain or loss on assets and liabilities carried at fair value is reported as part of the fair value gain or loss. This means: – Foreign exchange gains and losses on non-monetary assets and liabilities held at fair value through profit or loss are recognised in the income statement (within operating expenses). – Foreign exchange gains and losses on non-monetary assets classified as at fair value through other comprehensive income are recognised in other comprehensive income. Translation of non-sterling entities on consolidation The results and financial position of all Group entities that have a non-sterling functional currency are translated into sterling on consolidation into the Group’s results as follows: – Assets and liabilities (including goodwill, purchased intangible assets and fair value adjustments 1 ) are translated at the reporting date exchange rates. – Income and expenses and other comprehensive income are translated at the average exchange rate for each month. Where this average is not a reasonable approximation of the rate prevailing on the date of a material transaction, these items are translated at the rate on the date of the transaction. – All resulting exchange differences are recognised in other comprehensive income. On consolidation, exchange differences arising from the translation of net investments in foreign operations, borrowings and other currency instruments designated as hedging instruments (see note 17.4) are recognised in other comprehensive income. On disposal of a foreign currency operation, the cumulative exchange differences previously recognised in other comprehensive income relating to that operation are reclassified to the income statement as part of the profit or loss on disposal. 1 Any goodwill and any fair value adjustments to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities on the acquisition of a foreign operation are treated as assets and liabilities of the foreign operation and translated at the reporting date exchange rate. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 124 Financial Statements ![]() Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 1.6 New and amended standards and interpretations Standards, interpretations and amendments to published standards effective for the year ended 31 December 2025 During the year, the amendments to IAS 21 The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates became effective. This did not have a material impact on the Group’s financial statements. Standards, interpretations and amendments to published standards which are not yet effective New and amended standards that have been issued, but are not yet effective, up to the date of the Group’s financial statements are disclosed below. The Group intends to adopt these, if applicable, when they become effective. | | | | --- | --- | | International accounting standards and interpretations | Effective date | | Amendments to IFRS 9 Financial Instruments and IFRS | 1 January 2026 | | 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures – Classification | | | and measurement of financial instruments and contracts referencing nature-dependent electricity 1 | | | Annual improvements to IFRS 1 | 1 January 2026 | | IFRS 18 Presentation and Disclosure in Financial | 1 January 2027 | | Statements 2 | | | IFRS 19 Subsidiaries without Public Accountability: | 1 January 2027 3 | | Disclosures 1 | | 1 These amendments are not expected to have a material impact on the Group’s financial statements. 2 IFRS 18 replaces IAS 1 and sets out significant new requirements for how financial statements are presented with particular focus on: – the income statement, including requirements for mandatory sub-totals to be presented; – aggregation and disaggregation of information, including the introduction of overall principles for how information should be aggregated and disaggregated in financial statements; – disclosures related to management-defined performance measures (MPMs), which are measures of financial performance based on a total or sub-total required by IFRS with adjustments made (e.g., adjusted profit or loss). Entities will be required to disclose MPMs in the financial statements with disclosures, including reconciliations of MPMs to the nearest total or sub-total calculated in accordance with IFRS. It is expected that the adoption of the new standard will impact the structure of the Group’s income and cash flow statements. 3 Not yet endorsed by the UK Endorsement Board. 1.7 Significant accounting estimates, assumptions and judgements The preparation of financial statements requires management to make estimates, assumptions and judgements that affect the reported amounts of revenues, expenses, assets and liabilities and the accompanying disclosures. Estimates, assumptions and judgements are regularly reviewed based on historical experience, current circumstances and expectations of future events. As the use of estimates is inherent in financial reporting, actual results could differ from these estimates. Significant accounting estimates and assumptions are those that have a risk of resulting in a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year. Significant judgements are those made by management in applying the Group’s significant accounting policies that have a material impact on the amounts presented in the financial statements. Significant judgement may be exercised in management’s accounting estimates and assumptions. Significant estimates, assumptions and judgements are described in the relevant notes to the financial statements (identified by the following symbol ). | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | Significant | | | | | estimates and | Significant | | Note | | assumptions | judgement | | 4 | Supplier/partner discounts | | | | 6.3 | Uncertain tax positions | | | | 9 | Recoverable amounts of certain CGUs | | | | 9 | Estimated useful economic lives of | | | | | material purchased intangible assets | | | | 12 | Recognition of pension surplus | | | | 12 | Net present value of pension assets | | | | | and liabilities | | | 1.8 Climate change We have considered the impact of climate change on the Group’s operations as outlined in the risks disclosed on pages 40 to 41 of the Strategic Report as well as in the Sustainability Report. We have also reviewed the potential impact of climate change on the Group’s financial results and position. The areas that are deemed to be most relevant to climate change are set out below. Based on an assessment in each area, we have concluded that climate change is not currently expected to have a material impact on the Group’s financial position, estimates or judgements. The Directors monitor this on an ongoing basis. – Going concern and viability – The Group has a long-term ambition to achieve net zero by 2040 and has set targets to reduce selected carbon emissions by 50% by 2030. There is no other direct impact on the viability of the Group. There is no climate-related scenario that is deemed to have a probable likelihood of occurring which could impact the Group’s going concern assessment. – Revenue – We provide a range of climate-related products and services such as admission on the sustainable bond market and environmental, social and governance (ESG) indices. Revenue earned from these support the Group and enable others to make sustainable investment decisions aligned with their ESG objectives. – Expenses – Our main operating cost relates to our staff costs, followed by IT costs. As a global business, some of our people will travel overseas to see customers or their teams. We encourage responsible business travel. To support our long-term ambition to achieve net zero, the Group purchases carbon credits and energy attribute certificates to offset the impact of the Group’s carbon emissions. The cost of purchasing these was not material during the year. Carbon credits are purchased once the Group’s emissions for the year have been calculated. – Impairment of goodwill and intangible assets – Forecasted cash flows are not expected to be impacted materially by climate change over the period for which forecasts have been prepared, due to the nature of the Group’s revenue streams. The impact on costs mainly relates to employee travel, property costs and data centre costs. – Useful lives of assets – The Group’s physical assets consist mainly of property and IT equipment. Given the type of IT equipment owned by the Group, we do not expect climate change to impact the future useful lives of these assets. The useful lives of our property could be impacted by climate change in the form of physical obsolescence of assets or because of a natural disaster (such as flooding), however any such impact on the carrying value of related assets is not expected to be material. 1. Accounting policies continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 125 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() 1. Accounting policies continued 2. Segment information This note sets out our results by operating segment. In the year, we combined our previous Capital Markets and Post Trade segments to form one new division, Markets. 2.1 Segment results Results, including adjusted EBITDA, by operating segment for the year ended 31 December 2025 are as follows: | | | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | Data & | FTSE | Risk | | | | | | | Analytics | Russell | Intelligence | Markets | Other | Group | | | Note | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Revenue 1 | 3.1 | 4,338 | 954 | 579 | 3,210 | – | 9,081 | | Net treasury income | 3.1 | – | – | – | 257 | – | 257 | | Other income | 3.1 | – | – | – | – | 8 | 8 | | Total income | | 4,338 | 954 | 579 | 3,467 | 8 | 9,346 | | Cost of sales | | (821) | (58) | (53) | (181) | – | (1,113) | | Gross profit | | 3,517 | 896 | 526 | 3,286 | 8 | 8,233 | | Adjusted operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation | | | | | | | | | and impairment | | (1,900) | (261) | (193) | (1,357) | – | (3,711) | | Share of profit after tax of associates and joint ventures | | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | | Adjusted EBITDA | | 1,617 | 635 | 333 | 1,929 | 9 | 4,523 | | Adjusted depreciation, amortisation and impairment | | (574) | (89) | (48) | (306) | – | (1,017) | | Adjusted operating profit | | 1,043 | 546 | 285 | 1,623 | 9 | 3,506 | 1 Data & Analytics revenue includes recoveries of £360 million. Markets revenue includes net settlement and similar expenses recovered through the CCP clearing businesses of £5 million which comprises gross settlement income of £47 million less gross settlement expenses of £42 million. From 1 January 2025, the Group reorganised its reporting structure to align segment reporting with new management reporting lines to the Executive Committee. As a result of this change, two segments, Capital Markets and Post Trade, now comprise a single segment “Markets”. There is no impact to the other segments. The Group reports four operating segments (compared with five operating segments under the previous structure): – Data & Analytics – provider of financial data and analytics – FTSE Russell – provider of benchmark data and indices – Risk Intelligence – provider of customer and third-party risk solutions – Markets – global operator of capital raising and trading venues in multiple asset classes and provider of clearing, risk management, capital optimisation and regulatory reporting solutions The segment information for the year ended 31 December 2024 has been re-presented for the changes in operating segments. – Deferred tax assets – Deferred tax asset recoverability can be affected by climate if there is an expectation that it will impact the future taxable profits that are expected to be generated. Our taxable profits are driven by our revenue and expenses, discussed above. – Valuation of pension scheme assets and defined benefit liabilities – Changes in interest rates, as a result of climate change, could impact the future valuation of pension scheme assets and defined benefit liabilities. There was no discernible impact from climate change on the current year’s valuation. – Trade receivables – The Group has a diverse client base that operates in various industries. The Group’s expected credit loss provision considers the credit risk of its client base, which could be impacted by climate change in a particular market or industry. Given that receivables are mainly due within one year, the impact of climate change in the short term is unlikely to be material. Accounting policy IFRS 8 Operating Segments requires operating segments to be identified on the same basis as is reported internally for the review of performance and allocation of resources by the “chief operating decision maker”. For the Group, this is the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee uses “adjusted” measures, including adjusted EBITDA, to assess the profitability and performance of the operating segments. These adjusted measures exclude the impact of income or expenses classified as non-underlying when they do not arise in the normal course of business and are material in nature or amount. Non-underlying items include amortisation of purchased intangible assets, incremental amortisation of any fair value adjustments of intangible assets recognised as a result of acquisitions, impairment, and significant integration and restructuring costs. The defined “adjusted” measures and criteria for classifying income or expenses as non-underlying are included in the Alternative Performance Measures section of this report, outside of the financial statements. Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 126 Financial Statements ![]() Re-presented results, including adjusted EBITDA, by operating segment for the year ended 31 December 2024 are as follows: | | | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | Data & | FTSE | Risk | | | | | | | Analytics | Russell | Intelligence | Markets | Other | Group | | | Note | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Revenue 1,2 | 3.1 | 4,223 | 911 | 531 | 2,914 | – | 8,579 | | Net treasury income | 3.1 | – | – | – | 266 | – | 266 | | Other income | 3.1 | – | – | – | – | 13 | 13 | | Total income | | 4,223 | 911 | 531 | 3,180 | 13 | 8,858 | | Cost of sales 1 | | (808) | (63) | (46) | (256) | – | (1,173) | | Gross profit | | 3,415 | 848 | 485 | 2,924 | 13 | 7,685 | | Adjusted operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation | | | | | | | | | and impairment 1 | | (1,846) | (254) | (192) | (1,268) | – | (3,560) | | Income from equity investments | | – | – | – | – | 27 | 27 | | Share of loss after tax of associates and joint ventures | | – | – | – | – | (4) | (4) | | Adjusted EBITDA | | 1,569 | 594 | 293 | 1,656 | 36 | 4,148 | | Adjusted depreciation, amortisation and impairment | | (561) | (73) | (48) | (301) | – | (983) | | Adjusted operating profit | | 1,008 | 521 | 245 | 1,355 | 36 | 3,165 | 1 During 2025, in addition to the new segment presentation, some revenue and cost items were reallocated between business lines to better reflect our product-led operating model (consistent with reporting to the Executive Committee). The impact on the previously reported 2024 results is: – Revenue of £158 million and cost of sales of £1 million moved from Data & Analytics to Markets. – Revenue of £7 million moved from FTSE Russell to Data & Analytics. – Adjusted operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation and impairment of £29 million moved to Data & Analytics from FTSE Russell (£10 million), Risk Intelligence (£7 million), Markets (£10 million) and Other (£2 million). – Adjusted depreciation, amortisation and impairment of £10 million and £5 million moved to FTSE Russell and Risk Intelligence respectively, from Data & Analytics (£12 million) and Markets (£3 million). 2 Data & Analytics revenue includes recoveries of £364 million. Markets revenue includes net settlement and similar expenses recovered through the CCP clearing businesses of £4 million which comprises gross settlement income of £48 million less gross settlement expenses of £44 million . Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 2.2 Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted operating profit Profit for the year is reconciled to adjusted operating profit and adjusted EBITDA as follows: | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | Notes | £m | £m | | Profit for the year | | 1,506 | 921 | | Taxation | 6.1 | 463 | 337 | | Profit before tax | | 1,969 | 1,258 | | Finance income | 5.1 | (153) | (175) | | Finance costs | 5.1 | 340 | 380 | | Gains on digital and related assets | 5.2 | (29) | – | | Operating profit | | 2,127 | 1,463 | | Non-underlying items before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and impairment | | 158 | 203 | | Non-underlying depreciation, amortisation and impairment | 9, 10 | 1,221 | 1,499 | | Adjusted operating profit | | 3,506 | 3,165 | | Adjusted depreciation, amortisation | | | | | and impairment | 9, 10 | 1,017 | 983 | | Adjusted EBITDA | | 4,523 | 4,148 | 2.3 Segment assets Total non-current assets (excluding financial instruments, prepayments, contract assets, deferred tax assets and retirement benefit assets) broken down by asset location is shown in the following table: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 1 | | | £m | £m | | UK | 10,237 | 9,843 | | US | 16,346 | 17,961 | | Europe, excluding UK | 2,661 | 2,810 | | Asia and other regions | 2,737 | 3,046 | | Total | 31,981 | 33,660 | 1 During 2025, the allocation of certain intangible assets across geographies was reassessed, attributing the assets to the countries in which the underlying tax base economic activity arises, rather than to the domicile or currency of the companies impacted. While total non-current assets are unchanged, the 2024 non-current assets by location have been re-presented resulting in a decrease of £2,721 million in the US and of £629 million in Europe excluding UK and increases of £1,915 million and £1,435 million in the UK and Asia and other regions respectively . 2. Segment information continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 127 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() 3.1 Total income Accounting policy Revenue The main source of revenue for the Group is fees for services provided. Revenue is measured based on the consideration specified in a contract with a customer. The following are excluded from revenue: – Value added tax and other sales-related taxes – Certain revenue share arrangements (whereby as part of an agreement amounts are due back to the customer) – Certain pass-through costs where the Group acts as an agent and has arrangements to recover specific costs from its customers with no mark-up The Group recognises revenue as services are performed and as it satisfies its obligations to provide a product or service to a customer. The Group’s revenue accounting policies are set out below: Data & Analytics The Data & Analytics division generates revenue by providing information and data products including real-time pricing data, trade reporting and reconciliation services. Data subscription fees are recognised over the licence or usage period in line with the Group’s obligation to deliver data consistently throughout the licence period. Services are billed on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis. Other information services include licences to the reference data businesses. Revenue from licences that grant the right to access intellectual property are recognised over time, consistent with the pattern of the service provision and how the performance obligation is satisfied throughout the licence period. Revenues from the sale of right-to-use licences are recognised at the point the licence is granted or service is delivered. Recoveries consist of fees for content, such as exchange data that is distributed directly to customers, and communications fees. Recoveries are generally recognised over the contract term. FTSE Russell Revenue in the FTSE Russell division is generated by providing access to data products, such as indexes and benchmarks. Index and data benchmark licence fees are recognised over the licence or usage period in line with the Group’s obligation to deliver data consistently throughout the licence period. Services are billed on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis. Risk Intelligence Revenue in the Risk Intelligence division includes third-party risk screening and due diligence services. Various brokerage processing, risk solutions and professional services, which are generally billed in arrears, are recognised as revenue at the point in time when the Group meets its obligation to complete the transaction or service. Subscription fees that provide access to the Group’s risk-screening services on a continuous basis over the subscription period, are recognised over time, as the Group satisfies the performance obligation. Markets Revenue in the Markets division is generated from: primary and secondary market services; contracts to develop capital market technology solutions; software licences; transaction and commission fees; network connections; hosting services; and clearing, settlement and other post trade services. We have assessed that primary market initial admission and the ongoing listing services represent one performance obligation. The Group therefore recognises revenue from initial admission and any subsequent issues over the period that the Group provides the listing services. All admission fees are billed to the customer at the time of admission to trading and become payable when invoiced. Revenue from bond admissions is generally recognised at the point of admission, as this reflects when the service is delivered. The estimated periods for listing services (over which initial admission and subsequent issuance fees are spread) are determined with reference to historical analysis of listing durations in respect of the companies on our markets. Deferral periods are calculated by grouping contracts based on similar performance obligations. Primary market annual fees, secondary market membership and subscription fees are generally invoiced in advance at the beginning of the membership or the subscription period. The Group recognises revenue on a straight-line basis over the period to which the fee relates, as this reflects the extent of the Group’s progress towards completion of the performance obligation under the contract. Revenue from secondary market trading and associated capital market services, which includes trading of fixed income, derivatives and foreign exchange, is recognised on a per transaction basis at the point that the service is provided. Capital markets software licence contracts contain multiple deliverables including: providing licences; installing software; and ongoing maintenance services. The transaction price for each contract is allocated to these performance obligations based upon the relative standalone selling price. Revenue is recognised based on the actual service provided during the reporting period as a proportion of the total services to be provided. This is determined by measuring the inputs consumed in delivering the service (for example material and labour) relative to the total expected input consumption over the contract. This best reflects the transfer of economic benefits to the customer which generally occurs as the Group incurs costs on the contract. Subscription fees for access to the company’s electronic marketplaces are usually charged on a fixed fee basis. Revenue is recognised over the period that access is provided to the customer as it reflects the Group’s satisfaction of performance obligations. Transaction and commission fees are earned from transactions that are executed on these electronic marketplaces. Revenue is recognised on the transaction date which is when performance obligations are deemed to have been satisfied. Network connection and hosting services revenues are recognised on a straight-line basis over the period to which the fee relates as this reflects the continuous transfer of technology services and measures the extent of progress towards the completion of the performance obligation . 3. Total income and contract liabilities Our total income consists of revenue, net treasury income and other income, and is managed on an operating segment basis. This is presented below, as well as revenue by geographic location. Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 128 Financial Statements ![]() Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued Markets continued Over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives, and securities clearing and reporting generate fees from: individual transactions or contracts cleared and settled; transaction reporting; risk management; and other financial resources management services. These revenues are earned at the point in time when the Group meets its obligations to complete the transaction or service. Revenue is recognised and billed monthly in arrears. Certain customers have a fixed-fee arrangement which is not linked to individual transactions and this revenue is recognised over time as the Group fulfils its obligations to maintain the availability of the clearing system to that customer. Margin management generates fees from providing customers with access to a reconciliation platform, where counterparties submit trade information for the purpose of reconciling and agreeing initial margin calls, and to an online messaging application to manage pledges, receive margin messaging and resolve disputes. Revenue is recognised at a point in time when the Group meets its obligation to deliver the service. Some customers have a subscription and receive access to these platforms over a period. For these customers, revenue is recognised over the subscription period as it reflects the continuous transfer of service by the Group. Non-cash collateral fees are earned from handling non-cash collateral balances. The fees are recognised as revenue over the service period that balances are held, representing the continuous transfer of services during that time. Fees received for third-party content or services, such as settlement fees, are recognised net within revenue on the date of the transaction. Those customer contracts across the Group that contain a single performance obligation at a fixed price do not require variable consideration to be calculated. However, some businesses in the Group provide services to customers under a tiered or tariff pricing structure that generates a degree of variability in the revenue streams from the contract as a result of additional charges or discounts given. Where the future revenue from a contract varies due to factors that are outside the Group’s control, the Group limits the total transaction price at contract inception and recognises the minimum expected revenue guaranteed by the terms of the contract over the contract period. Any variable element is subsequently recognised in the period in which the variable condition is satisfied and there is no significant risk of reversal of that revenue. Rebates given to customers as part of an operating agreement are calculated on a pro-rata basis on revenue earned and recognised as they fall due. The Group does not have any contracts where the period between the transfer of services to a customer and when the customer is expected to pay for that service is longer than one year. As a result, no adjustments are made to revenue for any financing component. 3. Total income and contract liabilities continued Net treasury income Net treasury income is generated from two sources. Firstly, the CCP businesses securely invest the cash collateral lodged with them and earn treasury income from various investments (including government debt and reverse repos) and cash deposits with central banks. At the same time, the CCPs pay interest at an overnight benchmark rate to their members on the collateral placed with the business, whilst charging a spread on that rate as a fee. This spread provides the second source of income. The resulting net treasury income is recognised within total income and disclosed separately from revenue. Other income Other income mainly relates to operating lease income and fees from service agreements. Such fees are generated from the provision of events and media services, which are typically recognised at the point the service is rendered. Cost of sales Cost of sales comprises: – Data and licence fees; – Data feed costs; – Royalties; – Expenses incurred in respect of profit share arrangements; – Costs directly attributable to the construction and delivery of goods or services; and – Any other costs linked and directly incurred to generate revenues and provide services to customers. Profit share expenses recognised as cost of sales relate to a small number of arrangements with certain customers where the payment to the customer is linked to the total profit of the particular business concerned. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 129 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 3. Total income and contract liabilities continued The Group’s revenue disaggregated by segment, major product and service line and timing of revenue recognition for the year ended 31 December 2025 is shown below: | | | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | Data & | FTSE | Risk | | | | | | | Analytics | Russell | Intelligence | Markets | Other | Group | | | Note | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Revenue from external customers | | | | | | | | | Workflows | | 1,925 | – | – | – | – | 1,925 | | Data & feeds | | 1,822 | – | – | – | – | 1,822 | | Analytics | | 231 | – | – | – | – | 231 | | Recoveries | | 360 | – | – | – | – | 360 | | Subscriptions | | – | 630 | – | – | – | 630 | | Asset-based | | – | 324 | – | – | – | 324 | | Customer & third-party risk solutions | | – | – | 579 | – | – | 579 | | Equities | | – | – | – | 412 | – | 412 | | Fixed income, derivatives and other | | – | – | – | 1,539 | – | 1,539 | | FX | | – | – | – | 272 | – | 272 | | OTC derivatives | | – | – | – | 641 | – | 641 | | Securities & reporting | | – | – | – | 229 | – | 229 | | Non-cash collateral | | – | – | – | 117 | – | 117 | | Total revenue | | 4,338 | 954 | 579 | 3,210 | – | 9,081 | | Net treasury income | 3.3 | – | – | – | 257 | – | 257 | | Other income | | – | – | – | – | 8 | 8 | | Total income | | 4,338 | 954 | 579 | 3,467 | 8 | 9,346 | | Timing of revenue recognition | | | | | | | | | Services satisfied at a point in time | | 74 | 1 | 128 | 2,060 | – | 2,263 | | Services satisfied over time | | 4,264 | 953 | 451 | 1,150 | – | 6,818 | | Total revenue | | 4,338 | 954 | 579 | 3,210 | – | 9,081 | London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 130 Financial Statements ![]() Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 3. Total income and contract liabilities continued The Group’s re-presented revenue disaggregated by segment, major product and service line and timing of revenue recognition for the year ended 31 December 2024 is shown below: | | | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | Data & | FTSE | Risk | | | | | | | Analytics | Russell | Intelligence | Markets | Other | Group | | | Note | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Revenue from external customers | | | | | | | | | Workflows | | 1,899 | – | – | – | – | 1,899 | | Data & feeds | | 1,740 | – | – | – | – | 1,740 | | Analytics | | 220 | – | – | – | – | 220 | | Recoveries | | 364 | – | – | – | – | 364 | | Subscriptions | | – | 603 | – | – | – | 603 | | Asset-based | | – | 308 | – | – | – | 308 | | Customer & third-party risk solutions | | – | – | 531 | – | – | 531 | | Equities | | – | – | – | 392 | – | 392 | | Fixed income, derivatives and other | | – | – | – | 1,334 | – | 1,334 | | FX | | – | – | – | 260 | – | 260 | | OTC derivatives | | – | – | – | 582 | – | 582 | | Securities & reporting | | – | – | – | 235 | – | 235 | | Non-cash collateral | | – | – | – | 111 | – | 111 | | Total revenue 1 | | 4,223 | 911 | 531 | 2,914 | – | 8,579 | | Net treasury income | 3.3 | – | – | – | 266 | – | 266 | | Other income | | – | – | – | – | 13 | 13 | | Total income | | 4,223 | 911 | 531 | 3,180 | 13 | 8,858 | | Timing of revenue recognition | | | | | | | | | Services satisfied at a point in time | | 75 | 1 | 121 | 1,826 | – | 2,023 | | Services satisfied over time | | 4,148 | 910 | 410 | 1,088 | – | 6,556 | | Total revenue 1 | | 4,223 | 911 | 531 | 2,914 | – | 8,579 | 1 During 2025, in addition to the new segment presentation, some revenue items were reallocated between business lines to better reflect our product-led operating model (consistent with reporting to the Executive Committee). The impact on the previously reported 2024 results is: – Revenue of £158 million moved from Data & Analytics to Markets. – Revenue of £7 million moved from FTSE Russell to Data & Analytics. 3.2 Total revenue by geographical location The Group’s revenue disaggregated by geographical location of service provider is as follows: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | £m | £m | | UK | 2,918 | 2,717 | | US | 3,418 | 3,224 | | Europe, excluding UK | 1,253 | 1,205 | | Asia | 1,035 | 991 | | Other | 457 | 442 | | Total revenue | 9,081 | 8,579 | 3.3 Net treasury income Net treasury income is earned from instruments held at amortised cost or fair value as follows: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | £m | £m | | Instruments held at amortised cost | | | | Treasury income on assets | 2,497 | 3,622 | | Treasury expense on assets¹ | (409) | (759) | | Treasury expense on liabilities | (2,566) | (3,465) | | Net expense from instruments held | | | | at amortised cost | (478) | (602) | | Instruments held at fair value | | | | Treasury income | 735 | 868 | | Net income from instruments held at fair value | 735 | 868 | | Net treasury income | 257 | 266 | 1 Treasury expense on assets represents amounts that earned negative interest rates. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 131 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() 3. Total income and contract liabilities continued Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 3.4 Contract liabilities We report contract liabilities where amounts received or receivable from a customer exceed revenue recognised in the year, for example if the Group receives an advance payment from a customer. Accounting policy In some instances, we receive consideration, or an amount of consideration is due, in relation to our obligation to transfer goods or services to a customer in the future. Revenue relating to these future periods is classified as a contract liability on the balance sheet. Contract liabilities are amortised and recognised as revenue over the period the services are rendered. Accounting policy Costs are recognised in the income statement as incurred and measured after deducting any time- and value-limited discounts. Other discounts are spread over the contract term. Significant accounting judgement Supplier/partner discounts The Group exercises judgement when discounts from suppliers and partners are recognised. That is, whether discounts are deducted as expenses arise or spread over the contract term. Certain time- and value-limited discounts in relation to the 10-year strategic partnership with Microsoft are deducted as expenses arise. In making this assessment, management considered the contractual period during which the Group has access to the discounts and the nature of any claw-back mechanisms in place. | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | £m | £m | | Non-current contract liabilities | 72 | 68 | | Current contract liabilities | 273 | 290 | | Total contract liabilities | 345 | 358 | Movements in contract liabilities during the year are as follows: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | £m | £m | | 1 January | 358 | 345 | | Recognised as revenue during the year | (219) | (253) | | Deferred during the year | 230 | 268 | | Foreign exchange translation | (24) | (2) | | 31 December | 345 | 358 | 4. Operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation and impairment Operating expenses mainly relate to staff costs, IT costs and third-party services. This note provides a breakdown of our operating expenses as well as providing further detail on our headcount and fees to auditors. | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | Note | £m | £m | | Staff costs | 4.1 | 2,417 | 2,367 | | IT costs | | 675 | 648 | | Third-party services | | 371 | 448 | | Short-term lease costs | | 12 | 10 | | Fair value gains on contingent | | | | | consideration | | – | (21) | | Other costs | | 362 | 360 | | | | 3,837 | 3,812 | | Foreign exchange gains | | (1) | (1) | | Fair value losses/(gains) on embedded | | | | | foreign exchange contracts | | 33 | (40) | | Total operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation and impairment | | 3,869 | 3,771 | 4.1 Staff costs and employees This note shows amounts earned by employees, the average number of employees during the year and their location, and amounts paid to “key management personnel” as defined by IAS 24 Related Party Disclosures. The Group recognises all Directors and the Executive Committee as its key management personnel. Staff costs | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | Notes | £m | £m | | Salaries and other benefits | | 2,320 | 2,255 | | Social security costs | | 230 | 215 | | Pension costs | 12.1 | 120 | 100 | | Share-based payment expense | 20 | 176 | 165 | | Total payments made to employees | | 2,846 | 2,735 | | Amounts capitalised as development costs | | (429) | (368) | | Total staff costs | | 2,417 | 2,367 | Compensation for key management personnel | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | £m | £m | | Salaries and other benefits | 18 | 21 | | Pension costs | 1 | 1 | | Share-based payments 1 | 23 | 18 | | Total compensation | 42 | 40 | 1 For 2024, the share-based payment amounts have been re-presented to align with the expense recognised in the consolidated income statement and to be consistent with 2025. Details of Directors’ emoluments are included in the Remuneration Report on pages 82 to 103. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 132 Financial Statements ![]() 4. Operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation and impairment continued 5. Finance income and costs, and other gains Finance income includes interest on cash deposits, gains on redemption of borrowings and interest income on retirement benefit assets. Finance costs include interest on borrowings and derivative financial instruments as well as lease interest expense. Foreign exchange gains or losses associated with corporate treasury transactions and other borrowings are also included within finance income or finance costs. Gains on digital and related assets are presented separately on the income statement. 5.1 Finance income and finance costs Accounting policy The accounting policies for the following finance income and finance costs are described in the relevant notes to the financial statements: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | Note | | | – Interest income on retirement | 12 | Pension and other | | benefit assets | | retirement benefit | | – Interest costs on retirement | | schemes | | benefit obligations | | | | – Interest on borrowings | 16.1 | Borrowings | | – Lease interest income | 16.2 | Lease liabilities and net | | – Lease interest expense | | investments in leases | Interest earned on cash deposited with financial counterparties and interest payable on borrowings, which reflects the agreed market-based or contractual rate for each transaction, are calculated using the effective interest method. Interest payable on bank and other borrowings is presented net of hedging derivatives. Recurring fees and charges levied on committed bank facilities, cash management transactions and the payment services provided by the Group’s banks are charged as accrued in other finance expenses. Credit facility arrangement fees are capitalised and then amortised over the term of the facility. Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued Average number of employees The average number of employees during the year, including Executive Directors, was as follows: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | UK | 4,941 | 4,900 | | US | 3,247 | 3,235 | | India | 7,811 | 7,164 | | Europe, excluding UK | 3,313 | 3,199 | | Philippines | 2,223 | 2,216 | | Sri Lanka | 1,712 | 1,720 | | China | 1,224 | 1,279 | | Other Asia | 2,009 | 2,079 | | Africa and Middle East | 562 | 589 | | Other | 653 | 657 | | Average number of employees 1 | 2 7, 6 9 5 | 27,038 | 1 Average employee numbers represent full-time equivalent members of staff. They are calculated from the date of acquisition of subsidiary companies purchased in the year and up to the date of disposal of businesses sold in the year. Total number of employees At 31 December, the number of employees, including Executive Directors, was as follows: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | £m | £m | | UK | 5,043 | 4,855 | | US | 3,218 | 3,234 | | India | 8,541 | 7,439 | | Europe, excluding UK | 3,388 | 3,284 | | Philippines | 2,225 | 2,242 | | Sri Lanka | 1,721 | 1,842 | | China | 1,222 | 1,222 | | Other Asia | 1,962 | 2,046 | | Africa and Middle East | 540 | 573 | | Other | 656 | 649 | | Total number of employees | 28,516 | 27,386 | 4.2 Auditors’ fees Other costs include fees paid or payable to the Company’s auditors and are analysed below: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | £m | £m | | Audit of parent and consolidated | | | | financial statements | 7 | 5 | | Audit of subsidiary companies | 11 | 10 | | Non-audit services 1 | 2 | 1 | | Total auditors’ fees | 20 | 16 | 1 Deloitte LLP provided non-audit services of £1.8 million; 9% of total fees (2024: £1.1 million; 7% of total fees). This comprised audit-related assurance services of £0.5 million (2024: £0.5 million) and other non-audit services of £1.3 million (2024: £0.6 million). Further details of the services provided by Deloitte LLP are given in the Report of the Audit Committee on page 79. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 133 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() 5. Finance income and costs, and other gains continued 6. Taxation This note explains how our Group tax charge arises. The note also provides information on deferred tax and uncertain tax positions. Accounting policy Income tax comprises current and deferred tax. Current and deferred tax charges and benefits are recognised in the income statement except to the extent that they relate to items recognised directly in equity or other comprehensive income. Current income tax is calculated based on the tax laws enacted or substantively enacted at the balance sheet date in the countries where the Group operates and generates taxable income. Current income tax assets and liabilities are measured at the amount expected to be recovered from or paid to taxation authorities. Deferred tax is the tax expected to be payable or recoverable in the future on differences between the carrying amount of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the corresponding amounts used for tax purposes. Deferred tax is accounted for using the liability method and calculated using tax rates that are substantively enacted and expected to apply in the period when the asset is realised or the liability settled . Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 5.2 Gains on digital and related assets Accounting policy Digital assets are recognised as current intangible assets and initially measured at cost. Following initial recognition, the assets are carried at cost less any impairment losses. As the Group’s digital assets have indefinite useful lives, they are not amortised but are tested for impairment annually, with any impairment losses recognised in the income statement. Impairment is measured as the amount by which the carrying value exceeds the recoverable amount, which is typically determined using fair value less costs of disposal. Digital assets are derecognised on disposal or when no future economic benefits are expected to arise. Gains or losses on derecognition are recognised in the income statement as the difference between the disposal proceeds and the carrying amount of the asset. | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | £m | £m | | Gains on digital and related assets 1 | 29 | – | 1 The gain in the year relates to two transactions undertaken by Tradeweb in relation to Canton coins. Deferred tax is not recognised for: – Temporary differences on the initial recognition of assets or liabilities in a transaction that is not a business combination and that affects neither the accounting profit nor taxable profit – Temporary differences arising on the initial recognition of goodwill Deferred tax liabilities are recognised for taxable temporary differences associated with interests in subsidiaries and associates, except where the Group is able to control the timing of the reversal of the temporary difference and it is probable that the temporary difference will not reverse in the foreseeable future. Deferred tax assets arising from deductible temporary differences associated with such interests are recognised only to the extent that it is probable that there will be sufficient taxable profits against which to utilise the benefits of the temporary differences and they are expected to reverse in the foreseeable future. | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | Notes | £m | £m | | Finance income | | | | | Financial assets measured | | | | | at amortised cost | | | | | – Bank deposit and other interest income | | 115 | 145 | | – Lease interest income | | 1 | 1 | | – Other finance income | | 1 | 1 | | Gain on partial repurchase of bond | 16.1 | 23 | 24 | | Hedge ineffectiveness on fair value hedges | 17.4c | 2 | – | | Fair value gain on derivative financial | | | | | instruments not designated as hedges | | 6 | – | | Net interest income on net retirement | | | | | benefit assets | 12.1 | 5 | 4 | | | | 153 | 175 | | Finance costs | | | | | Financial liabilities measured | | | | | at amortised cost | | | | | – Interest payable on bank and other borrowings | | (276) | (288) | | – Lease interest expense | 16.2 | (20) | (20) | | – Other finance expenses | | (11) | (17) | | Derivative financial instruments | | | | | interest expense | | (28) | (31) | | Hedge ineffectiveness on fair value hedges | 17.4c | – | (1) | | Fair value loss on derivative financial | | | | | instruments not designated as hedges | | (4) | (8) | | Foreign exchange losses | | (1) | (15) | | | | (340) | (380) | | Net finance costs | | (187) | (205) | London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 134 Financial Statements ![]() 6.1 Income tax | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | Note | £m | £m | | Current tax expense | | | | | UK corporation tax expense at 25% | | | | | (2024: 25%) | | 184 | 145 | | Overseas tax expense | | 256 | 311 | | Adjustments in respect of previous years | | (12) | (13) | | | | 428 | 443 | | Deferred tax expense | | | | | Deferred tax expense | | 282 | 142 | | Adjustments in respect of previous years | | 5 | (4) | | Deferred tax benefit in relation to amortisation | | | | | and impairment of intangible assets | | (252) | (244) | | | 6.2 | 35 | (106) | | Total income tax expense | | 463 | 337 | Factors affecting the tax charge for the year The tax charge for the year differs from that derived from the standard rate of corporation tax in the UK of 25% (2024: 25%) as explained below: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | £m | £m | | Profit before tax | 1,969 | 1,258 | | Profit multiplied by standard rate of corporation | | | | tax in the UK | 492 | 315 | | Overseas earnings taxed at lower rate | (36) | (15) | | Adjustment arising from changes in tax rates | 2 | 44 | | Expenses not deductible | 2 | 10 | | Adjustments in respect of previous years | (7) | (17) | | Deferred tax not recognised | 10 | – | | Total income tax expense | 463 | 337 | Tax (charged)/credited directly to other comprehensive income | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | Note | £m | £m | | Current tax benefit/(expense) related to – Gains/losses on financial assets (at FVOCI) | | – | (34) | | – Net gains on net investment hedges | | 5 | – | | | | 5 | (34) | | Deferred tax (expense)/benefit related to – Actuarial movements on retirement | | | | | benefit obligations | | (14) | 60 | | – Gains/losses on financial assets (at FVOCI) | | 1 | 12 | | | 6.2 | (13) | 72 | | Total tax (charged)/credited directly | | | | | to other comprehensive income | | (8) | 38 | Tax credited/(charged) directly to equity | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | Note | £m | £m | | Current tax benefit related to – Share-based payments less than expense recognised | | 14 | 4 | | | | 14 | 4 | | Deferred tax benefit/(expense) related to – Share-based payments less than expense recognised | | 13 | 10 | | – Investment in partnerships (recognised | | | | | in non-controlling interests) | | 17 | (11) | | | 6.2 | 30 | (1) | | Total tax credited directly to equity | | 44 | 3 | 6.2 Net deferred tax liabilities | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | £m | £m | | Deferred tax assets | 528 | 659 | | Deferred tax liabilities | (1,785) | (1,995) | | Net deferred tax liabilities | (1,257) | (1,336) | The carrying amount of deferred tax assets is reviewed at each reporting date and reduced to the extent that it is no longer probable that sufficient taxable profit will be available to allow all or part of the deferred tax asset to be utilised. Unrecognised deferred tax assets are re-assessed at each reporting date and are recognised to the extent that it has become probable that future taxable profits will allow the deferred tax asset to be recovered. Tax assets and liabilities are offset when there is a legally enforceable right to set off current tax assets against current tax liabilities and when they relate to income taxes levied by the same taxation authority on either the same taxable entity or on different taxable entities which intend to settle the current tax assets and liabilities on a net basis. In relation to Global Minimum Tax, the Group has applied a mandatory temporary exception from deferred tax accounting for the impacts of the top-up tax and will account for it as a current tax when it is incurred. Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 6. Taxation continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 135 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() 6. Taxation continued The movements in deferred tax assets and liabilities during the year are shown below: | | | | | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | Tax losses | | | | | | | | | | Goodwill | and other | | | | | Provisions | | | | | and | carry- | Property, | | Retirement | | and other | | | | | intangible | forward | plant and | Share | benefit | Investment in | temporary | | | | | assets 1 | attributes | equipment | schemes | obligations | partnerships 2 | differences | Total | | Group | Note | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | | 1 January 2024 | | (2,668) | 575 | 69 | 65 | (40) | 466 | 57 | (1,476) | | Tax recognised in the income statement | 6.1 | 276 | (114) | (3) | 2 | (41) | (14) | – | 106 | | Tax recognised in other comprehensive income | 6.1 | – | – | – | – | 60 | – | 12 | 72 | | Tax recognised in equity | 6.1 | – | – | – | 10 | – | (11) | – | (1) | | Foreign exchange translation and other | | (39) | 13 | – | – | – | (11) | – | (37) | | 31 December 2024 | | (2,431) | 474 | 66 | 77 | (21) | 430 | 69 | (1,336) | | Tax recognised in the income statement | 6.1 | 274 | (246) | (19) | (1) | (5) | (72) | 34 | (35) | | Tax recognised in other comprehensive income | 6.1 | – | – | – | – | (14) | – | 1 | (13) | | Tax recognised in equity | 6.1 | – | – | – | 13 | – | 17 | – | 30 | | Foreign exchange translation and other | | 152 | (22) | (1) | (2) | – | (31) | 1 | 97 | | 31 December 2025 | | (2,005) | 206 | 46 | 87 | (40) | 344 | 105 | (1,257) | 1 The intangible assets have mainly arisen from acquired subsidiaries, creating a deferred tax liability due to the difference between their accounting and tax treatment. On 31 December 2025, this liability was £2,005 million (2024: £2,431 million), primarily relating to the Refinitiv acquisition. 2 Tradeweb Markets LLC is a multiple member limited liability company taxed as a partnership and accordingly any taxable income generated by Tradeweb Markets LLC is passed through to its members. The investment in partnership deferred tax asset is the difference between the financial statement amount and the tax basis of the Tradeweb Markets Inc. investment in Tradeweb Markets LLC . Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued Unrecognised deferred tax assets As at 31 December 2025, the gross amount of unrecognised temporary differences in respect of losses available for carry forward was £112 million (2024: £110 million), all with unlimited expiration. Gross temporary differences of £65 million (2024: £41 million) are also unrecognised in respect of other tax attributes which will expire within 10 years, and £29 million (2024: nil) unrecognised in respect of other tax attributes with unlimited expiration. The assets will be recognised in the future only if sufficient forecast taxable profit arises within the Group. Unrecognised deferred tax liabilities The aggregate amount of temporary differences associated with investments in subsidiaries, branches and associates and interests in joint arrangements, for which deferred tax liabilities have not been recognised at 31 December 2025 is £434 million (2024: £249 million ). 6.3. Uncertain tax positions Significant accounting judgement and estimates The Group is subject to taxation in the many countries in which it operates. The tax legislation of these countries differs, is often complex and can be subject to interpretation by management and government authorities. These matters of judgement sometimes give rise to the need to create provisions for tax payments that may arise in future years with respect to transactions already undertaken. Provisions are made against individual exposures and take into account the specific circumstances of each case, including the strength of technical arguments, recent case law decisions or rulings on similar issues and relevant external advice. In accordance with IFRIC 23 Uncertainty over Income Tax Treatments, provisions are estimated based on one of two methods: – The expected value method (the sum of the probability weighted amounts in a range of possible outcomes) – The single most likely amount method The method chosen depends on which is expected to better predict the resolution of the uncertainty. Due to the uncertainty associated with tax audits it is possible that, at some future date, liabilities resulting from such audits or related litigation could vary significantly from the Group’s provisions. This would require the Group to make an adjustment in a subsequent period which could have a material impact on the Group’s results . London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 136 Financial Statements ![]() Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued IRS audit The Group has concluded its audit in the US by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in relation to the interest rate applied on certain cross- border intercompany loans from the UK to the US for the 2016-2021 period. The resolution of this matter did not have a material impact on the Group’s financial position. HMRC audit of intellectual property valuation HMRC is auditing the value of certain intellectual property purchased from Thomson Reuters as part of the formation of Refinitiv. Intellectual property valuation is complex and significantly affected by multiple inputs of assumptions. As the outcome is uncertain, especially given the inherent subjectivity of the topic, the Group recognises an uncertain tax liability in accordance with the requirements of IFRS. Management and HMRC agreed in principle on the main aspects of the audit and conclusion is anticipated following required internal process by HMRC. Management believes that resolution of this matter will not have a material impact on the Group’s financial position. Diverted Profits Tax to Thomson Reuters HMRC has issued notices of assessment under the Diverted Profits Tax (DPT) regime to Thomson Reuters largely related to its Financial & Risk Business for years prior to the sale of the business to Refinitiv. As required by the notices and as directed by Thomson Reuters, the Group has made payments to HMRC which were immediately reimbursed by Thomson Reuters in accordance with an indemnity agreement (described in note 13 and note 15). Thomson Reuters does not agree with the assessments. To the extent the Group receives any refunds of these payments, such refunds are remitted to Thomson Reuters in accordance with the indemnity agreement . Earnings per share is presented on four bases: basic earnings per share, diluted earnings per share, adjusted basic earnings per share and adjusted diluted earnings per share. Earnings per share is calculated as the Group’s profit for the financial year divided by the weighted average number of shares in issue during the year. | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | Basic earnings per share | 238.4p | 128.8p | | Diluted earnings per share | 237.0p | 128.0p | | Adjusted basic earnings per share | 420.6p | 363.5p | | Adjusted diluted earnings per share | 418.2p | 361.5p | Accounting policy Basic earnings per share is in respect of all activities. Diluted earnings per share takes into account the dilutive effect that would arise on conversion or vesting of all outstanding share options and share awards under the Group’s share option and award schemes. Adjusted basic earnings per share and adjusted diluted earnings per share exclude non-underlying items from earnings (as described in note 2 and in the Alternative Performance Measures section of this report) . US tax credits An uncertain tax liability has been recognised in respect of taxes in the US, where the Group has a similar fact pattern to another taxpayer who is participating in ongoing legal proceedings on the matter. Management believes that the resolution of this matter will not have a material impact on the Group’s financial position. Intercompany financing arrangements The Group has received inquiries from HMRC in relation to the tax treatment of certain historical intercompany financing arrangements. Discussions are at an early stage, and it is not currently possible to determine whether HMRC will pursue its inquiries further, or to reliably quantify any potential liability that might result. The Group is of the view that its historical tax filing positions are appropriate and has determined that a future outflow of economic benefit is not probable in relation to its intercompany financing arrangements. As a result, no provision for further tax liability has been recognised. 7.1 Profit and adjusted profit for the year attributable to the Company’s equity holders | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | £m | £m | | Profit for the year attributable to the Company’s | | | | equity holders | 1,249 | 685 | | Adjustments: | | | | – Total non-underlying items net of tax | 1,032 | 1,336 | | – Non-underlying items attributable to non-controlling interests | (77) | (87 ) | | Adjusted profit for the year attributable to the Company’s equity holders | 2,204 | 1,934 | 7.2 Weighted average number of shares 1 | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | millions | millions | | Weighted average number of shares 2 | 524 | 532 | | Dilutive effect of share options and awards | 3 | 3 | | Diluted weighted average number of shares | 527 | 535 | 1 The weighted average number of shares excludes treasury shares and those held in the Employee Benefit Trust. 2 The change in weighted average number of shares reflects the impact of share buybacks in 2024 and 2025. For details and the number of shares as at 31 December 2025, see note 18.1. 7. Earnings per share 6. Taxation continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 137 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() The balance sheet includes significant intangible assets, mainly in relation to goodwill, customer and supplier relationships and internally developed software. Goodwill arises when we acquire a business and pay an amount higher than the fair value of its net assets primarily due to the synergies we expect to create. Goodwill is not amortised but is subject to annual impairment reviews. Purchased and other intangible assets are amortised over their useful economic lives. Accounting policy Goodwill Goodwill arising on the acquisition of a business is initially measured at cost, being the amount by which the aggregate of the consideration transferred and the amount recognised for any non-controlling interests (plus any previous interest held), exceeds the net identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed. After initial recognition, goodwill is measured at cost less any accumulated impairment losses. For the purpose of impairment testing, on the date of acquisition, goodwill acquired in a business combination is allocated to one or more of the Group’s cash- generating units (CGUs) that are expected to benefit from the combination. Where goodwill has been allocated to a CGU and part of the operation within that unit is disposed of, the goodwill associated with the disposed operation is included in the carrying amount when determining its gain or loss on disposal. Goodwill disposed in these circumstances is measured based on the relative values of the disposed operation and the portion of the CGU retained. Purchased intangible assets Purchased intangible assets are initially recognised at cost. The cost of intangible assets acquired in a business combination is their fair value at the date of acquisition. This is determined using valuation methodologies such as the multi-period excess earnings method or relief from royalty. Following initial recognition, intangible assets are carried at cost less any accumulated amortisation and accumulated impairment losses . These assets are amortised as follows: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | | Amortisation | | | | period or useful | | Assets | Amortisation method | economic life | | Customer and supplier | Straight-line basis | 5 to 25 years | | relationships | | | | Brands | Straight-line basis | 4 to 25 years | | Databases and content | Straight-line basis | 5 to 12 years | | Software | Straight-line basis or | 7 to 15 years | | | reducing balance basis | | | Licences and intellectual property | Straight-line basis | 3 to 25 years | Software, contract costs and other Software, contract costs and other comprises internally developed software, software purchased from third parties, the SwapClear intangible asset and contract costs. Software and other Expenditure on internal product development, including expenditure related to cloud computing arrangements, is capitalised if: – The costs can be reliably measured – The product or process is technically and commercially feasible – Future economic benefits are probable – The Group has sufficient resources to complete the development and to use or sell the asset Internally developed software is initially recorded at cost, which includes labour, directly attributable costs and any third-party expenses. Following initial recognition, the asset is carried at cost less any accumulated amortisation and accumulated impairment losses. Amortisation of the asset begins when development is complete, and the asset is available for use. The assets are then amortised on a straight-line basis over their useful economic lives of three to 12 years . 9. Intangible assets Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 8. Dividends We seek to reward our shareholders through the payment of dividends. The interim dividend is generally paid in September and the final dividend in May. | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | £m | £m | | Final dividend for the year ended 31 December 2023 paid 22 May 2024: 79.3p per ordinary share | – | 425 | | Interim dividend for the year ended 31 December 2024 paid 18 September 2024: 41.0p per ordinary share | – | 217 | | Final dividend for the year ended 31 December 2024 paid 21 May 2025: 89.0p per ordinary share | 471 | – | | Interim dividend for the year ended 31 December 2025 paid 18 September 2025: 47.0p per ordinary share | 247 | – | | | 718 | 642 | Dividends are only paid out of available distributable reserves of the Company. The Board has proposed a final dividend in respect of the year ended 31 December 2025 of 103.0p per share, which amounts to an expected payment of £519 million on 20 May 2026. This is not reflected in the financial statements. Accounting policy Dividend distributions to the Company’s equity holders are recognised as a liability in the Group financial statements in the period in which the dividends are approved by the Company’s shareholders . London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 138 Financial Statements ![]() 9. Intangible assets continued Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued The cost of internally developed software acquired in a business combination is its fair value at the date of acquisition. This may include an incremental fair value adjustment to align the carrying value of the software with its fair value. Where variable payments, that are dependent on our future activity, are to be made to third parties for the development of software, these are excluded from the initial measurement of the asset. Instead, the Group recognises the variable payments as an expense when incurred. Software purchased from third parties and software licence costs for the development and implementation of systems which enhance the services provided by the Group, are recognised at cost and amortised on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful economic lives of three to five years. The SwapClear intangible asset is recognised at cost and amortised on a straight-line basis over its estimated useful economic life of 10 years. Contract costs Incremental costs of obtaining a customer contract, such as sales commissions paid to employees, are recognised as an intangible asset if the benefit of such costs is expected to be longer than one year. The asset is initially recognised at cost and is amortised over the period that a customer benefits from the associated software technology supporting the underlying product or service. The Group has estimated this to be between three and five years. The Group recognises the incremental cost of obtaining a contract as an expense when incurred, if the amortisation period is less than one year. Impairment of intangible assets, including goodwill Goodwill is tested for impairment annually. Any goodwill impairment is determined by assessing the recoverable amount of each CGU. When the recoverable amount of the CGU is less than its carrying amount, an impairment loss is recognised. Impairment losses relating to goodwill cannot be reversed in future periods. Intangible assets are assessed for any indicators of impairment at each balance sheet date. If any indication exists, or when annual impairment testing for an asset is required, the Group estimates the asset’s recoverable amount. Where it is not possible to estimate the recoverable amount of an individual asset, the Group estimates the recoverable amount of the CGU to which the asset belongs. An impairment loss is recognised when the recoverable amount of the asset, or CGU, is less than its carrying amount. Impairment losses are recognised in the income statement within depreciation, amortisation and impairment. CGU impairment losses are allocated first to reduce the carrying amount of any goodwill allocated to the CGU and then to reduce the carrying amounts of the other assets in the CGU on a pro-rata basis. Useful economic life and amortisation method The useful economic life and amortisation method of intangible assets are reviewed at each balance sheet date. If there has been a change in the expected useful economic life or the expected pattern of consumption of future economic benefits embodied by an asset, then the useful economic life or amortisation method is changed accordingly . The Group considers the following indicators, as a minimum, that may show that the useful economic life or amortisation method of an asset may require a change: – Whether there have been any changes to legal, regulatory or contractual provisions. – Whether there has been any experience in renewing or extending related licensing agreements. – Whether the effects of obsolescence, demand, competition or maintenance may impact the life of the asset. – The expected future performance of the business related to the asset. – For purchased customer and supplier relationship assets, the attrition rate of customers versus expected attrition rates set out at acquisition. Significant accounting estimates and assumptions Recoverable amounts of certain CGUs The recoverable amounts of CGUs are based on value-in-use calculations. The value-in-use calculations use cash flow projections based on business plans prepared by management for the three-year period ending 31 December 2028. In assessing value-in-use, the estimated future cash flows are discounted to their present value using a pre-tax discount rate that reflects current market assessments of the time value of money and the risks specific to the CGUs. Estimated useful economic lives of material purchased intangible assets Intangible assets are amortised over their estimated useful economic lives, being management’s best estimate of the period over which value from the intangible assets is realised. In determining useful economic life for customer and supplier relationships, brands and databases and content, management considers a number of factors including: customer attrition rates; market participant perspectives of brands; and pace of change of regulation. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 139 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() 9. Intangible assets continued Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued | | | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | Purchased intangible assets | | | | | | | | | | Software, | Software, | | | | | Customer and | | | licences and | contract | | | | | supplier | | Databases | intellectual | costs and | | | | Goodwill | relationships | Brands | and content | property | other | Total | | | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Cost | | | | | | | | | 1 January 2024 | 19,276 | 9,668 | 1,998 | 2,580 | 857 | 4,860 | 39,239 | | Intangible assets acquired on acquisition of subsidiaries | 258 | 307 | 3 | – | 146 | – | 714 | | Additions | – | – | – | – | – | 934 | 934 | | Disposal of business | – | – | – | – | – | (3) | (3) | | Disposals, reclassifications and other | – | (10) | – | – | – | (429) | (439) | | Foreign exchange translation | 164 | 172 | 33 | 49 | 12 | (31) | 399 | | 31 December 2024 | 19,698 | 10,137 | 2,034 | 2,629 | 1,015 | 5,331 | 40,844 | | Additions 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 863 | 863 | | Additions to SwapClear intangible asset 2 | – | – | – | – | – | 1,171 | 1,171 | | Disposals, reclassifications and other 3 | – | – | – | – | – | (116) | (116) | | Foreign exchange translation | (980) | (679) | (128) | (188) | (45) | (73) | (2,093) | | 31 December 2025 | 18,718 | 9,458 | 1,906 | 2,441 | 970 | 7,176 | 40,669 | | Accumulated amortisation and impairment | | | | | | | | | 1 January 2024 | 30 | 2,166 | 693 | 687 | 373 | 2,143 | 6,092 | | Amortisation | – | 607 | 145 | 223 | 73 | 903 | 1,951 | | Impairment | – | – | – | – | – | 216 | 216 | | Disposal of business | – | – | – | – | – | (1) | (1) | | Disposals, reclassifications and other | – | (10) | – | – | – | (424) | (434) | | Foreign exchange translation | – | 40 | 14 | 17 | 2 | (23) | 50 | | 31 December 2024 | 30 | 2,803 | 852 | 927 | 448 | 2,814 | 7,874 | | Amortisation 2,4 | – | 601 | 141 | 216 | 76 | 939 | 1,973 | | Impairment 5 | – | – | – | – | – | 12 | 12 | | Disposals, reclassifications and other 3 | – | – | – | – | – | (112) | (112) | | Foreign exchange translation | (1) | (182) | (54) | (70) | (14) | (30) | (351) | | 31 December 2025 | 29 | 3,222 | 939 | 1,073 | 510 | 3,623 | 9,396 | | Net book values 6 | | | | | | | | | 31 December 2025 | 18,689 | 6,236 | 967 | 1,368 | 460 | 3,553 | 31,273 | | 31 December 2024 | 19,668 | 7,334 | 1,182 | 1,702 | 567 | 2,517 | 32,970 | 1 During the year, consideration for additions comprised £861 million (2024: £934 million) in cash and £2 million (2024: nil) in accruals. The Group capitalised sales commissions paid to employees (contract costs) of £66 million (2024: £51 million). 2 In October 2025, the Group acquired an increased share in the SwapClear intangible asset, for a total consideration of £1,171 million (of which £921 million was paid in 2025 and £250 million is payable in 2026 (see note 15)). Amortisation of £19 million has been charged for two months since initial recognition. See note 9.2 for the net book value at 31 December 2025. 3 During the year, the Group recognised disposals and write-offs of assets which are no longer in use of £112 million with nil net book value (2024: £434 million with nil net book value). 4 Includes amortisation of contract costs of £51 million (2024: £49 million). 5 Following a review of software assets in the year, the Group recognised a £12 million impairment charge (2024: £216 million) in relation to assets with a recoverable amount less than their carrying value. 6 At 31 December 2025, software, contract costs and other net book value includes: – Assets not yet brought into use of £573 million (2024: £712 million). No amortisation has been charged on these assets and instead they are assessed for indicators of impairment annually. – Contract costs of £93 million (2024: £80 million). London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 140 Financial Statements ![]() 9.1 Goodwill During the year, following the change in reporting structure (see note 2), the Group reassessed its CGUs and concluded that the previously reported: – Capital Markets, excluding Tradeweb CGU should be reorganised into two new CGUs: Digital & Securities Markets and FX; and – Post Trade CGU should be reorganised into four new CGUs: LCH Ltd, LCH SA, Post Trade Solutions and Regulatory Reporting. There is no change to the other CGUs. Goodwill is allocated to and monitored by management at the level of the Group’s CGUs as set out below: | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | Net book value of goodwill | | | | | | Foreign | | | | 1 January | | exchange | 31 December | | | 2025 | Reallocation | translation | 2025 | | | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Data & Analytics | 6,671 | – | (285) | 6,386 | | FTSE Russell | 5,496 | – | (247) | 5,249 | | Risk Intelligence | 1,660 | – | (53) | 1,607 | | Capital Markets, excluding Tradeweb | 2 | (2) | – | – | | Digital & Securities Markets | – | 2 | – | 2 | | FX | – | – | – | – | | Tradeweb | 5,249 | – | (375) | 4,874 | | Post Trade | 590 | (590) | – | – | | LCH Ltd | – | 26 | 1 | 27 | | LCH SA | – | 92 | 4 | 96 | | Post Trade Solutions | – | 472 | (24) | 448 | | Regulatory Reporting | – | – | – | – | | | 19,668 | – | (979) | 18,689 | Annual goodwill impairment test Goodwill as at 30 September 2025 was tested for impairment. For each CGU, the estimated recoverable amount was higher than its carrying value (being the net book value) and therefore no impairment was identified or recognised. The recoverable amount of each CGU was determined based on value-in-use calculations. The value-in-use calculations are based on, and most sensitive to, the following key assumptions: | | | | --- | --- | | Assumption | Determination of assumption | | Short- and medium-term revenue | The short-term revenue and cost growth assumptions are based on the business plans prepared by management | | and cost growth | for the three-year period ending 31 December 2028 and extended by a further three years for trended medium- | | | term growth. Business plans are based on an assessment of current trends, anticipated market and regulatory | | | developments, discussions with customers and suppliers and management’s experience. | | Long-term economic growth rates | Cash flows beyond an initial three-year period are extrapolated using a medium-term growth rate (as discussed | | (used to determine terminal values) | above) for a further three years. At which point the cash flows are extrapolated using estimated long-term growth | | | rates, which are based on external estimates of GDP and inflation. | | Pre-tax discount rates | Weighted average cost of capital is determined using market risk-free rates based on the yields of government | | | bonds most relevant to the operations of the CGU, adjusted for country and operational risk and the cost of | | | borrowing for the Group. | Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 9. Intangible assets continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 141 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Value-in-use assumptions | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | Long-term growth rates | Pre-tax discount rates | | | | 2025 | 2024 | 2025 | 2024 | | | % | % | % | % | | Data & Analytics | 4.0 | 4.0 | 11.3 | 11.0 | | FTSE Russell | 3.7 | 3.9 | 11.1 | 11.8 | | Risk Intelligence | 3.7 | 3.8 | 12.1 | 12.5 | | Digital & Securities Markets | 3.4 | 3.7 | 9.9 | 9.1 | | Tradeweb | 3.8 | 4.0 | 10.4 | 10.7 | | LCH Ltd | 3.4 | N/A | 12.6 | N/A | | LCH SA | 3.2 | N/A | 9.6 | N/A | | Post Trade Solutions | 3.8 | N/A | 8.2 | N/A | Sensitivity analysis The estimated value-in-use of each CGU exceeds its carrying value. We do not expect that a reasonably possible or foreseeable change in the assumptions in isolation would lead to an impairment loss being recognised for all of the Group’s CGUs. The Post Trade Solutions CGU is the only CGU sensitive to relative changes in the main assumptions (cash flows, long-term growth rate and pre-tax discount rate) which, in isolation, could lead to the value-in-use reducing below the carrying amount. These changes, in isolation, are: 29% reduction in terminal cash flows; 2.2 percentage point reduction in the long-term growth rate; and 2.4 percentage point increase in the pre-tax discount rate. Changes beyond those amounts would have led to an impairment loss being recognised for the year ended 31 December 2025. This sensitivity analysis is prepared on the basis that any change in each key assumption would not have a consequential impact on other assumptions used. 9.2 Material intangible assets The material intangible assets are set out below: | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | Net book value | | Remaining | | | of material | | amortisation | | | intangible assets | | period | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | | £m | £m | 2025 | | Customer and supplier relationships | | | | | Refinitiv | 4,516 | 5,303 | 11 years | | Tradeweb | 687 | 823 | 8-15 years | | Frank Russell | 247 | 288 | 9-14 years | | ICD | 229 | 264 | 14 years | | Acadia | 195 | 223 | 15 years | | Brands | | | | | Refinitiv | 331 | 449 | 10 years | | Frank Russell | 366 | 422 | 14 years | | Tradeweb | 134 | 158 | 10 years | | Databases and content | | | | | Refinitiv | 1,368 | 1,693 | 6-7 years | | Software, contract costs and other SwapClear | 1,157 | N/A | 10 years | There are no other individual intangible assets that are considered material to each class of intangible assets. Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 9. Intangible assets continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 142 Financial Statements ![]() Accounting policy Property, plant and equipment Property, plant and equipment assets are recorded at cost less accumulated depreciation and accumulated impairment losses. Land is not depreciated. Freehold buildings, plant and equipment are depreciated to a residual value on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful economic lives as follows: – Freehold buildings – 30 to 50 years – Plant and equipment – 3 to 20 years Leasehold improvements are recorded at cost and depreciated to a residual value over the shorter of the period of the lease and the useful economic life of the asset. At each reporting date, the Group assesses whether there is an indication that an asset may be impaired. If any indication exists, the Group estimates the asset’s recoverable amount. The recoverable amount is the higher of an asset’s fair value less costs of disposal, and its value-in-use. Where it is not possible to estimate the recoverable amount of an individual asset, the Group estimates the recoverable amount of the CGU to which the asset belongs. An impairment loss is recognised when the recoverable amount of the asset, or CGU, is less than its carrying amount. Impairment losses are recognised in the income statement within depreciation, amortisation and impairment. CGU impairment losses are allocated first to reduce the carrying amount of any goodwill allocated to the CGU, and then to reduce the carrying amounts of the other assets in the CGU on a pro-rata basis. Our tangible assets are property (owned and leased), equipment and furniture and fittings. These assets are depreciated over their useful economic lives. Right-of-use assets (leases) The Group recognises a right-of-use asset where it has control of an asset for a period of more than 12 months. Assets are recorded initially at cost and depreciated on a straight-line basis over the shorter of the lease term and the estimated useful economic life. Cost is defined as the net present value of the initial lease liability plus any initial costs and dilapidation provisions less any lease incentives received. The lease term is the non-cancellable term plus any periods for which the Group is reasonably certain to exercise any extension options. Where a property is no longer used by the business or there is surplus space, an impairment in the value of the right-of-use asset is recognised and the asset is recognised at its estimated recoverable value. Where a lease is terminated early, this is recognised as a disposal and any difference in value between the asset (being the carrying value of the right-of-use asset) and the liability (being the net present value of future lease obligations) is recognised as a profit or loss on disposal. Any penalty fees payable for early termination are recognised directly in the income statement as an operating expense. Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 10. Property, plant and equipment London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 143 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() | | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | Land & Buildings | | | | Plant and equipment | | | | | | Leasehold | | | | | | Freehold | Right-of-use | improve- | Right-of-use | | | | | property | assets | ments | assets | Owned | Total | | | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Cost | | | | | | | | 1 January 2024 | 17 | 711 | 150 | 113 | 723 | 1,714 | | Additions | 4 | 44 | 7 | 36 | 91 | 182 | | Lease modifications | – | 30 | – | 42 | – | 72 | | Disposals, reclassifications and other | (6) | (107) | 4 | (12) | (26) | (147) | | Foreign exchange translation | (1) | (1) | (2) | 1 | 4 | 1 | | 31 December 2024 | 14 | 677 | 159 | 180 | 792 | 1,822 | | Additions | 1 | 96 | 13 | 18 | 106 | 234 | | Lease modifications | – | 28 | – | 31 | – | 59 | | Disposals, reclassifications and other 1 | – | (42) | 3 | (18) | (31) | (88) | | Foreign exchange translation | (2) | (18) | (3) | (4) | (27) | (54) | | 31 December 2025 | 13 | 741 | 172 | 207 | 840 | 1,973 | | Accumulated depreciation and impairment | | | | | | | | 1 January 2024 | 2 | 354 | 86 | 44 | 512 | 998 | | Depreciation | – | 85 | 16 | 58 | 106 | 265 | | Impairment | – | 17 | – | – | – | 17 | | Disposals, reclassifications and other | – | (103) | (2) | (15) | (23) | (143) | | Foreign exchange translation | – | – | – | – | 4 | 4 | | 31 December 2024 | 2 | 353 | 100 | 87 | 599 | 1,141 | | Depreciation | – | 78 | 18 | 61 | 96 | 253 | | Disposals, reclassifications and other 1 | – | (33) | (6) | (17) | (24) | (80) | | Foreign exchange translation | – | (11) | (2) | (3) | (20) | (36) | | 31 December 2025 | 2 | 387 | 110 | 128 | 651 | 1,278 | | Net book values | | | | | | | | 31 December 2025 | 11 | 354 | 62 | 79 | 189 | 695 | | 31 December 2024 | 12 | 324 | 59 | 93 | 193 | 681 | 1 During the year, the Group has recognised write offs of right-of-use assets of £51 million (2024: £119 million) with a net book value of £1 million (2024: £1 million) mainly due to early termination of leases. 10. Property, plant and equipment continued Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued Investments in financial assets are as follows: | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | Notes | £m | £m | | Non-current | | | | | Equity instruments | 11.1 | 61 | 50 | | Debt instruments | 11.2 | 18 | 8 | | | | 79 | 58 | | Current | | | | | Debt instruments | 11.2 | 130 | – | | | | 130 | – | | Total investments in financial assets | 17.1 | 209 | 58 | 11. Investments in financial assets The Group holds equity investments in a number of companies which fall below the level that would result in recognition of an interest in a subsidiary or associate. We have also invested in some debt instruments. Accounting policy These financial assets are all recognised at fair value through other comprehensive income (FVOCI). See note 17 for the relevant accounting policy, specifically in relation to: – Equity instruments – Debt instruments Investments in equity instruments and convertible debt instruments (excluding listed instruments) are classified as Level 3 (of the fair value hierarchy described in the accounting policy of note 17). Listed instruments are classified as Level 1. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 144 Financial Statements ![]() 11.1 Equity instruments Movements in the fair value of investments in equity instruments (which are all classified as Level 3) are as follows: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | £m | £m | | 1 January | 50 | 372 | | Additions | 25 | 9 | | Disposals | (1) | (377) | | Fair value (losses)/gains recognised in other comprehensive income | (11) | 60 | | Foreign exchange translation | (2) | (14) | | 31 December | 61 | 50 | Fair value of equity instruments In determining the fair value of equity instruments, recent market transactions are used as the primary source of an instrument’s value. If no such transactions can be identified, latest financial performance is compared with expectation to determine whether the value continues to be supported. If actual financial performance has deviated materially from expectation, internal valuations are calculated using a range of appropriate valuation methodologies including discounted cash flows and trading/transaction multiples. These valuation models generate a range of values by considering reasonable changes in the key unobservable inputs (e.g., terminal growth rates and discount rates). The investments are recognised at the lowest value in the range. The fair values of the main investments are as follows: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | £m | £m | | Digital Asset Holdings, LLC | 18 | – | | Finbourne Technology Limited | 14 | 14 | | Fnality International Limited | 10 | – | | OpenExchange, Inc. | 7 | 8 | | Module Q, Inc. | – 6 | | 11.2 Debt instruments | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | £m | £m | | 1 January | 8 | – | | Additions 1 | 250 | 8 | | Disposals 1 | (127) | – | | Fair value gains recognised in other comprehensive income | 10 | – | | Foreign exchange translation | 7 | – | | 31 December | 148 | | 8 1 During 2025, the Group invested in and divested from French Government bonds. Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 12. Pension and other retirement benefit schemes Substantially all of the Group’s employees participate in defined benefit or defined contribution schemes. This note describes the main schemes, together with the retirement benefit costs recognised in the income statement and assets and liabilities recognised in the balance sheet. Accounting policy For defined contribution schemes, the operating charge represents the contributions payable in the year and is recognised in the income statement as incurred. For the defined benefit schemes, the income statement expense is allocated between service cost, administrative fees and net finance expense. The service cost represents benefits accruing to employees and is included as an operating expense. Costs of future employee benefits are accrued over the period in which employees earn the benefits. Scheme obligations and costs are determined on a regular basis by an independent qualified actuary, in line with IAS 19 Employee Benefits, using the projected unit credit method. The obligations are measured by discounting the best estimate of future cash flows to be paid out of the scheme and are reflected in the Group balance sheet. Net interest is recognised within net finance costs, calculated by applying a discount rate to the net defined benefit asset or liability at the start of each annual reporting period. The discount rate used is based on market interest rates of high-quality, fixed-rate debt securities adjusted to reflect the duration of expected future cash outflows for pension benefit payments . 11. Investments in financial assets continued The net retirement benefit asset or liability recognised on the balance sheet comprises the difference between the present value of pension obligations and the fair value of scheme assets. Actuarial gains and losses are recognised at each reporting date, net of tax, in the statement of comprehensive income. These gains and losses arise from experience adjustments, changes in actuarial assumptions or differences between actual and expected returns on assets. Significant accounting judgement Recognition of a pension surplus The Group judges that, on the gradual settlement of the defined benefit schemes, it can expect any remaining pension surplus to be refunded in full to the Group. In line with the current accounting standards, it therefore continues to recognise these retirement benefit assets on the balance sheet in full. Significant accounting estimates and assumptions Net present value of pension assets and liabilities Defined benefit pension liabilities are determined based on the present value of future pension obligations using assumptions determined by the Group with advice from an independent qualified actuary. An actuarial valuation involves making various assumptions that may differ from what actually happens in the future. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 145 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() 12. Pension and other retirement benefit schemes continued Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 12.3 Amounts recognised in the balance sheet in respect of retirement benefit schemes The amounts recognised in the balance sheet include the assets and liabilities of the Large UK schemes, as well as various smaller schemes. All pension scheme assets are held separately from those of the Group. | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | £m | £m | | Retirement benefit assets | 238 | 162 | | Retirement benefit obligations | (86) | (64) | | Net retirement benefit asset | 152 | 98 | The changes in the net retirement benefit asset during the year are as follows: | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | Note | £m | £m | | 1 January | | 98 | 93 | | Pension expense, including net | | | | | interest income | | (25) | (9) | | Actuarial gains/(losses) | 12.2 | 64 | (3) | | Employer contributions and benefits paid | | 13 | 16 | | Other | | 1 | – | | Foreign exchange translation | | 1 | 1 | | 31 December | | 152 | 98 | The net retirement defined benefit assets/(liabilities) in respect of defined benefit schemes are as follows: | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | Note | £m | £m | | Large UK schemes 1 | 12.4 | 200 | 141 | | Other plans | | (48) | (43) | | Net retirement benefit asset 2 | | 152 | 98 | 1 The Group recognises net defined benefit assets on the balance sheet on the basis that the Group would have access to the surplus in the event of a gradual settlement of the schemes. No asset ceiling has therefore been applied to the net surplus recognised. The LSE Section of the LSEGPS is the only UK scheme to have minimum funding commitments however, based on the latest analysis carried out by the scheme actuary, no funding contribution above those set out in the agreed recovery plan was required from the Group in 2025. 2 In June 2023, the High Court issued a ruling in respect of Virgin Media v NTL Pension Trustees II Limited (and others) calling into question the validity of rule amendments made to defined benefit pension schemes contracted-out on a Reference Scheme Test basis between April 1997 and April 2016. Whilst the High Court judgement was upheld by the Court of Appeal in July 2024, in June 2025, the UK Government announced that it will introduce legislation to allow schemes to retrospectively obtain actuarial confirmation of historical benefit changes, if necessary. This legislation is expected to receive Royal Assent in mid-2026. To date, neither the Trustees nor the Group have completed analysis to determine whether the necessary confirmations were received from the Scheme Actuaries for any amendments to the Group's schemes. As a result, no reliable estimate of the potential impact can be made at this stage, similar to last year, although the planned change in legislation should mitigate any potential impact . The assumptions that are the most significant to the amounts reported for the significant defined benefit schemes are the discount rate, the inflation rate, pension increases and mortality levels. Assumptions about these variables are based on the environment in each country. Due to the complexities involved in a valuation, and its long-term nature, a defined benefit obligation is highly sensitive to changes in these assumptions. In particular, changes to the discount rate and inflation rate could result in material changes to the carrying amounts of the Group’s pension and other post-retirement benefit obligations within the next financial year. Defined contribution schemes Defined contribution schemes are savings plans that provide for matching contributions from the Group. Most new employees joining the Group are eligible to participate in these schemes. The main scheme within the Group is the London Stock Exchange Group Pension Plan. Defined benefit schemes Defined benefit schemes provide pension and other post-retirement benefits for covered employees. Benefits are payable generally based on salary and years of service, although each plan has a unique benefits formula. Except when required by law, virtually all defined benefit schemes are closed to new employees. All schemes are governed by the local regulatory framework and employment laws in the country in which they operate. The Group’s largest defined benefit plans are in the UK and together are in a net surplus position. The most significant defined benefit schemes (collectively referred to as the “Large UK” schemes) are: – The Reuters Pension Fund (RPF) – The Reuters Supplementary Pension Scheme (SPS) – The London Stock Exchange Group Pension Scheme (LSEGPS): – LSE Section of LSEGPS (previously the London Stock Exchange Retirement Plan) – LCH Section of LSEGPS (previously the LCH Pension Scheme) 12.1 Amounts recognised in the income statement | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | Notes | £m | £m | | Defined contribution schemes | | 90 | 87 | | Defined benefit schemes – current/past | | | | | service cost, curtailment and expenses | | 30 | 13 | | Pension costs recognised in staff costs | 4.1 | 120 | 100 | | Net interest income | 5.1 | (5) | (4) | | | | 115 | 96 | 12.2 Amounts recognised in other comprehensive income in respect of retirement benefit schemes | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | Note | £m | £m | | 1 January | | (301) | (298) | | Actuarial gains/(losses) recognised | | | | | in the year | 12.3 | 64 | (3) | | 31 December | | (237) | (301 ) | London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 146 Financial Statements ![]() Fair value of the assets and present value of the liabilities of the Large UK schemes The amounts included in the balance sheet arising from the Group’s obligations in respect of the Large UK schemes are as follows: | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | Net surplus/ | | | Assets | Liabilities | (deficit) | | | £m | £m | £m | | 1 January 2024 | 2,331 | (2,174) | 157 | | Pension (expense)/income | | | | | recognised in the income statement | | | | | – Past/current service cost | | | | | and administrative fees | – | (8) | (8) | | – Interest income/(cost) | 103 | (96) | 7 | | Remeasurements recognised | | | | | in other comprehensive income | | | | | – Movement on plan assets, excluding interest income, recognised in other comprehensive income | (248) | – | (248) | | – Actuarial gains | | | | | – financial assumptions | – | 222 | 222 | | – Actuarial gains | | | | | – demographic assumptions | – | 7 | 7 | | Employer contributions 1 | 6 | – | 6 | | Benefits paid | (108) | 108 | – | | Other | (3) | 1 | (2) | | 31 December 2024 | 2,081 | (1,940) | 141 | | Pension (expense)/income | | | | | recognised in the income statement | | | | | – Past/current service cost | | | | | and administrative fees | – | (7) | (7) | | – Interest income/(cost) | 107 | (99) | 8 | | Remeasurements recognised | | | | | in other comprehensive income | | | | | – Movement on plan assets, excluding interest income, recognised in other comprehensive income | 12 | – | 12 | | – Actuarial gains | | | | | – financial assumptions | – | 35 | 35 | | – Actuarial gains | | | | | – demographic assumptions | – | 18 | 18 | | – Actuarial losses – experience | – | (11) | (11) | | Employer contributions 1 | 5 | – | 5 | | Benefits paid | (113) | 113 | – | | Other | 1 | (2) | (1) | | 31 December 2025 | 2,093 | (1,893) | 200 | 1 The Group contributed £5 million (2024: £6 million) to its Large UK schemes. The Group expects to contribute approximately £4 million to its Large UK schemes in 2026. For the RPF, the Trustees have the right to call for special valuations, which could subsequently result in the Group having to make an unexpected contribution. Market-related factors may also affect the timing and amount of contributions . 12.4 Large UK schemes The detail that follows relates to the Large UK schemes. In this section we show the movement of the scheme assets and defined benefit obligations in the year, alongside the asset classes and expected benefit payments. We also explain the schemes’ investment policy, key assumptions and risk management. | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | Buy-in | 2025 | 2024 | | | status | £m | £m | | RPF | Partial 1 | 190 | 125 | | SPS | Full 2 | 8 | 8 | | LSE Section of LSEGPS | Full 3 | 1 | 3 | | LCH Section of LSEGPS | Full 3 | 1 | 5 | | Net retirement benefit asset | | 200 | 141 | 1 The RPF has a partial buy-in arrangement in place amounting to £345 million (2024: £356 million). 2 As at 31 December 2025, the SPS buy-in amounted to £172 million (2024: £176 million). 3 As at 31 December 2025, the LSE and LCH Sections of the LSEGPS buy-in amounted to £248 million (2024: £259 million) and £123 million (2024: £129 million), respectively. Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 12. Pension and other retirement benefit schemes continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 147 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() The fair value of each major class of scheme assets are as follows: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | Fair value of assets | £m | £m | | Equities | | | | – Quoted | 112 | 108 | | – Unquoted | 6 | 10 | | Bonds | | | | – Unquoted 1 | 778 | 729 | | Buy-in policy | 888 | 920 | | Cash and cash equivalents | 16 | 20 | | Multi-assets and other | 293 | 294 | | Total fair value of assets | 2,093 | 2,081 | 1 Includes gross assets of £1,238 million (2024: £1,310 million) and associated repurchase agreement liabilities of £460 million (2024: £581 million). Repurchase agreements are entered into with counterparties to better offset the scheme’s exposure to interest and inflation rates, whilst remaining invested in assets of a similar risk profile. Investment policy The Group bears the cost of the Large UK schemes. However, the responsibility for managing and governing the Large UK schemes lies with the independent trustee boards (Trustees). Trustees set investment policies and strategies for each plan and oversee investment allocation. This includes selecting investment managers, commissioning periodic asset-liability studies and setting long-term targets. The Trustees may consult with the Group in setting investment policy, but the Trustees are ultimately accountable for it. The principal investment objectives are to: – Ensure funds are available to pay pension benefits as they become due under a broad range of future economic scenarios. – Maximise long-term investment return with an acceptable level of risk. – Diversify across capital markets to insulate asset values against risk in any one market. Investment allocation Investment allocation takes into account a number of factors, including: the funded status of the scheme; setting the right balance between risk and return; the scheme’s liquidity needs; current and expected economic and market conditions; specific asset class risk; as well as the risk profile and maturity pattern of the scheme. Target investment allocation ranges provide guidelines, not limitations. Plans may have diversified portfolios with investments in equities, fixed income, real estate, insurance contracts, derivatives, and other asset classes through direct ownership or through other instruments, such as mutual funds, commingled funds and hedge funds. Derivatives may be used to achieve investment objectives or as a component of risk management (such as for interest rate and currency management strategies). The Trustees invest the schemes’ assets in a portfolio of physical assets and liability-matching assets: – The physical assets have the objective of outperforming the liabilities by investing in a suitably diversified range of assets, consisting of risk premia strategies, corporate bonds (and other credit alternatives) and property which together are expected to reduce investment volatility. – The liability-matching assets seek to hedge against the interest rate and inflation risks associated with liabilities. The assets are predominantly gilts, both nominal and index-linked. The SPS and LSEGPS include bulk annuity transactions (buy-ins) broadly insuring all the benefits. The RPF has a partial buy-in . 12. Pension and other retirement benefit schemes continued Plan assets are invested to adequately secure benefits and to minimise the need for long-term contributions to the schemes. The assets held by the RPF mainly consist of cash and cash equivalents, government and corporate bonds, and various investment vehicles. The SPS and the LSEGPS are fully bought-in and therefore hold cash, buy-in contracts and some liquid assets. Funding valuations and arrangements The Trustees are responsible for carrying out triennial valuations (unless circumstances require an earlier review) and securing funding for benefit payments. In order to develop funding valuations and investment policies, the Trustees consult with the schemes’ actuary (who is independent of the Group’s actuary), the schemes’ investment advisors (also independent of the Group’s investment advisors) and the Group. The latest triennial valuations agreed for the RPF and SPS were dated 31 December 2022 and discussions are due to get underway for the next triennial valuations which are expected to be finalised by March 2027. The LSEGPS latest triennial valuation was dated 31 December 2023. The only valuation which revealed a deficit was the LSE Section of the LSEGPS which has a recovery plan in place to remove the technical provisions shortfall of £2 million by April 2028. The Group continues to provide guarantees to the Trustees of the RPF and to the Trustees of the SPS in conjunction with triennial valuation and funding obligations. As at 31 December v2025, the aggregate maximum liability under the guarantees was £700 million for the RPF and £120 million for the SPS. These amounts are unchanged from last year. Actuarial assumptions The Group used the following weighted-average assumptions in determining the defined benefit obligation for the Large UK schemes: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | Discount rate | | | | – Non-insured | 5.50% | 5.50% | | – Insured | 5.40% | 5.36% | | Price inflation | 2.90% | 3.23% | | Rate of increase in salaries | – | 3.20% | | Life expectancy from age 65 (years) | | | | – Non-retired male member | 23.1 | 23.9 | | – Non-retired female member | 25.1 | 26.0 | | – Retired male member | 22.6 | 22.3 | | – Retired female member | 24.4 | 24.3 | Sensitivity analysis The measurement of the Large UK schemes obligations is sensitive to changes in certain key assumptions. The sensitivity analysis below shows how a reasonably possible increase in a particular assumption would, in isolation, result in an increase or decrease in the present value of the defined benefit obligations as at 31 December 2025. | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | (Decrease)/increase | | | | | in scheme obligations 1 | | | Change in | 2025 | 2024 | | Assumption | assumption | £m | £m | | Discount rate | +0.5% | (103) | (110) | | Price inflation | +0.5% | 56 | 60 | | Mortality rate | +1 year | 58 | 64 | 1 The sensitivity analysis may not be representative of an actual change in the scheme obligations as it is unlikely that changes in assumptions would occur in isolation of one another. The analysis is done in a similar way to calculating the scheme obligations recognised in the balance sheet in that it uses the projected unit credit method at the end of the year . Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 148 Financial Statements ![]() Risks for the defined benefit schemes An increase in pension liabilities could lead to an increase in the pension deficit or a reduction in any surplus. Defined benefit schemes are normally revalued by actuaries every three years. Where any material funding gap is identified by this process, the Trustees will agree a schedule of contributions and recovery plan with the sponsor company. Such contributions would have a financial impact on the Group. Pension risk arises from the potential deficit in the defined benefit pension schemes due to a number of factors. Some key financial risks relevant for defined benefit schemes are: – If there is a reduction in corporate bond yields. This increases the scheme’s liabilities which may not be accompanied by a corresponding increase in the schemes’ assets. – If investment returns are lower than assumed. – If inflation is higher than expected, or average inflation expectations increase. This will increase the liabilities through higher indexing of pension payments. – If members live longer than expected. This would increase the length of time for which pensions have to be paid. The Group is exposed to the creditworthiness of the buy-in insurance providers. A failure of the buy-in insurance provider would reduce the pension assets and could lead to a pension deficit materialising, or an increase in the pension deficit, and the need for contributions from the Group. 13. Receivables Receivables mainly consist of amounts owed to us by customers and amounts that we pay to our suppliers in advance. This note includes finance lease receivables recognised where the Group acts as a lessor. See note 16.2 for more information on the Group’s leasing activities. Accounting policy Trade receivables are initially recognised at the amount of the consideration that is unconditionally due to the Group. They are subsequently measured at amortised cost, less any expected credit loss (ECL). Our approach to calculating ECL provisions is described in note 17. The creation and release of such provisions are recognised in operating expenses in the income statement. Fees receivable are recognised when the Group has an unconditional right to consideration in exchange for goods or services transferred, but no fee invoice has been issued. Amounts are transferred to trade receivables when an invoice has been issued. Other receivables are initially recognised at fair value and subsequently at amortised cost, less any loss allowance as described in note 17. When a receivable is no longer expected to be recovered, the full amount is written off. We will continue to seek recovery and any subsequent amounts recovered against amounts previously written off are recognised in the income statement. See note 16.2 for the net investment in leases accounting policy, when the Group sub-lets property right-of-use assets to a third party. The Group has a tax indemnity agreement with Thomson Reuters for any tax liabilities incurred and tax receivables due before Refinitiv (previously the Thomson Reuters Financial & Risk Business) separated from Thomson Reuters on 1 October 2018. The tax indemnity receivable is recognised for and measured on the same basis as the corresponding indemnified tax liabilities. The indemnified tax liabilities are recognised within current tax payable in the balance sheet. When there is a change in the indemnified tax liabilities, which is recognised within tax in the income statement, there is an offsetting change in the tax indemnity receivable. (The tax indemnity payable is described in note 15.) Contract assets are recognised when the Group has a conditional right to consideration from a customer in exchange for goods or services transferred. Contract assets are transferred to trade receivables when the entitlement to payment becomes unconditional and only the passage of time is required before payment is due. Risk management approach Due to the broadly full buy-ins in place for the LSEGPS and SPS and partial buy-in in place for the RPF, changes in the present value of the insured liabilities are broadly matched by the asset held (i.e., most of the risks noted above are hedged). In addition, the RPF holds other liability-matching assets which are intended to hedge movements in expected interest rates and inflation. The RPF holds a range of liquid assets that can be sold for use as collateral for these liability-matching assets, if required. Future benefit payments The following table provides expected benefit payments under the Group’s Large UK schemes as at 31 December: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | £m | £m | | Less than 1 year | 111 | 106 | | Between 1 and 2 years | 113 | 110 | | Between 2 and 5 years | 360 | 350 | | Over 5 years | 656 | 652 | | Total expected benefit payments | 1,240 | 1,218 | The weighted average duration of the defined benefit obligations as at 31 December 2025 is 12 years (2024: 12 years). Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 12. Pension and other retirement benefit schemes continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 149 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() 13. Receivables continued | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | Note | £m | £m | | Non-current | | | | | Net investments in leases | | 53 | 58 | | Tax indemnity receivable | | 62 | 61 | | Deposits receivable | | 19 | 17 | | Other receivables | | 3 | 5 | | Non-current receivables classified | | | | | as financial assets | 17.1 | 137 | 141 | | Prepayments | | 59 | 23 | | Contract assets | | – | 11 | | | | 196 | 175 | | Current | | | | | Trade receivables | | 957 | 951 | | Fees receivable | | 388 | 300 | | Expected credit loss on trade receivables | | | | | and fees receivable | | (23) | (20) | | Net trade receivables | | 1,322 | 1,231 | | Net investments in leases | | 5 | 4 | | Deposits receivable | | 48 | 49 | | Other receivables 1,2 | | 70 | 90 | | Current receivables classified | | | | | as financial assets 2 | 17.1 | 1,445 | 1,374 | | Prepayments | | 206 | 218 | | Contract assets | | 5 | 5 | | Other taxes receivable 2 | | 97 | 68 | | | | 1,753 | 1,665 | | Total receivables | | 1,949 | 1,840 | 1 Other receivables include £6 million (2024: £54 million) from matched principal trades within the Group’s Tradeweb business that had passed their settlement date. An amount of £4 million (2024: £54 million) is shown within other payables in note 15. All trades were settled within a short period after the balance sheet date. Other receivables also include £15 million (2024: nil) as margin receivable on reverse repurchase contracts within the Group’s clearing business. 2 For 2024, other taxes receivable of £68 million have been disaggregated from other receivables to be consistent with 2025 and current receivables classified as financial assets have been re-presented to exclude these other taxes receivable . Provision for expected credit losses Movements in the Group’s provision for expected credit losses on trade receivables and fees receivable are as follows: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | £m | £m | | 1 January | 20 | 13 | | New provisions for expected credit losses | 27 | 14 | | Amounts written off as uncollectable | (24) | (7) | | 31 December | 23 | 20 | Net investments in leases: Group as lessor The Group sub-lets a number of its properties where there is surplus space or the office is no longer used by the business. The Group has both finance and operating sub-leases. Net investments in leases are shown within receivables above. The future minimum rentals receivable 1 as at 31 December are as follows: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | £m | £m | | Less than 1 year | 6 | 6 | | Between 1 and 2 years | 6 | 6 | | Between 2 and 5 years | 16 | 17 | | Over 5 years | 36 | 41 | | Total | 64 | 70 | 1 The future minimum rentals receivable above reflect the gross rental receivable and are not discounted. The net investments in leases disclosed within receivables are discounted to reflect the net present value to the Group at the year end. Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 14. Cash and cash equivalents Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash at bank, short-term deposits, money market funds and other instruments and structures that are readily convertible to known amounts of cash and are subject to insignificant risk of changes in value. | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | Note | £m | £m | | Cash at bank | | 781 | 821 | | Cash equivalents | | 3,168 | 2,654 | | Total cash and cash equivalents 1 | 17.1 | 3,949 | 3,475 | 1 At 31 December 2025, cash and cash equivalents include £1,188 million (2024: £1,342 million) of amounts held by regulated entities for regulatory and operational purposes. Cash held by subsidiaries which operate in countries where exchange controls or other legal restrictions apply, and which is therefore not available for general use by the Group, has been fully provided against. Cash and cash equivalents do not include amounts held by the CCPs on behalf of their clearing members. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 150 Financial Statements ![]() 15. Payables Payables mainly consist of amounts owed to suppliers that have been invoiced or are accrued. They also include social security and other amounts due in relation to the Group’s role as an employer. Accounting policy Trade payables are initially recognised at fair value, which is usually the amount invoiced. They are subsequently measured at amortised cost. Accrued expenses are recognised for goods and services received before the end of the year for which no invoice has been received. They are measured at amortised cost. Payables include the Tradeweb tax receivable agreement liability. In connection with Tradeweb’s initial public offering (IPO), Tradeweb entered into a tax receivable agreement with the owners of Tradeweb Markets LLC (the “LLC Owners”) immediately prior to Tradeweb’s IPO. Under the agreement, Tradeweb is required to make cash payments to the LLC Owners equal to 50% of the amount of any tax savings that Tradeweb realises as a result of certain future tax benefits to which it is entitled. The Tradeweb tax receivable agreement liability is measured at amortised cost. As described in note 13, the Group has a tax indemnity agreement with Thomson Reuters. The Group has a tax indemnity payable to Thomson Reuters against a matching tax receivable which is recognised within current tax receivable in the balance sheet. The tax indemnity payable is measured on the same basis as the indemnified tax receivable. When there is a change in the indemnified tax receivable, which is recognised within tax in the income statement, there is an offsetting change in the tax indemnity payable. The Group has granted a put option to non-controlling interest holders of LSEG PTS Holdings Limited. The put option liability for non-controlling interests’ shares is recognised initially at the present value of the expected redemption amount, with the corresponding charge to equity attributable to the Company’s equity holders. The liability is subsequently remeasured, with the unwinding of the discount recognised as a finance cost and changes in the expected redemption amount recognised in profit or loss . 2025 2024 | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | Notes £m | £m | | Non-current | | | | | Tradeweb tax receivable | | | | | agreement liability | | 202 | 261 | | Tax indemnity payable | | 249 | 250 | | Put option liability for non-controlling interests’ shares 1 | 18.2 | 172 | – | | Other payables | | 3 | 6 | | Non-current payables classified | | | | | as financial liabilities | 17.2 | 626 | 517 | | Deferred compensation | | 10 | 7 | | | | 636 | 524 | | Current | | | | | Trade payables | | 237 | 323 | | Accrued expenses | | 1,049 | 1,127 | | Share buyback obligation | 18.1 | 417 | – | | Deferred consideration for SwapClear | | | | | intangible asset | 9 | 250 | – | | Other payables 2 | | 200 | 294 | | Current payables classified | | | | | as financial liabilities | 17.2 | 2,153 | 1,744 | | Social security and other taxes payable | | 147 | 141 | | | | 2,300 | 1,885 | | Total payables | | 2,936 | 2,409 | 1 In October 2025, we sold a 20% stake in LSEG PTS Holdings Limited for £170 million to a group of investing banks and simultaneously granted a put option over their stake. The option is exercisable at fair value at the date of exercise, which may occur in 2033. We have recognised a financial liability for the present value of the expected redemption amount arising from this obligation. 2 Other payables include £4 million (2024: £54 million) from matched principal trades within the Group’s Tradeweb business that had passed their settlement date. An amount of £6 million (2024: £54 million) is shown within other receivables in note 13. All trades were settled within a short period after the balance sheet date. Other payables also include £7 million (2024: £83 million) as margin payable on reverse repurchase contracts within the Group’s clearing business. Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 151 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() The Group’s sources of borrowing for funding and liquidity purposes include a range of committed bank facilities and long-term and short-term issuances in the capital markets including commercial paper and bonds. Liabilities arising from the Group’s lease arrangements are also reported in borrowings. Net debt comprises cash and cash equivalents less lease liabilities and borrowings, adjusted for derivative financial instruments. | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | Notes | £m | £m | | Non-current | | | | | Bank borrowings – committed | | | | | bank facilities 1 | | (1) | (6 ) | | Bonds | | 7,892 | 7,885 | | Lease liabilities | | 502 | 494 | | | | 8,393 | 8,373 | | Current | | | | | Commercial paper | | 1,841 | 1,037 | | Bonds | | 1,359 | 415 | | Lease liabilities | | 125 | 140 | | | | 3,325 | 1,592 | | Total borrowings and lease liabilities | | 11,718 | 9,965 | | Total borrowings excluding | | | | | lease liabilities | 16.1 | 11,091 | 9,331 | | Lease liabilities | 16.2 | 627 | 634 | | Total borrowings and lease liabilities | | 11,718 | 9,965 | 1 Balances are shown net of capitalised arrangement fees. Where there are no amounts borrowed on a particular facility, this gives rise to a negative balance. 16.1 Borrowings Accounting policy Borrowings are initially recorded at the fair value of amounts received, net of capitalised direct issue costs and arrangement fees (including upfront facility fees). Subsequently, these liabilities are carried at amortised cost. Interest payable on borrowings, direct issue costs and arrangement fees (including upfront facility fees) are recognised in the income statement over the period of the borrowings using the effective interest method. Where borrowings are identified as a hedged item in a designated fair value hedge relationship, fair value adjustments are recognised in accordance with our policy (see note 17) . 16. Borrowings, lease liabilities and net debt Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 152 Financial Statements ![]() Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 16. Borrowings, lease liabilities and net debt continued The Group has the following committed bank facilities, commercial paper and unsecured bonds: | | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | Carrying value | | | | | | Maturity | Facility/bond | 2025 | 2024 | Interest rate | | | | date | £m | £m | £m | % | | Committed bank facilities | | | | | | | | Multi-currency revolving credit facility 1 | | Dec 2027 | 1,925 | – | (2) | see note 2 | | Multi-currency revolving credit facility 1 | | Dec 2027 | 1,075 | – | (2) | see note 2 | | Tradeweb multi-currency revolving credit facility 1 | | Nov 2028 | 371 | (1) | (2) | see note 3 | | | | | 3,371 | (1) | (6) | | | Commercial paper | | | | 1,841 | 1,037 | 0.502 | | Bonds | | | | | | | | €500 million bond, issued April 2021 | | Apr 2025 | – | – | 415 | – | | $1,000 million bond, issued April 2021 | | Apr 2026 | 742 | 742 | 798 | 1.375 | | €700 million bond, issued September 2023 | | Sep 2026 | 611 | 617 | 592 | 4.125 | | $500 million bond, issued March 2024 | | Mar 2027 | 371 | 370 | 397 | 4.875 | | €600 million bond, issued September 2024 | | Sep 2027 | 524 | 521 | 494 | 2.750 | | $100 million bond, issued September 2024 | | Sep 2027 | 74 | 74 | 79 | 4.000 | | €500 million bond, issued December 2018 | | Dec 2027 | 436 | 435 | 413 | 1.750 | | €500 million bond, issued April 2021 | | Apr 2028 | 436 | 435 | 414 | 0.250 | | $1,000 million bond, issued April 2021 | | Apr 2028 | 742 | 741 | 797 | 2.000 | | ¥11,500 million | bond, issued April 2025 | Apr 2028 | 55 | 54 | – | 1.493 | | £400 million bond, issued September 2025 | | Oct 2028 | 400 | 401 | – | 4.500 | | €500 million bond, issued September 2017 | | Sep 2029 | 436 | 435 | 413 | 1.750 | | £500 million bond, issued April 2021 | | Apr 2030 | 500 | 496 | 496 | 1.625 | | ¥14,300 million bond, issued April 2025 | | Apr 2030 | 68 | 68 | – | 1.732 | | €700 million bond, issued September 2023 | | Sep 2030 | 611 | 629 | 608 | 4.231 | | $750 million bond, issued April 2021 4 | | Apr 2031 | 557 | 554 | 795 | 2.500 | | €500 million bond, issued November 2025 | | Nov 2031 | 436 | 432 | – | 3.000 | | ₣150 million bond, issued April 2025 | | Apr 2032 | 141 | 140 | – | 1.150 | | £500 million bond, issued September 2025 | | Sep 2032 | 500 | 498 | – | 4.875 | | €500 million bond, issued April 2021 | | Apr 2033 | 436 | 432 | 410 | 0.750 | | $750 million bond, issued March 2024 | | Mar 2034 | 557 | 561 | 587 | 5.297 | | ¥9,000 million bond, issued April 2025 | | Apr 2035 | 43 | 43 | – | 2.188 | | ¥5,200 million bond, issued April 2025 | | Apr 2037 | 25 | 24 | – | 2.382 | | $750 million bond, issued April 2021 | | Apr 2041 | 557 | 549 | 592 | 3.200 | | | | | 9,258 | 9,251 | 8,300 | | | Total borrowings excluding lease liabilities | | | | 11,091 | 9,331 | | 1 Negative balances represent the value of unamortised arrangement fees. 2 Interest is payable at the risk-free rate plus a margin and credit adjustment spread (CAS). The CAS is variable and depends on the tenor and currency of the borrowings. 3 Interest is payable at a rate equal to, at Tradeweb’s option, either (a) a base rate plus a margin or (b) the risk-free rate plus a CAS plus a margin, depending on the currency of the borrowings. 4 In March 2025, the Group completed a tender offer to repurchase US$250 million (2024: US$250 million) of the original US$1,250 million bond issued in April 2021 and maturing in April 2031. Committed bank facilities: Multi-currency revolving credit facilities In 2023, the Group amended its £1,425 million revolving credit facility, increasing the facility amount to £1,925 million and extending the maturity to December 2027. The Group retained access to its £1,075 million revolving credit facility, which also matures in December 2027. In November 2023, Tradeweb terminated its revolving credit facility, entered into in April 2019, and replaced it with a new US$500 million revolving credit facility which matures in November 2028. No amounts were outstanding under either the Group facilities or the Tradeweb facility as at 31 December 2025. Commercial paper The Group operates a Euro Commercial Paper (ECP) Programme, with a limit of £2.25 billion, and a US Commercial Paper (USCP) Programme, with a limit of £1.86 billion. As at 31 December 2025, US$1,383 million (£1,039 million) was outstanding under the USCP Programme (2024: $944 million (£753 million)), and €850 million (£742 million) and £60 million under the ECP Programme (2024: €252 million (£209 million) and £75 million) . London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 153 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Bonds In March 2025, the Group completed a tender offer to repurchase US$250 million of the original US$1,250 million bond issued in April 2021 and maturing in April 2031. US$224 million was paid to repurchase the bond, including US$3 million of accrued interest. A gain of £23 million has been recognised in finance income (see note 5.1), which includes the release of deferred arrangement fees, the partial recycling of a cash flow hedge from the hedging reserve and transaction costs, which together totalled £1 million. US$750 million of the bond remains outstanding, after the repurchase of US$250 million in December 2024. In April 2025, the Group issued a CHF150 million fixed rate bond maturing in April 2032 under the Euro Medium Term Note (EMTN) Programme. The bond has been designated as a hedging instrument in a CHF net investment hedge (see note 17.4a). In April 2025, the Group issued JPY40 billion of fixed rate bonds under the EMTN. The issue consisted of a JPY11.5 billion bond maturing in April 2028, a JPY14.3 billion bond maturing in April 2030, a JPY9 billion bond maturing in April 2035 and a JPY5.2 billion bond maturing in April 2037. The bonds have been designated as hedging instruments in a JPY net investment hedge (see note 17.4a). In April 2025, the €500 million bond issued in April 2021 matured. In September 2025, the Group issued a £400 million fixed rate bond, maturing in October 2028, and a £500 million fixed rate bond, maturing in September 2032, under the EMTN. On the same day, the Group entered into a series of GBP interest rate swaps to swap the fixed interest obligations on the two bonds to floating obligations. The bonds and interest rate swaps have been designated as hedged items and hedging instruments respectively in a fair value hedge relationship (see note 17.4c). | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | Significant | | | | Quoted prices in | Significant | unobservable | | | | active markets | observable inputs | inputs | | | | (Level 1) | (Level 2) | (Level 3) | Total | | 31 December 2025 | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Bonds | 8,847 | 75 | – | 8,922 | | Commercial paper | – | 1,846 | – | 1,846 | 1 There were no transfers between levels during the year. | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | Significant | | | | Quoted prices in | Significant | unobservable | | | | active markets | observable inputs | inputs | | | | (Level 1) | (Level 2) | (Level 3) | Total | | 31 December 2024 | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Bonds | 7,694 | 78 | – | 7,772 | | Commercial paper | – | 1,040 | – | 1,040 | 1 There were no transfers between levels during 2024. The carrying amounts of the Group’s borrowings, excluding lease liabilities, are denominated in the following currencies: | | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | | | 2024 | | | | Drawn | Swapped 1 | Effective | Drawn | Swapped 1 | Effective | | Currency | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Sterling | 1,454 | – | 1,454 | 566 | – | 566 | | Euro | 4,678 | (1,277) | 3,401 | 3,968 | (1,376) | 2,592 | | US dollar | 4,630 | 1,277 | 5,907 | 4,797 | 1,376 | 6,173 | | Other currencies | 329 | – | 329 | – | – | – | | Total borrowings excluding lease liabilities | 11,091 | – | 11,091 | 9,331 | – | 9,331 | 1 Euro borrowings have been swapped to US dollar borrowings by entering into cross-currency interest rate swaps. In November 2025, the Group issued a €500 million fixed rate bond under the EMTN, maturing in November 2031. Other Group facilities In accordance with the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures, the International Organization of Securities Commissions and the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures, many central banks allow CCPs to apply for access to certain central bank facilities. In addition, a number of Group entities have access to uncommitted operational, money market and overdraft facilities which support post trade activities and day-to-day liquidity requirements. The Group drew down against these facilities during the year and these were fully repaid as at 31 December 2025. Fair values All the Group’s borrowings are recognised at amortised cost on the balance sheet, except where the borrowing has been designated as a hedged item in a fair value hedge relationship. In some cases, amortised cost may differ from their fair value. The following tables provide the fair value measurement hierarchy (see definition in note 17) of the Group’s borrowings, excluding lease liabilities: Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 16. Borrowings, lease liabilities and net debt continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 154 Financial Statements ![]() 16.2 Lease liabilities The Group leases assets from other parties (the Group is a lessee) and also leases assets to other parties (the Group is a lessor). This note describes how the Group accounts for leases and provides details about its lease arrangements. Accounting policy Group as lessee When the Group leases an asset, at the lease commencement date a right-of-use asset is recognised for the leased item (see note 10) and a lease liability is recognised for any lease payments to be paid over the lease term. Lease liabilities Lease liabilities are recognised at the net present value of the remaining future payments to be made over the lease term. The net present value is determined using a discount rate equivalent to the incremental borrowing rate of the leasing entity unless there is a rate implicit within the lease agreement. Subsequently, the amount of lease liabilities is increased to reflect the accretion of interest and reduced for the lease payments made. The Group leases many properties around the world and lease terms vary from monthly up to 15 years. Many of these leases contain option clauses to extend the lease or break clauses to terminate the lease. The lease term recognised is the non- cancellable period of the lease plus any periods for which the Group is reasonably certain of exercising any extension options. The Group values its right-of-use assets and lease liabilities based on its intentions at the balance sheet date. Any change in these intentions is accounted for as a lease modification and the assets and liabilities are amended accordingly. Any resulting effect on the net assets of the Group would not be significant. Variable lease payments based on an index are estimated at the commencement date and revalued on an annual basis. Lease payments due within 12 months are classified as current liabilities. Payments due after 12 months are classified as non-current liabilities. Short-term leases and leases of low value assets Rental costs for leased assets that are for less than 12 months or are for assets with an individual value of less than £5,000 are recognised directly in the income statement on a straight-line basis over the life of the lease. Group as lessor Finance leases Where the Group sub-lets a property right-of-use asset for substantially all the useful life of that asset, this is recognised as a finance lease. On commencement of a finance sub-lease, the property right-of-use asset is treated as disposed of and a net investment in lease, equivalent to the net present value of the future rent receipts, is recognised as a receivable on the balance sheet (see note 13). Where the value of the receipts from the sub-lease is lower than the amount payable on the head-lease, we recognise a loss on disposal of the right-of-use asset in the income statement . Operating leases A right-of-use asset that is sub-let for less than its expected useful life is recognised as an operating lease and rental income is recognised as received in other income. We continue to recognise the property right-of-use asset on the balance sheet . | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 2024 | | | £m | £m | | Non-current lease liabilities | 502 | 494 | | Current lease liabilities | 125 | 140 | | Total lease liabilities | 627 | 634 | Movements in lease liabilities during the year are as follows: | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | Notes | £m | £m | | 1 January | | 634 | 636 | | Leases terminated early | | (1) | (1) | | New lease contracts | 10 | 114 | 81 | | Lease modifications | 10 | 59 | 72 | | Lease interest expense | 5.1 | 20 | 20 | | Lease payments – principal | 16.4 | (161) | (156) | | Lease payments – interest | | (20) | (20) | | Foreign exchange translation | | (18) | 2 | | 31 December | | 627 | 634 | The maturity of the Group’s lease commitments is disclosed within the risk management note (see note 17.5). The potential future lease payments, should the Group exercise extension and termination options, would result in an increase in right-of-use assets and lease liabilities of up to £272 million. The weighted average discount rate used by the Group for lease liabilities was 3.5% (2024: 3.3%). A limited number of the Group’s leases are subject to variable lease payments linked to publicly available indexes. Adjustments to the value of the lease liabilities and associated assets are made annually, but do not have a material impact on the Group’s net assets. 16. Borrowings, lease liabilities and net debt continued Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 155 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() 16.3 Net debt Net debt (as described in the Alternative Performance Measures section of this report) comprises cash and cash equivalents less lease liabilities and borrowings, adjusted for derivative financial instruments. | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | Notes | £m | £m | | Non-current | | | | | Bank borrowings | 16.1 | 1 | 6 | | Bonds | 16.1 | (7,892) | (7,885) | | Lease liabilities | 16.2 | (502) | (494) | | Derivative financial assets | 17.1 | 112 | 63 | | Derivative financial liabilities | 17.2 | (10) | (63) | | | | (8,291) | (8,373) | | Current | | | | | Cash and cash equivalents | 14 | 3,949 | 3,475 | | Commercial paper | 16.1 | (1,841) | (1,037) | | Bonds | 16.1 | (1,359) | (415) | | Lease liabilities | 16.2 | (125) | (140) | | Derivative financial assets | 17.1 | 84 | 50 | | Derivative financial liabilities | 17.2 | (15) | (14) | | | | 693 | 1,919 | | Net debt | | (7,598) | (6,454) | 16.4 Liabilities from financing activities Movement in the Group’s financial liabilities arising from financing activities: | | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | Bank | | Commercial | Trade finance | Lease | Total | | | borrowings | Bonds | paper | loans | liabilities | borrowings | | | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | | 1 January 2024 | 9 | 7,847 | 1,206 | 1 | 636 | 9,699 | | Cash flows from financing activities | (17) | 572 | (164) | – | (156) | 235 | | Interest paid | – | – | (72) | – | – | (72) | | Arrangement fees paid | – | (11) | – | – | – | (11) | | Other movements 1 | 2 | (27) | 70 | (1) | 152 | 196 | | Foreign exchange translation | – | (81) | (3) | – | 2 | (82) | | 31 December 2024 | (6) | 8,300 | 1,037 | – | 634 | 9,965 | | Cash flows from financing activities | – | 1,079 | 796 | – | (161) | 1,714 | | Interest paid | – | – | (48) | – | – | (48) | | Arrangement fees paid | – | (1) | – | – | – | (1) | | Other movements 1 | 5 | (8) | 48 | – | 172 | 217 | | Foreign exchange translation | – | (119) | 8 | – | (18) | (129) | | 31 December 2025 | (1) | 9,251 | 1,841 | – | 627 | 11,718 | 1 Other movements include non-cash movements relating to: – Amortisation of commercial paper interest of £48 million (2024: £70 million), amortisation of arrangement fees of £10 million (2024: £9 million) and bond fair value adjustment of £5 million (2024: nil), which increase the carry value of borrowings. – Bond fair value adjustment of nil (2024: £11 million) and discount on partial repurchase of bond of £23 million (2024: £24 million), which decrease the carrying value of borrowings. – Movements in lease liabilities (see note 16.2). 16. Borrowings, lease liabilities and net debt continued Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 156 Financial Statements ![]() The Group has a number of financial assets and financial liabilities. Financial assets mainly consist of clearing member assets, receivables, and cash and cash equivalents. Financial liabilities are mainly clearing member balances, payables, and borrowings. This note also details our financial risk management strategy, such as how we manage our exposure to capital, credit, country, liquidity and market risk . Accounting policy Recognition and measurement Financial assets and financial liabilities are initially recognised at fair value. The Group classifies its financial instruments at: amortised cost; fair value through other comprehensive income (FVOCI); or fair value through profit or loss (FVPL). The classification of financial assets depends on the Group’s business model for managing its financial instruments and whether or not the cash flows generated are “solely payments of principal and interest”. Financial assets – Financial assets at amortised cost are financial assets that are held in order to collect the contractual cash flows and the contractual terms give rise to cash flows that are solely payments of principal and interest. These include: cash and cash equivalents; receivables; clearing member trading balances relating to certain collateralised transactions; and other receivables from clearing members of the CCP businesses. – Financial assets at FVOCI – debt instruments are assets where the objective is achieved by both collecting the contractual cash flows and selling the asset. The contractual cash flows received are solely payments of principal and interest. They include quoted debt instruments (predominantly government bonds) held by the CCP businesses, which are used under the business model to both collect the contractual cash flows and, on occasion, to profit from their sale. Interest received from CCP businesses’ clearing member financial assets is recognised in the income statement as net treasury income. Where negative interest rates apply, the interest is recognised as treasury expense within net treasury income. Any accumulated profit or loss previously recognised in other comprehensive income is recycled to the income statement on derecognition of the asset. – Financial assets at FVOCI – equity instruments are strategic equity investments which are held for the long term but do not give the Group control or significant influence. The Group has irrevocably elected to classify these investments as FVOCI. Dividends received from these investments are recognised in the income statement as income from equity investments when the right of receipt has been established. Accumulated gains or losses on equity instruments remain in equity on derecognition and are not recycled through the income statement. – Financial assets at FVPL include all other financial assets not classified as amortised cost or FVOCI. They include CCP businesses’ clearing member trading balances including derivatives, as well as equity and debt instruments that are marked to market on a daily basis . Financial liabilities – Financial liabilities at FVPL include the CCP businesses’ clearing member trading balances, including derivatives, as well as equity and debt instruments that are marked to market on a daily basis. – Financial liabilities at amortised cost are all financial liabilities that are not classified as financial liabilities at FVPL. They include payables, borrowings and other payables to clearing members. Impairment The Group adopts a forward-looking approach to estimating impairment losses on financial assets. An expected credit loss (ECL) arises if the cash flows the Group expects to receive are lower than the contractual cash flows due, or are delayed. The difference is discounted at the asset’s original effective interest rate and recognised as an impairment of the original value of the asset. – Financial assets at amortised cost – the ECL for trade receivables (including fees receivable), contract assets and lease receivables is derived using the simplified approach in IFRS 9 Financial Instruments to calculate a lifetime ECL. The allowance is based on historical experience of collection rates, adjusted for forward-looking factors specific to each counterparty and the economic environment at large, to create an expected loss matrix. The ECL on other financial assets held at amortised cost is measured using the general approach. An allowance is calculated based on the 12-month ECL at each reporting date unless there is a significant increase in the financial instrument’s credit risk, in which case a loss allowance based on the lifetime ECL is calculated. – Financial assets at FVOCI – debt instruments comprise high-quality government bonds that have a low credit risk. The Group’s policy is to calculate a 12-month ECL on these assets. If there is a significant increase in credit risk, then a lifetime ECL will be recognised. A significant increase in credit risk is considered to have occurred when contractual payments are more than 30 days past due. – Financial assets at FVOCI – equity instruments and financial assets at FVPL – not subject to impairment. The Group writes off a financial asset when there is no reasonable expectation of recovering the contractual cash flows. Offsetting Financial assets and financial liabilities are offset and the net amount reported in the balance sheet when there is a legally enforceable right to offset the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis, or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously. 17. Financial assets and financial liabilities Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 157 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() 17. Financial assets and financial liabilities continued Fair value hierarchy The Group uses the following valuation hierarchy for determining and disclosing the fair value of financial instruments: – Level 1: quoted (unadjusted) prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities – Level 2: other techniques for which all inputs which have a significant effect on the recorded fair value are observable, either directly or indirectly – Level 3: techniques which use inputs, which have a significant effect on the recorded fair value, that are not based on observable market data For Level 1, the fair value is based on market price quotations at the reporting date. For assets and liabilities classified as Level 2, the fair value is calculated using one or more valuation techniques (e.g., the market approach or the income approach) with market observable inputs. The selection of the appropriate valuation techniques may be affected by the availability and reliability of the relevant inputs. The inputs may include currency rates, interest rates, forward rate curves, and net asset values. When observable market data is not available, the Group uses one or more valuation techniques for which sufficient and reliable data is available. The inputs used in estimating the fair value of Level 3 financial instruments typically include expected timing and amount of future cash flows, timing of settlement, discount rates and the net asset values of certain investments. The Group determines whether a transfer between levels has occurred by reviewing the categorisation of assets and liabilities at the end of each reporting period, based on the lowest level input that is significant to the valuation. Derivative financial instruments and hedging activities Derivatives are initially recognised at fair value on the date a derivative contract is entered into and are subsequently remeasured to their fair value at regular intervals. The method of recognising any resulting measurement gain or loss depends on whether or not the derivative is designated as a hedging instrument and the nature of the item being hedged. The Group uses foreign exchange forward contracts to manage its foreign exchange risk. It enters into a series of exchange contracts to purchase or sell certain currencies against sterling and US dollars in the future at fixed amounts. The Group has embedded foreign currency derivatives, primarily in revenue contracts where the currency of the contract is different from the functional or local currencies of the parties involved. The Group records these derivative instruments at fair value in the balance sheet as either assets or liabilities. Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued The Group hedges a proportion of its net investment in foreign subsidiaries by designating some borrowings and derivative financial instruments as net investment hedges. Any gain or loss on the hedging instrument relating to the effective portion of the hedge is recognised in other comprehensive income and remains in the hedging reserve until disposal of the subsidiary. As part of the Group’s interest rate management policy (see note 17.5), the Group enters into derivative financial instruments to convert a portion of its fixed rate debt into floating rate debt. These derivative instruments have been designated as fair value hedges. The carrying value of the hedged item is adjusted for fair value changes attributable to the risk being hedged, with the corresponding entry recorded in the income statement. Changes in fair value of the derivative financial instruments are also recognised in the income statement. In order to qualify for hedge accounting, a transaction must meet strict criteria regarding documentation, effectiveness, probability of occurrence and reliability of measurement. We document the relationship between hedging instruments and hedged items at the inception of the transaction, as well as documenting the risk management objectives and strategy for undertaking various hedging transactions. The effectiveness of the hedge is tested at each reporting date and at the commencement and conclusion of any hedge in order to verify that it continues to satisfy all the criteria for hedge accounting. Any ineffective portion is recognised in the income statement as finance income or expense. Amounts that have accumulated through other comprehensive income in the hedging reserve are recognised in the income statement in the period when the hedged item affects profit or loss (for example, when the forecast transaction that is hedged takes place). When a hedging instrument expires or is sold, or when a hedge no longer meets the criteria for hedge accounting, any cumulative gain or loss remains in the hedging reserve: it is only recognised in the income statement when the forecast transaction itself is ultimately recognised in the income statement. When a forecast transaction is no longer expected to occur, the cumulative gain or loss that was reported through other comprehensive income is immediately recognised in the income statement. The gain or loss on a derivative which is not designated as a hedging instrument is recognised directly in the income statement . London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 158 Financial Statements ![]() 17.1 Financial assets | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | Amortised cost | FVOCI | FVPL | Total | | 31 December 2025 | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Clearing business financial assets 1 | | | | | | – Clearing member trading assets | – | – | 662,458 | 662,458 | | – Other receivables from clearing members | 4,601 | – | – | 4,601 | | – Other financial assets 2 | 319 | 24,330 | – | 24,649 | | – Clearing member cash and cash equivalents 2 | 65,553 | – | – | 65,553 | | Total clearing member assets | 70,473 | 24,330 | 662,458 | 757,261 | | Receivables 3 | 1,564 | – | 18 | 1,582 | | Cash and cash equivalents | 3,949 | – | – | 3,949 | | Investments in financial assets – equity instruments | – | 61 | – | 61 | | Investments in financial assets – debt instruments | – | 148 | – | 148 | | Derivative financial instruments designated as fair value hedges | | | | | | – Interest rate swaps | – | – | 68 | 68 | | Derivative financial instruments not designated as hedges | | | | | | – Cross-currency interest rate swaps | – | – | 115 | 115 | | – Foreign exchange forward contracts | – | – | 8 | 8 | | – Embedded foreign exchange contracts | – | – | 5 | 5 | | Total derivative financial instruments | – | – | 196 | 196 | | Total financial assets | 75,986 | 24,539 | 662,672 | 763,197 | 1 At 31 December 2025, there are no provisions for expected credit losses in relation to any of the CCP businesses’ financial assets held at amortised cost or FVOCI (2024: nil). The Group closely monitors its CCP investment portfolio and invests only in government debt and other collateralised instruments where the risk of loss is minimal. This includes direct investments in highly rated, regulatory qualifying sovereign bonds and supranational debt; investments in tri-party and bilateral reverse repos (receiving high-quality government securities as collateral); and, in certain jurisdictions, deposits with the central bank. The small proportion of cash that is invested unsecured is placed for short durations with highly rated counterparties where limits are applied with respect to credit quality, concentration and tenor. There was no significant increase in credit risk in the year and none of the assets are past due (2024: nil). 2 Clearing member cash and cash equivalents represents amounts received from the clearing members to cover initial and variation margins and default fund contributions that are not invested in bonds. These amounts are deposited with banks, including central banks, or invested securely in short-term reverse repurchase contracts (reverse repos). Other financial assets represent the CCP investment in government bonds. 3 Prepayments of £265 million (non-current: £59 million and current: £206 million), other taxes receivable of £97 million (all current) and contract assets of £5 million (all current) within receivables are not classified as financial instruments. | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | Amortised cost | FVOCI | FVPL | Total | | 31 December 2024 | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Clearing business financial assets | | | | | | – Clearing member trading assets | – | – | 594,555 | 594,555 | | – Other receivables from clearing members | 6,882 | – | – | 6,882 | | – Other financial assets | – | 18,134 | – | 18,134 | | – Clearing member cash and cash equivalents | 72,909 | – | – | 72,909 | | Total clearing member assets | 79,791 | 18,134 | 594,555 | 692,480 | | Receivables 1,2 | 1,515 | – | – | 1,515 | | Cash and cash equivalents | 3,475 | – | – | 3,475 | | Investments in financial assets – equity instruments | – | 50 | – | 50 | | Investments in financial assets – debt instruments | – | 8 | – | 8 | | Derivative financial instruments designated as net investment hedges | | | | | | – Foreign exchange forward contracts | – | – | 2 | 2 | | Derivative financial instruments designated as fair value hedges | | | | | | – Interest rate swaps | – | – | 57 | 57 | | Derivative financial instruments not designated as hedges | | | | | | – Foreign exchange forward contracts | – | – | 27 | 27 | | – Embedded foreign exchange contracts | – | – | 27 | 27 | | Total derivative financial instruments | – | – | 113 | 113 | | Total financial assets | 84,781 | 18,192 | 594,668 | 697,641 | 1 Prepayments of £241 million (non-current: £23 million and current: £218 million) and contract assets of £16 million (non-current: £11 million and current: £5 million) within receivables are not classified as financial instruments. 2 For 2024, receivables classified as financial assets have been re-presented to exclude other taxes receivable of £68 million (see note 13). 17. Financial assets and financial liabilities continued Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 159 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() 17.2 Financial liabilities | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | Amortised cost | FVPL | Total | | 31 December 2025 | £m | £m | £m | | Clearing business financial liabilities | | | | | – Clearing member trading liabilities | – | 662,458 | 662,458 | | – Other payables to clearing members | 94,986 | – | 94,986 | | Total clearing member financial liabilities | 94,986 | 662,458 | 757,444 | | Payables 1 | 2,779 | – | 2,779 | | Borrowings and lease liabilities | 11,718 | – | 11,718 | | Derivative financial instruments designated as net investment hedges | | | | | – Cross-currency interest rate swaps | – | 8 | 8 | | Derivative financial instruments not designated as hedges | | | | | – Foreign exchange forward contracts | – | 13 | 13 | | – Embedded foreign exchange contracts | – | 4 | 4 | | Total derivative financial instruments | – | 25 | 25 | | Total financial liabilities | 109,483 | 662,483 | 771,966 | 1 Social security and other taxes payable of £147 million and deferred compensation of £10 million within payables are not classified as financial instruments. | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | Amortised cost | FVPL | Total | | 31 December 2024 | £m | £m | £m | | Clearing business financial liabilities | | | | | – Clearing member trading liabilities | – | 594,555 | 594,555 | | – Other payables to clearing members | 98,085 | – | 98,085 | | Total clearing member financial liabilities | 98,085 | 594,555 | 692,640 | | Payables 1 | 2,261 | – | 2,261 | | Borrowings and lease liabilities | 9,965 | – | 9,965 | | Derivative financial instruments designated as net investment hedges | | | | | – Cross-currency interest rate swaps | – | 25 | 25 | | Derivative financial instruments designated as fair value hedges | | | | | – Interest rate swaps | – | 1 | 1 | | Derivative financial instruments not designated as hedges | | | | | – Cross-currency interest rate swaps | – | 37 | 37 | | – Foreign exchange forward contracts | – | 12 | 12 | | – Embedded foreign exchange contracts | – | 2 | 2 | | Total derivative financial instruments | – | 77 | 77 | | Total financial liabilities | 110,311 | 594,632 | 704,943 | 1 Social security and other taxes payable of £141 million and deferred compensation of £7 million within payables are not classified as financial instruments. Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 17. Financial assets and financial liabilities continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 160 Financial Statements ![]() Financial assets | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | Quoted prices | Significant | Significant | | | | in active | observable | unobservable | | | | markets | inputs | inputs | | | | (Level 1) | (Level 2) | (Level 3) | Total | | 31 December 2025 | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Clearing business financial assets | | | | | | – Derivative instruments | – | 4,785 | – | 4,785 | | – Non-derivative instruments | – | 657,673 | – | 657,673 | | – Other financial assets | 24,330 | – | – | 24,330 | | | 24,330 | 662,458 | – | 686,788 | | Investments in financial assets – equity instruments | – | – | 61 | 61 | | Investments in financial assets – debt instruments | 130 | – | 18 | 148 | | Receivables | 18 | – | – | 18 | | Derivative financial instruments designated as fair value hedges | | | | | | – Interest rate swaps | – | 68 | – | 68 | | Derivative financial instruments not designated as hedges | | | | | | – Cross-currency interest rate swaps | – | 115 | – | 115 | | – Foreign exchange forward contracts | – | 8 | – | 8 | | – Embedded foreign exchange contracts | – | 5 | – | 5 | | Total financial assets measured at fair value 1 | 24,478 | 662,654 | 79 | 687,211 | 1 There were no transfers between levels during the year. | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | Quoted prices | Significant | Significant | | | | in active | observable | unobservable | | | | markets | inputs | inputs | | | | (Level 1) | (Level 2) | (Level 3) | Total | | 31 December 2024 | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Clearing business financial assets | | | | | | – Derivative instruments | – | 4,367 | – | 4,367 | | – Non-derivative instruments | – | 590,188 | – | 590,188 | | – Other financial assets | 18,134 | – | – | 18,134 | | | 18,134 | 594,555 | – | 612,689 | | Investments in financial assets – equity instruments | – | – | 50 | 50 | | Investments in financial assets – debt instruments | – | – | 8 | 8 | | Derivative financial instruments designated as net investment hedges | | | | | | – Foreign exchange forward contracts | – | 2 | – | 2 | | Derivative financial instruments designated as fair value hedges | | | | | | – Interest rate swaps | – | 57 | – | 57 | | Derivative financial instruments not designated as hedges | | | | | | – Foreign exchange forward contracts | – | 27 | – | 27 | | – Embedded foreign exchange contracts | – | 27 | – | 27 | | Total financial assets measured at fair value 1 | 18,134 | 594,668 | 58 | 612,860 | 1 There were no transfers between levels during 2024 . 17. Financial assets and financial liabilities continued Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 1 7.3 Fair values Other than borrowings, we have assessed that the fair values of financial assets and financial liabilities categorised as being at amortised cost approximate to their carrying values. The fair values of the Group’s borrowings are disclosed in note 16.1. Fair value measurement hierarchy The Group’s financial assets and financial liabilities held at fair value consist largely of securities which are restricted in use for the operations of the Group’s CCPs as managers of their respective clearing and guarantee systems. The following tables provide the fair value measurement hierarchy of the Group’s financial assets and financial liabilities measured at fair value . London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 161 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Financial liabilities | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | Quoted prices | Significant | Significant | | | | in active | observable | unobservable | | | | markets | inputs | inputs | | | | (Level 1) | (Level 2) | (Level 3) | Total | | 31 December 2025 | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Clearing business financial liabilities | | | | | | – Derivative instruments | – | 4,785 | – | 4,785 | | – Non-derivative instruments | – | 657,673 | – | 657,673 | | | – | 662,458 | – | 662,458 | | Derivative financial instruments designated as net investment hedges | | | | | | – Cross-currency interest rate swaps | – | 8 | – | 8 | | Derivative financial instruments not designated as hedges | | | | | | – Foreign exchange forward contracts | – | 13 | – | 13 | | – Embedded foreign exchange contracts | – | 4 | – | 4 | | Total financial liabilities measured at fair value 1 | – | 662,483 | – | 662,483 | 1 There were no transfers between levels during the year. | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | Quoted prices | Significant | Significant | | | | in active | observable | unobservable | | | | markets | inputs | inputs | | | | (Level 1) | (Level 2) | (Level 3) | Total | | 31 December 2024 | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Clearing business financial liabilities | | | | | | – Derivative instruments | – | 4,367 | – | 4,367 | | – Non-derivative instruments | – | 590,188 | – | 590,188 | | | – | 594,555 | – | 594,555 | | Derivative financial instruments designated as net investment hedges | | | | | | – Cross-currency interest rate swaps | – | 25 | – | 25 | | Derivative financial instruments designated as fair value hedges | | | | | | – Interest rate swaps | – | 1 | – | 1 | | Derivative financial instruments not designated as hedges | | | | | | – Cross-currency interest rate swaps | – | 37 | – | 37 | | – Foreign exchange forward contracts | – | 12 | – | 12 | | – Embedded foreign exchange contracts | – | 2 | – | 2 | | Total financial liabilities measured at fair value 1 | – | 594,632 | – | 594,632 | 1 There were no transfers between levels during 2024. 17.4 Hedging activities and derivatives The Group hedges its exposure to foreign exchange and interest rate movements using derivative financial instruments. The Group applies hedge accounting where appropriate and has designated some derivatives as net investment hedges and fair value hedges. The Group also has some derivatives which do not qualify for hedge accounting or have not been designated as hedges. 17.4a Net investment hedges The Group uses net investment hedges to hedge the currency risk arising from its investment in foreign operations. The Group has designated some of its euro borrowings, Japanese yen borrowings, Swiss franc borrowings, cross-currency interest rate swaps (used to swap a portion of its euro borrowings into US dollar debt), and foreign exchange forward contracts as net investment hedges. There is an economic relationship between the hedging instruments and hedged items as the borrowings and derivatives (hedging instruments) are matched by the Group’s investments in foreign operations (hedged items). The Group has established a ratio of 1:1 for the hedging relationships as the underlying foreign exchange risk of the hedging instruments is identical to the investments. To ensure the hedge is effective, the Group makes sure that the nominal value of the hedging instruments is always less than the value of the investments. Hedge ineffectiveness arises if the nominal value of the hedging instrument exceeds the value of the underlying investment. The hedging instruments are detailed on the next page . 17. Financial assets and financial liabilities continued Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 162 Financial Statements ![]() Bonds and cross-currency interest rate swaps In 2017 and 2018, the Group issued three €500 million bonds, maturing in September 2024, December 2027 and September 2029 (see note 16.1). €200 million of the bond maturing in September 2029 had been swapped to US$239 million through a series of cross-currency interest rate swaps, maturing on the same dates as the bond. The cross-currency interest rate swaps effectively exchange the obligations and coupons of the bonds from euros into US dollars. The combined bond and cross-currency interest rate swaps have been designated as hedging instruments in the Group’s net investment in US dollar reporting subsidiaries. During the year, retrospective hedge effectiveness testing found the €200 million bond and cross-currency interest rate swaps failed to meet the effectiveness criteria from February 2025. This resulted in a £15 million foreign exchange gain and a £3 million fair value loss on derivative financial instruments recorded within finance income and finance costs (see note 5.1). The hedge was redesignated on 30 June 2025. It has since been highly effective and is expected to be so in future periods. The €500 million bond maturing in December 2027 and the remaining €300 million of the bond maturing in September 2029, which has not been swapped into US dollars, have been designated as hedging instruments in the Group’s net investment in euro reporting subsidiaries. In April 2025, the Group issued a CHF150 million fixed rate bond and JPY40 billion of fixed rate bonds (see note 16). These bonds have been designated as hedging instruments in the Group’s net investment in Swiss Franc and Japanese Yen reporting subsidiaries. | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Euro denominated bonds | 2025 | 2024 | | Carrying value of debt on the balance sheet | (£870m) | (£827m) | | Nominal value of hedging instrument | €1,000m | €1,000m | | Hedge ratio | 1:1 | 1:1 | | Hedge effectiveness | 100% | 100% | | Change in carrying value of hedging instrument | (£39m) | £50m | | Change in value of net investment | £39m | (£50m) | | Cumulative gain held in hedging reserve for continuing hedges | £20m | £59m | | Gain held in the hedging reserve for relationships | | | | for which hedge accounting no longer applies | £22m | £22m | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Cross-currency interest rate swap 1 | 2025 | 2024 | | Fair value of derivative liability on the | | | | balance sheet | | (£25m) | | Nominal value of hedging instrument | | $239m | | Hedge ratio | | 1:1 | | Hedge effectiveness | | 100% | | Change in fair value of derivative | (£1m) | (£3m) | | Change in value of net investment | £1m | £3m | | Cumulative loss held in hedging reserve for continuing hedges | – | (£24m) | | Loss held in the hedging reserve for relationships | | | | for which hedge accounting no longer applies | (£56m) | (£31m) | | 1 | This relates to the €200 million cross-currency interest rate swap, which failed to meet the | | | | effectiveness criteria from February 2025. The change in fair value of derivative excludes | | | | the £12 million net gain recorded within finance income and finance costs . | | 17. Financial assets and financial liabilities continued Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued | | | | --- | --- | | Cross-currency interest rate swap | | | – redesignated on 30 June 2025 | 2025 | | Fair value of derivative liability on the balance sheet | (£8m) | | Nominal value of hedging instrument | $239m | | Hedge ratio | 1:1 | | Hedge effectiveness | 100% | | Change in fair value of derivative | £3m | | Change in value of net investment | (£3m) | | Cumulative gain held in hedging reserve | | | for continuing hedges | £3m | | CHF denominated bonds | 2025 | | Carrying value of debt on the balance sheet | (£140m) | | Nominal value of hedging instrument | CHF150m | | Hedge ratio | 1:1 | | Hedge effectiveness | 100% | | Change in carrying value of hedging instrument | (£4m) | | Change in value of net investment | £4m | | Cumulative loss held in hedging reserve | | | for continuing hedges | (£4m) | | JPY denominated bonds | 2025 | | Carrying value of debt on the balance sheet | (£189m) | | Nominal value of hedging instrument | JPY40bn | | Hedge ratio | 1:1 | | Hedge effectiveness | 100% | | Change in carrying value of hedging instrument | £20m | | Change in value of net investment | (£20m) | | Cumulative gain held in hedging reserve for continuing hedges | £20m | Foreign exchange forward contracts In November 2024, the Group entered into foreign exchange forward contracts to hedge JPY39 billion and CHF50 million of its investments in foreign operations. Both of these derivatives matured in the year. | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | GBP/JPY foreign exchange forward contracts | 2025 | 2024 | | Fair value of derivative asset on the balance sheet | – | £1m | | Nominal value of hedging instrument | JPY39bn | JPY39bn | | Hedge ratio | 1:1 | 1:1 | | Hedge effectiveness | 100% | 100% | | Change in fair value of derivative | (£7m) | – | | Change in value of net investment | £7m | – | | Cumulative loss held in the hedging reserve | | | | for relationships for which hedge accounting | | | | no longer applies | (£7m) | – | London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 163 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | GBP/CHF foreign exchange forward contracts | 2025 | 2024 | | Fair value of derivative asset on the balance sheet | – | £1m | | Nominal value of hedging instrument | CHF50m | CHF50m | | Hedge ratio | 1:1 | 1:1 | | Hedge effectiveness | 100% | 100% | | Change in fair value of derivative | (£1m) | – | | Change in value of net investment | £1m | – | | Cumulative loss held in the hedging reserve | | | | for relationships for which hedge accounting | | | | no longer applies | (£1m) | – | 17.4b Cash flow hedges The Group uses cash flow hedges to manage the interest rate risk on cash flows of highly probable forecast transactions. Interest rate swaps In 2021, the Group entered into a series of US dollar interest rate swaps with tenures of three, five and ten years, with aggregate principal amounts of US$500 million, US$1,000 million and US$1,250 million respectively. The interest rate swaps were designated as cash flow hedges with the hedged item being planned bond issuances that were deemed highly probable at the time and related to the Refinitiv acquisition. The interest rate swaps were settled in March and April 2021 when the new bonds were issued (see note 16.1). At the date of settlement, a gain of US$31 million (£22 million) was recognised in the hedging reserve, representing the effective portion of the gain on the hedging instrument. This will be recycled to the income statement over the term of the debt. During the year, £5 million (2024: £6 million) was recycled to the income statement, including £2 million recycled on partial repurchase of the original US$1,250 million bond in March 2025 (2024: £2 million). At 31 December 2025, a gain of £6 million (2024: £11 million) remained in the cash flow hedge reserve. 17.4c Fair value hedges The Group uses fair value hedges to hedge the risk of changes in the fair value of its fixed rate borrowings resulting from interest rate movements. Interest rate swaps In September 2023, the Group issued two €700 million fixed rate bonds, maturing in 2026 and 2030 (see note 16.1). On the same day, the Group entered into a series of euro interest rate swaps with tenures of three and seven years, each with aggregate notional amounts of €700 million. In March 2024, the Group issued a US$750 million fixed rate bond, maturing in 2034, as disclosed in note 16.1. On the same day, the Group entered into a series of US dollar interest rate swaps with a notional amount of US$750 million. In September 2025, the Group issued a £400 million fixed rate bond, maturing in 2028, and a £500 million fixed rate bond, maturing in 2032, as disclosed in note 16.1. On the same day, the Group entered into a series of GBP interest rate swaps with tenures of three and seven years, with aggregate notional amounts of £400 million and £500 million respectively. As a result of the swaps, the Group receives a fixed rate of interest and pays floating rate interest based on the Euro Short-Term Rate (ESTR), the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) or Sterling Overnight Index Average (SONIA) plus a spread for the euro, US dollar and GBP swaps respectively. Interest has been swapped from fixed to floating as part of the Group’s interest rate management policy (see note 17.5). 17. Financial assets and financial liabilities continued Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued The bonds and interest rate swaps have been designated as the hedged items and hedging instruments in a fair value hedge relationship. There is an economic relationship between the hedged items and hedging instruments as the terms of the fixed leg of the interest rate swaps match the terms of the bonds, such as notional amounts, interest rates and maturity dates. The Group has established a hedge ratio of 1:1 for the hedge relationships as the underlying interest rate risk of the derivatives is identical to the hedged risk component. To assess hedge effectiveness, the Group uses regression analysis for its retrospective hedge effectiveness testing to ensure the hedge remained highly effective. The Group uses the critical terms match approach for its prospective hedge effectiveness testing to ensure the hedge is expected to remain highly effective. Sources of potential hedge ineffectiveness include counterparty credit risk, which impacts fair value movements of the hedging instruments but not the hedged items. | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | €1,400 million interest rate swaps | 2025 | 2024 | | Fair value of derivative asset on the balance sheet | £41m | £57m | | Change in fair value of the derivative | (£16m) | (£2m) | | Nominal value of the hedging instruments | €1,400m | €1,400m | | Hedge ratio | 1:1 | 1:1 | | Carrying amount of the borrowings on the balance sheet | (£1,246m) | (£1,200m) | | Accumulated amounts of fair value adjustment | | | | on the hedged items | (£26m) | (£43m) | | Change in value of hedged items | £17m | £2m | | Hedge ineffectiveness recorded in finance income | | | | and finance costs in the income statement | £2m | (£1m) | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | US$750 million interest rate swaps | 2025 | 2024 | | Fair value of derivative asset on the balance sheet | £16m | (£1m) | | Change in fair value of the derivative | £18m | (£9m) | | Nominal value of the hedging instruments | US$750m | US$750m | | Hedge ratio | 1:1 | 1:1 | | Carrying amount of the borrowings on the balance sheet | (£561m) | (£587m) | | Accumulated amounts of fair value adjustment | | | | on the hedged items | (£8m) | £9m | | Change in value of hedged items | (£17m) | £9m | | Hedge ineffectiveness recorded in finance income | | | | and finance costs in the income statement | – | – | | | | | --- | --- | | £900 million interest rate swaps | 2025 | | Fair value of derivative asset on the balance sheet | £11m | | Change in fair value of the derivative | £5m | | Nominal value of the hedging instruments | £900m | | Hedge ratio | 1:1 | | Carrying amount of the borrowings on the balance sheet | (£899m) | | Accumulated amounts of fair value adjustment | | | on the hedged items | (£5m) | | Change in value of hedged items | (£5m) | | Hedge ineffectiveness recorded in finance income | | | and finance costs in the income statement | – | London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 164 Financial Statements ![]() 17.4d Derivatives not designated as hedges Cross-currency interest rate swaps As part of the bond issuance and in addition to the interest rate swaps entered into in September 2023, as noted in 17.4c, the Group entered into a series of cross-currency interest rate swaps to swap the two €700 million bonds to US$740 million, with a tenure of three years, and US$742 million, with a tenure of seven years. These instruments effectively exchange the obligations and coupons of the bonds and interest rate swaps from euros to US dollars, in accordance with the Group’s foreign exchange risk management policy (see note 17.5). As a result of the swaps, the Group receives euro floating rate interest based on ESTR plus a spread and pays US dollar floating rate interest based on SOFR plus a spread. The cross-currency interest rate swaps have not been designated as hedges as a portion of their fair value movements offset with income statement movements arising on other financial assets and liabilities, resulting in a natural hedge. Foreign currency forwards The Group uses foreign exchange contracts to manage foreign exchange risk. It enters into a series of exchange contracts to purchase or sell certain currencies against sterling and US dollars in the future at fixed amounts. The cumulative sterling notional amounts of contracts outstanding as at 31 December 2025 and 31 December 2024 were as follows: | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | Traded against sterling | | Traded against US dollar | | | 2025 | 2024 | 2025 | 2024 | | Sell/(buy) | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Euro | 2 | (55) | 138 | 121 | | US dollar | (194) | (1) | – | – | | Japanese yen | (54) | (49) | – | – | | Singapore dollar | (40) | (33) | – | – | | Hong Kong dollar | (39) | (32) | – | – | | Romanian leu | (14) | (22) | – | – | | Australian dollar | (20) | (15) | – | – | | Canadian dollar | (30) | (14) | – | – | | South African rand | 13 | 12 | – | – | | Danish krone | (10) | (9) | – | – | | Taiwan dollar | (28) | (8) | – | – | | Swiss franc | (8) | (6) | – | – | | Other currencies | (26) | (18) | – | – | 17.4e Hedging reserve | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | Note | £m | £m | | 1 January | | 13 | (40) | | Net (losses)/gains on net | | | | | investment hedges | 18.2 | (29) | 47 | | Amounts recycled to the income statement | 18.2 | (5) | 6 | | 31 December | | (21) | 13 | As at 31 December 2025, £24 million of losses (2024: £24 million of losses) remain in reserves that have not been recycled to the income statement, as the Group continues to hold the underlying investments. 17. Financial assets and financial liabilities continued Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 165 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() 17.5 Financial risk management The Group seeks to protect its financial performance and the value of its business from various risks including exposure to capital, credit, concentration, country, liquidity, settlement, custodial and market (including foreign exchange and interest rate) risks. Details of these risks, which should be read in conjunction with the Principal Risks on pages 52 to 55, are provided below. Capital risk Risk description Risk management approach Capital risk relates to the Group’s ability to meet regulatory capital requirements and minimum internal investment returns. There is a risk that the Group’s entities may not maintain, or have continued access to, sufficient high-quality capital to meet their regulatory, or other obligations. This could result in a loss of regulatory approvals and/or the imposition of financial sanctions. Either separately, or in combination, the main capital risks faced by the Group are: – An increased regulatory capital requirement of its regulated companies – Realised, negative yields on its investments – An inability to raise debt or equity financing as a result of its own poor financial performance, or poor financing conditions The Group, which consists of both regulated and unregulated entities, is profitable and strongly cash generative. It can manage its capital structure (which consists of equity and debt capital) and react to changes in economic conditions by varying returns to shareholders, issuing new shares or increasing or reducing borrowings. The Board reviews dividend policy and funding capacity on a regular basis and the Group maintains comfortable levels of debt facility headroom. A high-level summary of the Group’s capital structure is presented below: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | Book value of capital | £m | £m | | Total shareholders’ funds | 19,779 | 23,013 | | Group borrowings excluding lease liabilities | 11,091 | 9,331 | The Group maintains a Capital Management Policy, the execution of which is overseen by the Group’s Financial, Investment and Capital Committee. The Group seeks to optimally allocate capital in order to maintain a strong balance sheet, meet regulatory requirements, drive growth and offer suitable returns to shareholders. Regulated entities within the Group monitor compliance with policy and the capital requirements set by their respective regulatory authorities and they have been compliant throughout the year. Regulatory and operational capital represents: – Amounts held as regulatory cash and cash equivalents – Letters of credit issued by the Group to customers and suppliers The Group’s total regulatory and operational capital is shown below: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | Regulatory and operational capital | £m | £m | | Regulatory cash and cash equivalents | 1,188 | 1,342 | | Letters of credit | 16 | 16 | | Total regulatory and operational capital | 1,204 | 1,358 | To ensure ongoing financial strength, access to new capital at a reasonable cost, and to sustain an investment grade credit rating, the Group monitors its leverage ratio against a target range of 1.5-2.5 times. Leverage is calculated as operating net debt (i.e., net debt after excluding lease liabilities and amounts set aside for regulatory and operational purposes) to adjusted EBITDA before foreign exchange gains or losses (Group adjusted earnings from continuing operations before net finance costs, tax, depreciation, amortisation and impairment and before foreign exchange gains or losses). At 31 December 2025, leverage was 1.8 times (2024: 1.7 times). While the Group’s bank borrowing facilities do not include leverage and interest cover ratio covenants, the Group takes into account the potential impact to the key metrics monitored by credit rating agencies when considering whether to increase the size of its borrowings and net debt. The Group seeks to maintain a strong investment grade credit rating and will always seek to return leverage to its target range if it rises temporarily. 17. Financial assets and financial liabilities continued Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 166 Financial Statements ![]() Credit and concentration risk Risk description Risk management approach Credit risk relates to the potential for a Group counterparty (including CCP members, and any counterparty where there is exposure through payment, clearing or settlement processes) to be unable to meet its financial obligations to the Group when due. Credit concentration risk may arise through Group entities having large individual or connected exposures to groups of counterparties whose likelihood of default is driven by common underlying factors. Group Credit risk is governed by policies developed at Group level by the Group Risk function. Limits and thresholds for credit and concentration risk are reviewed regularly. Group companies make judgements on the credit quality of their clients. This is based on the client’s financial position, the recurring nature of billing and collection arrangements, and historical evidence relating to the client’s ability to meet its financial liabilities as they fall due. The Group’s client base is diverse and so management deems concentration risk on the Group’s receivables to be low. The Group’s main credit risk exposure arises on the financial assets shown earlier in note 17.1. There have been no significant increases in credit risk for these assets and no estimated credit losses have been recognised on other financial instruments. Non-CCP entities The principal source of non-CCP credit risk is the creditworthiness of the investment counterparties with which the Group deposits cash. The Group manages its credit risk by outlining the maximum financial exposure that may be taken against any one counterparty, based on an assessment of the counterparty’s credit quality. Cash and cash equivalents are held with authorised counterparties of a high creditworthiness. Cash is held in unsecured interest-bearing current and call accounts. Cash equivalents comprise short-term deposits and AAA-rated money market funds. Derivative transactions (and other treasury receivable structures) must be in line with the Group’s policy framework and may only be undertaken with highly rated counterparties. CCPs The principal source of CCP credit risk lies in the potential for one or more clearing members to default. Group CCPs manage this risk through robust financial risk management. Clearing members are selected based on an assessment of their supervisory capital as well as their technical and organisational strength. Each member must pay margins to the relevant Group CCP. This must include a minimum level of cash and can also include highly liquid securities. Clearing members also contribute to default funds managed by the Group CCPs. These aim to protect the integrity of the markets in the event of multiple defaults in extreme market circumstances. Group CCPs use stress tests to determine the appropriate margin and default fund requirements. These are reviewed by CCP risk committees who can take action as appropriate. CCPs are required by regulation to hold a minimum amount of capital (regulatory capital). Each of the Group’s CCPs maintains this regulatory capital requirement, together with an additional holding of its own capital. This additional capital is to help manage credit risk during a significant market stress event or member default. The total clearing member contributions of margin and default funds across the Group CCPs is shown below: | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | 2024 | | Total collateral held | | £bn | £bn | | Collateral security | Cash received | 91 | 92 | | | Non-cash pledged | 186 | 177 | | | Guarantees pledged | – | 1 | | Total collateral as at 31 December | | 277 | 270 | | Maximum collateral held during the year | | 303 | 334 | Group CCPs manage the credit risk associated with margin and default fund contributions by investing the cash element in instruments or structures deemed secure by the relevant regulatory bodies. This includes direct investments in highly rated, regulatory qualifying sovereign bonds and supranational debt; investments in tri-party and bilateral reverse repos (receiving high-quality government securities as collateral); and, in certain jurisdictions, deposits with the central bank. The small proportion of cash that is invested unsecured is placed for short durations with highly rated counterparties where limits are applied with respect to credit quality, concentration and tenor. | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | £bn | £bn | | Total investment portfolio | 90 | 90 | | Maximum portfolio size during the year | 107 | 110 | | Additional portfolio information: | | | | Proportion invested securely | 99.95% | 99.98% | | Weighted average maturity (days) | 82 | 72 | 17. Financial assets and financial liabilities continued Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 167 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Risk description Risk management approach Associated liquidity risks are considered in the investment mix and discussed further below in the Liquidity, Settlement and Custodial risk section. To address concentration risk, the Group maintains a diversified portfolio of high-quality, liquid investments and uses a broad range of custodians, payment and settlement banks and agents. The largest concentration of treasury exposures as at 31 December 2025 was with the French Government with an aggregate exposure of 41% of the total investment portfolio (2024: 40% with the French Government). Trade receivables (including fees receivable) An impairment analysis of trade and fees receivable is performed monthly using a provision matrix to measure expected credit losses based on factors such as the counterparty’s historic payment practices, expected future payments and the economic environment at large. The calculation reflects current conditions together with forecasts of future economic conditions. None of the Group’s trade receivables are material by individual counterparty. | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | Trade receivables | | | | Fees | | | | | | receivable | <180 days | >180 days | Total | | 31 December 2025 | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Expected credit loss rate | <1% | <1% | 23.9% | | | Total receivables | 388 | 869 | 88 | 1,345 | | Expected credit loss | – | (3) | (20) | (23) | | Net trade and fees receivables | 388 | 866 | 68 | 1,322 | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | Trade receivables | | | | Fees | | | | | | receivable | <180 days | >180 days | Total | | 31 December 2024 | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Expected credit loss rate | <1% | <1% | 18.0% | | | Total receivables | 300 | 865 | 86 | 1,251 | | Expected credit loss | – | (2) | (18) | (20) | | Net trade and fees receivables | 300 | 863 | 68 | 1,231 | Country risk Risk description Risk management approach Country risk relates to those risks that are inherent when doing business with, or operating in, a country. Some governments may be unable or find it difficult to service their debts. This could have adverse effects, particularly on the Group’s CCPs, potentially impacting cleared products, margin collateral, investments, the clearing membership and the financial industry as a whole. In addition, geopolitical events could impact our ability to operate in a country or impact the value of our assets in that country. We may even need to relocate activities or change our operating model in response. The Group has a country risk framework which facilitates assessment and monitoring of the risk associated with doing business with, or operating in, a country. Group CCPs have specific risk management frameworks that address country risk for both clearing and margin operations. Contained in these frameworks are a suite of stress scenarios that consider deterioration of sovereign credit quality as well as other risk factors. These scenarios support CCPs in developing and maintaining the appropriate country risk measurement, monitoring and mitigation tools. Risk Committees oversee these risks and the associated policy frameworks to protect the Group against a potentially adverse impact arising from volatility in the sovereign debt markets. The Group CCPs’ sovereign exposures at the end of the financial reporting periods were: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | Country/organisation | £bn | £bn | | France | 20 | 20 | | US | 15 | 17 | | UK | 10 | 10 | | European Union (supranational) | 1 | 2 | | Other | 3 | 2 | 17. Financial assets and financial liabilities continued Credit and concentration risk continued Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 168 Financial Statements ![]() Liquidity, settlement and custodial risk Risk description Risk management approach The Group’s liquidity risk relates to its ability to meet its short- and long-term payment obligations as they fall due. Additionally, the Group’s CCPs, and certain other Group entities, must maintain a level of liquidity (consistent with regulatory requirements) to ensure the smooth operation of their respective services and to be able to continue to operate in the event of a significant stress event. The Group’s settlement and custodial risks relate to the potential for a partner firm to default on its obligations in respect of custody, settlement, payment or other administration activities, or that no action is taken by the Group to mitigate these risks. This also includes the risk that client assets are immobilised as a result of a third-party bankruptcy. Group The Group maintains sufficient liquid resources to meet its financial obligations as they fall due, and to invest in capital expenditure, pay dividends, meet its pension commitments and appropriately support or fund acquisitions or repay borrowings. Subject to regulatory constraints impacting certain entities, funds can (generally) be lent across the Group and cash earnings remitted through regular dividend payments by subsidiary companies. This is an important component of the Group Treasury cash management policy and approach. The Group is profitable, has strong free cash flow and generates annuity-like revenue which is not significantly impacted by seasonal variations. Management monitors forecasts of the Group’s cash flow and overlays sensitivities to these forecasts to reflect assumptions about more challenging market conditions or stress events. The Group will take the appropriate actions to satisfy working capital requirements when committing to large scale acquisitions, including making sure there is comfortable liquidity headroom projected over a reasonable time frame. Non-CCP entities The Group Treasury Policy requires the Group to maintain adequate credit facilities provided by a diversified lending group to cover its expected funding requirements and ensure a minimum level of headroom for at least the next 24 months. The financial strength of the Group’s lenders is monitored regularly. For full details of the Group’s borrowings and facilities, see note 16.1. CCPs In order to meet the cash requirements of the clearing and settlement cycle, the Group’s CCPs maintain sufficient cash and cash equivalents and, in certain jurisdictions, have access to central bank refinancing or commercial bank credit lines. Regulations require CCPs to ensure that appropriate levels of back-up liquidity are in place to underpin the dynamics of a largely secured cash investment requirement, ensuring that the maximum potential outflow under extreme market conditions is covered (see credit and concentration risk section above). In the event of a member default, Group CCPs can liquidate the defaulting member’s portfolio to cover both losses associated with the default and settlement of any other financial obligations of the defaulting member. In addition, certain Group companies, including the CCPs, maintain commercial bank facilities which support management of intraday and overnight liquidity. Custodians are subject to minimum eligibility requirements, ongoing credit assessments and robust contractual arrangements. They are also required to have appropriate contingency arrangements in place. Financial liability maturity The table below analyses the Group’s financial liabilities into relevant maturity groupings based on the remaining period from the balance sheet date to the contractual maturity date. The amounts disclosed in the table reflect the contractual undiscounted cash flows. | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | Less than | Between 1 | Between 2 | Over | | | | 1 year | and 2 years | and 5 years | 5 years | Total | | 31 December 2025 | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Borrowings (excluding lease liabilities) | 3,264 | 1,622 | 3,710 | 3,816 | 12,412 | | Lease liabilities | 147 | 121 | 196 | 260 | 724 | | Current payables | 2,230 | – | – | – | 2,230 | | Clearing member liabilities | 757,444 | – | – | – | 757,444 | | Non-current payables | – | 63 | 319 | 302 | 684 | | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | Less than | Between 1 | Between 2 | Over | | | | 1 year | and 2 years | and 5 years | 5 years | Total | | 31 December 2024 | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Borrowings (excluding lease liabilities) | 1,664 | 1,584 | 3,423 | 3,932 | 10,603 | | Lease liabilities | 158 | 113 | 215 | 213 | 699 | | Current payables | 1,845 | – | – | – | 1,845 | | Clearing member liabilities | 692,640 | – | – | – | 692,640 | | Non-current payables | – | 28 | 335 | 195 | 558 | 17. Financial assets and financial liabilities continued Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 169 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Risk description Risk management approach The table below analyses the cash flows of the Group’s derivative financial instruments. For interest rate swaps and cross-currency interest rate swaps, for which net cash flows are exchanged, these amounts are included net in the numbers below. When the amounts payable or receivable are based on floating interest rates, future cash flows have been calculated using ESTR, SONIA or SOFR, depending on the underlying currency of the instrument, at the balance sheet date. | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | Less than | Between 1 | Between 2 | Over | | | | 1 year | and 2 years | and 5 years | 5 years | Total | | 31 December 2025 | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Gross inflow | 3,608 | 67 | 961 | 91 | 4,726 | | Gross outflow | (3,543) | (66) | (894) | (69) | (4,573) | | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | Less than | Between 1 | Between 2 | Over | | | | 1 year | and 2 years | and 5 years | 5 years | Total | | 31 December 2024 | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Gross inflow | 3,250 | 642 | 277 | 669 | 4,838 | | Gross outflow | (3,253) | (671) | (355) | (689) | (4,968) | Market risk – foreign exchange risk Risk description Risk management approach The Group operates globally with primary centres in the UK, Europe and North America. It also has growing and strategically important businesses in Asia. The Group’s principal currencies of operation are sterling, US dollars, and the euro. The Group is exposed to transactional foreign exchange risk and translational risk. Transactional risk arises when we buy or sell goods or services in a currency other than an entity’s functional currency. We may be exposed to movements in that currency. Translational risk arises from the translation of balances recorded in an entity’s functional currency into the Group’s reporting currency for the purpose of statutory reporting. Transactional foreign exchange risk may present itself in the payment of intragroup transactions or when interest obligations, which are in a different currency, are due. Transactional foreign exchange risk may also arise when investing in, or divesting from, operations denominated in currencies other than sterling. In addition, the Group has some contracts/ cash flow profiles with a foreign exchange component that could trigger embedded derivative recognition and, as such, fair value accounting treatment. Translational risk The Group manages its translational risk, where possible, by matching the currency of its debt to the currency of its earnings, to make sure certain key financial metrics are protected from material foreign exchange rate volatility. The Group also seeks to balance the currency of its assets with its liabilities. In order to mitigate the impact of unfavourable currency exchange rate movements on earnings and net assets, non-sterling cash earnings are centralised and applied to debt and interest payments in the same currency. Where required, currency of debt is re-balanced using cross-currency interest rate swaps to better match the currency of debt to the overall currency of earnings. A material proportion of the Group’s debt is held in or swapped into euros and US dollars (see the table showing the currency of borrowings in note 16.1). A proportion of the euro denominated debt and cross-currency interest rate swaps provide a hedge against the Group’s net investment in euro and US dollar operations. In April 2025, the Group issued a CHF150 million fixed rate bond and JPY40 billion of fixed rate bonds (see note 16). These bonds have been designated as hedging instruments in the Group’s net investment in Swiss Franc and Japanese Yen reporting subsidiaries. At 31 December 2025, the Group’s designated hedges of its net investments were effective. Transactional risk While transactional foreign exchange exposure is limited, the Group mitigates this by either hedging material transactions with appropriate derivative instruments or by settling currency payables or receivables within a short timeframe. The Group Treasury Policy requires net balance sheet positions over £2 million or equivalent to be hedged. The risk is also minimised by the periodic exchange of cash into each Group entity’s functional currency. Where appropriate, hedge accounting for debt and derivatives is considered in order to mitigate material levels of income statement volatility. Sensitivity In addition to projecting and analysing its earnings and debt profile by currency, the Group reviews sensitivities to movements in exchange rates. The Group has considered movements in the euro and the US dollar over 2025 and 2024 and, based on actual market observations between its principal currency pairs, has concluded that a 10% movement in rates is a reasonable level to illustrate the risk to the Group. The impact on profit after tax and equity is set out in the table below: | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | | 2024 | | | | | Profit | | Profit | | | | | after tax | Equity | after tax | Equity | | | | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Euro | Sterling weakens | 18 | (57) | 18 | (66) | | | Sterling strengthens | (16) | 53 | (16) | 60 | | US dollar | Sterling weakens | 26 | (18) | 18 | (19) | | | Sterling strengthens | (23) | 16 | (16) | 7 | The sensitivity of profit after tax reflects foreign exchange gains or losses on translation of financial assets and financial liabilities, including cash and borrowings but excluding hedged balances. The sensitivity of equity mainly reflects the foreign exchange gains or losses on translation of euro borrowings and derivative financial instruments that have been designated as hedges of a net investment in foreign operations. 17. Financial assets and financial liabilities continued Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued Liquidity, settlement and custodial risk continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 170 Financial Statements ![]() Market risk – interest rate risk Risk description Risk management approach The Group’s interest rate risk arises from the impact of changes in interest rates on cash held and investments in financial assets, and on borrowings held at floating rates. The Group may also face future interest rate exposure connected to M&A transactions where significant debt financing is involved. The Group’s CCPs have member liabilities, and separately achieve returns which support the payment of these liabilities. A CCP’s interest rate risk can increase if the reference rates used to calculate liabilities increase while the reference rates that underpin investment returns decrease (or do not increase by the same amount). Group companies that offer guaranteed settlement of traded securities can also be exposed to latent interest rate risk (and market risk more generally) in the event of a counterparty default. The Group’s interest rate management policy focuses on protecting the Group’s credit rating and limiting the impact of interest rate changes on Group earnings. To support this objective, the Group monitors the impact of changes in key interest rates on the annualised net finance costs and maintains a maximum debt floating rate component of 50%. This approach reflects: – a focus on the Group’s cost of gross debt rather than its net debt given the material cash and cash equivalents set aside for regulatory purposes; – the short duration allowed for investments of cash and cash equivalents held for regulatory purposes which, by their nature, generate low investment yields; and – the broad natural hedge of floating rate borrowings provided by the significant balances of cash and cash equivalents held effectively at floating rates of interest. At 31 December 2025, the floating rate component of total debt was 40% (2024: 30%). Where the Group has committed to M&A transactions and is exposed to prospective interest rate risk on borrowings, the Group Treasury function will assess the exposure and consider hedging solutions that conform with policy and seek to limit future interest costs. In the Group’s CCPs, interest-bearing assets are generally invested in secured instruments or structures and for a longer term than interest-bearing liabilities, whose interest rate is reset daily. This makes investment returns vulnerable to volatility in overnight rates and shifts in spreads between overnight and term rates. Interest rate exposures (and the risk to CCP capital) are managed within defined risk appetite parameters against which sensitivities are monitored daily. In its review of the sensitivities to potential movements in interest rates, the Group has considered interest rate volatility over the last year and prospects for rates over the next 12 months. It has concluded that a one percentage point downward movement (with a limited prospect of material upward movement) reflects a reasonable level of risk to current rates. If interest rates on cash and cash equivalents, borrowings and derivative financial instruments had been one percentage point lower, with all other variables held constant, profit after tax for 2025 would have been £4 million higher (2024: £5 million lower) mainly as a result of lower interest expense on floating rate borrowings, partially offset by lower interest income on floating rate cash and cash equivalents. At the CCP level (in aggregate), if interest rates on the common interest-bearing member liability benchmarks of EONIA, Fed Funds and SONIA (for euro, US dollar and sterling liabilities respectively) had been one percentage point lower, with all other variables held constant, the Group’s profit after tax would have been £1 million higher (2024: £1 million) . 17.6 Offsetting financial assets and financial liabilities Accounting policy The Group reports financial assets and financial liabilities on a net basis on the balance sheet where there is a legally enforceable right to offset the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis, or to realise the assets and settle the liabilities simultaneously. The Group applies the rules of legal right of set off and intent to net settle within its clearing member balances. The carrying values of the balances are offset at an appropriate level to arrive at the net balances reported in the balance sheet. The approach adopted is reviewed on a regular basis to ensure it remains the most appropriate. Any change in approach would not materially affect the net assets of the Group. 17. Financial assets and financial liabilities continued Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 171 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() The following tables show the impact of netting arrangements on all financial assets and financial liabilities that are reported net on the balance sheet and where balances have not been netted but there is a right to offset in the event of default: | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | Amounts not | | | | | | | netted, but | | | | | | Amount as | available in | | | | Gross | Amount | reported in the | event of | Net | | | amount | offset | balance sheet | default 1 | amount | | 31 December 2025 | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Other financial assets 2,3 | 2,425,148 | (1,890,182) | 534,966 | (534,966) | – | | Reverse repurchase agreements 2 | 135,408 | (7,917) | 127,491 | (127,491) | – | | Derivative financial instruments 4 | 191 | – | 191 | (12) | 179 | | Total assets | 2,560,747 | (1,898,099) | 662,648 | (662,469) | 179 | | Other financial liabilities 2,3 | (2,451,253) | 1,916,287 | (534,966) | 534,966 | – | | Repurchase agreements 2 | (135,408) | 7,917 | (127,491) | 127,491 | – | | Derivative financial instruments 4 | (21) | – | (21) | 12 | (9) | | Total liabilities | (2,586,682) | 1,924,204 | (662,478) | 662,469 | (9) | | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | Amounts not | | | | | | | netted, but | | | | | | Amount as | available in | | | | Gross | Amount | reported in the | event of | Net | | | amount | offset | balance sheet | default 1 | amount | | 31 December 2024 | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | | Other financial assets 2, 3 | 1,804,271 | (1,799,904) | 4,367 | (4,367) | – | | Reverse repurchase agreements 2 | 686,211 | (96,023) | 590,188 | (590,188) | – | | Derivative financial instruments 4 | 86 | – | 86 | (48) | 38 | | Total assets | 2,490,568 | (1,895,927) | 594,641 | (594,603) | 38 | | Other financial liabilities 2, 3 | (1,819,018) | 1,814,651 | (4,367) | 4,367 | – | | Repurchase agreements 2 | (686,211) | 96,023 | (590,188) | 590,188 | – | | Derivative financial instruments 4 | (75) | – | (75) | 48 | (27) | | Total liabilities | (2,505,304) | 1,910,674 | (594,630) | 594,603 | (27) | 1 The Group’s CCP companies act as principal and sit in the middle of members’ transactions and hold default funds and margin amounts as a contingency against the default of a member. As such, further amounts are available to offset in the event of a default reducing the asset and liability to nil. The Group is subject to master netting arrangements in force with financial counterparties with whom the Group trades derivatives. The master netting arrangements determine the proceedings should either party default on their obligations. In the event of default, the non-defaulting party will calculate the sum of the replacement cost of outstanding transactions and amounts to be settled. 2 Offset amounts are clearing member trading assets and trading liabilities within the Group’s CCP businesses’ financial instruments. 3 The imbalance between gross and offset amounts is caused by the exclusion of variation margin payable and receivable to and from the members on clearing activities. 4 Balance excludes embedded derivatives . 18. Share capital, share premium and other reserves This note details our share capital, share premium and other reserves. During the year, a number of shares were repurchased under our share buyback programmes. Accounting policy The share capital of the Company is the number of shares in issue at their par value. It consists of balances relating to the Company’s ordinary equity shares, own shares held by the Employee Benefit Trust and any treasury shares held by the Company. Shares acquired by the Company from the open market as part of share buyback programmes are referred to as treasury shares and are held by the Company. The consideration payable is deducted from retained earnings. The par value of purchased treasury shares is recorded as a transfer from the Company’s ordinary equity shares to treasury shares within share capital. No gain or loss is recognised by the Company in the income statement on the purchase, sale, issue or cancellation of the Company’s treasury shares or of own shares held by the Employee Benefit Trust. When the Company issues new shares to the Employee Benefit Trust at par, the share capital of the Company is increased by the par value of these own shares, and a corresponding deduction or debit is recorded in the share-based payment reserve. The Company may also issue new shares to the Employee Benefit Trust to satisfy vesting of specific employee share schemes. These shares may be issued at a subscription price above par value, reflecting the option cost payable by the participant in the employee share scheme. In such instances, the share capital of the Company is increased by the par value of these own shares and the difference between the subscription price and the par value is recorded in share premium. A corresponding deduction or debit is recognised in the share-based payment reserve . 17. Financial assets and financial liabilities continued Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 172 Financial Statements ![]() 18.1 Ordinary share capital issued and fully paid | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | Number of | Ordinary | Share | | | | shares 1 | share capital 1 | premium 2 | Total | | | millions | £m | £m | £m | | 1 January 2024 | 541 | 38 | 978 | 1,016 | | Share buyback | (11) | – | – | – | | Issue of shares to the Employee Benefit Trust 3 | 1 | – | – | – | | 31 December 2024 | 531 | 38 | 978 | 1,016 | | Share buyback | (22) | (1) | – | (1) | | Issue of shares to the Employee Benefit Trust 3 | 1 | – | – | – | | 31 December 2025 | 510 | 37 | 978 | 1,015 | 1 Ordinary share capital consists of 531,859,674 ordinary shares of 6 79/86 pence. At 31 December 2025, the Group held 21,451,599 (2024: 12,122,106) treasury shares which were acquired as part of its share buyback programme and 1,398,424 (2024: 1,605,133) shares were held by the Employee Benefit Trust. 2 Share premium is the amount subscribed for share capital in excess of par value. 3 The Board approved the allotment and issue of 120,231 ordinary shares at par to the Employee Benefit Trust (2024: 176,777 ordinary shares at par) and the transfer of 965,000 treasury shares (2024: 1,375,000) to settle employee share plans. 18.2 Other reserves | | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | Merger relief, capital | Non- | | Foreign | | | | | redemption and | controlling | | exchange | | | | | reverse acquisition | interest put | Hedging | translation | | | | | reserves 1 | option reserve 2 | reserve 3 | reserve 4 | Total | | | Notes | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m | | 1 January 2024 | | 18,289 | – | (40) | 1,625 | 19,874 | | Net gains on net investment hedges | 17.4e | – | – | 47 | – | 47 | | Amounts recycled to income statement | 17.4e | – | – | 6 | – | 6 | | Foreign exchange differences on translation of foreign operations | | – | – | – | 191 | 191 | | 31 December 2024 | | 18,289 | – | 13 | 1,816 | 20,118 | | Net losses on net investment hedges | 17.4e | – | – | (29) | – | (29) | | Amounts recycled to income statement | 17.4e | – | – | (5) | – | (5) | | Foreign exchange differences on translation of foreign operations | | – | – | – | (1,248) | (1,248) | | Shares cancelled | | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | | Transfer to retained earnings 5 | | (1,300) | – | – | – | (1,300) | | Put option liability for non-controlling interests’ shares | 15 | – | (172) | – | – | (172) | | 31 December 2025 | | 16,990 | (172) | (21) | 568 | 17,365 | 1 Includes: – Merger relief reserve of £16,986 million (2024: £18,286 million), a potentially distributable reserve arising as a result of shares issued to acquire subsidiaries; – Capital redemption reserve of £516 million (2024: £515 million), a reserve set up as a result of a court approved capital reduction scheme and is non-distributable; and – Reverse acquisition reserve of £(512) million (2024: £(512) million), a reserve as a result of the acquisition of London Stock Exchange plc in 2007. It is recognised on consolidation as a result of a capital reduction scheme and is non-distributable. 2 The non-controlling interest put option reserve represents the Group’s estimate of the expected redemption amount associated with the arrangements over the non-controlling interests in LSEG PTS Holdings Limited. The reserve reflects the present value of the expected redemption amount, recognised in equity. 3 The hedging reserve represents the cumulative fair value adjustments recognised in respect of net investment and cash flow hedges entered into in accordance with hedge accounting principles. It is distributable under certain circumstances. Net gains and losses are recognised in other comprehensive income and balances remain in equity until both the hedging instrument and the underlying instrument are derecognised. 4 The foreign exchange translation reserve records the cumulative impact of foreign exchange rate movements on the translation of non-sterling subsidiary companies into sterling. It is distributable under certain circumstances. Net gains and losses on translation are recognised in other comprehensive income and amounts remain in equity until the subsidiary is derecognised. 5 During the year, reserves of £1,300 million, which were originally recognised on acquisition of the Borsa Italiana group, were transferred from merger relief reserve to retained earnings. 18. Share capital, share premium and other reserves continued Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued Share buyback During 2025, the Company repurchased 22.1 million of its own shares in the market under Board-approved share buyback programmes. Of these, 11.8 million shares were cancelled and the remainder are being held as treasury shares. In November 2025, the Company entered into an irrevocable agreement with its corporate broker to repurchase further shares, including purchases during the Group’s close period from 1 January 2026 until the announcement of the 2025 full-year results. At 31 December 2025, the outstanding obligation in relation to this commitment was £417 million and is recognised within payables (see note 15). Since the reporting date, the Company repurchased 5 million shares for £417 million and the shares were cancelled . Retained earnings reduced by £2,497 million in the year due to share buyback activity. This reflects: – £2,068 million to repurchase 22.1 million ordinary shares (£2,060 million in cash and £8 million payable in January 2026); – total costs directly attributable to these repurchases of £12 million (in cash); and – £417 million recognised for the irrevocable commitment. During 2024, the Company executed two directed share buybacks totalling £1,000 million, through the acquisition of shares from the former Refinitiv shareholders. We plan to execute an ordinary share buyback of £3 billion, which will commence as soon as is practicable and is expected to be completed by February 2027. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 173 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() 19. Non-controlling interests Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued Accounting policy Non-controlling interests The Group recognises non-controlling interests in a business either at fair value or at the non-controlling interest’s proportionate share of the net assets. This treatment is determined on a transaction- by-transaction basis. After initial recognition, the carrying value of the non-controlling interest is adjusted for any changes in equity and the total comprehensive income attributable to the non- controlling interest holders, less dividends paid. Change in the ownership interest of a subsidiary company, without loss of control For acquisitions or disposals of non-controlling interests where control of the subsidiary remains with the Group, the difference between any consideration paid or received, and the relevant share of net assets acquired or sold, is recognised in equity . A non-controlling interest arises when the Group does not own all of a subsidiary, but the Group retains control . Financial information for subsidiary entities or groups that have material non-controlling interests is provided below: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Proportion of economic interest held | | | | by non-controlling interests | 2025 | 2024 | | Tradeweb group | 49.1% | 49.2% | | Post Trade Solutions group 1 | 20.0% | – | | LCH group 2 | 5.6% | 5.8% | | Turquoise Global Holdings Limited | 15.8% | 15.8% | 1 In October 2025, the Group sold a 20% stake in LSEG PTS Holdings Limited for £170 million and recognised an increase in non-controlling interests. 2 In October 2025, LCH Group Holdings Limited undertook a capital issuance in which not all non-controlling shareholders participated, resulting in the Group’s interest increasing by 0.2%. The participating non-controlling shareholders paid £34 million and the Group recognised an increase in non-controlling interests of £28 million and an increase in equity attributable to owners of the parent of £6 million. | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Profit for the year allocated | | 2025 | 2024 | | to non-controlling interests | Notes | £m | £m | | Tradeweb group | 19.1 | 229 | 184 | | Post Trade Solutions group | 19.2 | – | – | | LCH group | 19.3 | 28 | 53 | | Other | | – | (1) | | | | 257 | 236 | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Accumulated balance of | | 2025 | 2024 | | non-controlling interests | Notes | £m | £m | | Tradeweb group | 19.1 | 2,046 | 2,026 | | Post Trade Solutions group | 19.2 | 167 | – | | LCH group | 19.3 | 168 | 106 | | Other | | 8 | 8 | | | | 2,389 | 2,140 | Summarised financial information for the Tradeweb, Post Trade Solutions and LCH groups is provided below. 19.1 Tradeweb group The Group has a 45.6% economic interest in Tradeweb Markets Inc, a US company. Tradeweb Markets Inc is the parent company of Tradeweb Markets LLC in which the Group holds a further direct interest. This gives the Group an effective economic interest of 50.9% in Tradeweb Markets LLC (2024: 50.8%). The Tradeweb group’s summarised financial information below differs from that reported by Tradeweb. The numbers disclosed here include adjustments to bring their accounting policies in line with those used by the Group and include the impact of acquisition accounting. | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Summarised financial information attributable | 2025 | 2024 | | to non-controlling interests 1 | £m | £m | | Profit for the year attributable to non-controlling interests | 229 | 184 | | Total comprehensive income for the year | | | | attributable to non-controlling interests | 81 | 222 | | Dividends paid to non-controlling interests | | | | in the year | 42 | 37 | 1 The summarised financial information includes any amortisation and impairment of goodwill and purchased intangible assets, and the related deferred tax benefit, attributable to non-controlling interests. | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | Summarised balance sheet 1 | £m | £m | | Non-current assets | 8,056 | 8,814 | | Current assets | 1,868 | 1,406 | | Current liabilities | (381) | (345) | | Non-current liabilities | (471) | (492) | | Net assets | 9,072 | 9,383 | | Attributable to: | | | | Equity holders of the company | 7,026 | 7,357 | | Non-controlling interests | 2,046 | 2,026 | | Total equity | 9,072 | 9,383 | 1 The summarised balance sheet includes goodwill and purchased intangible assets together with associated amortisation, impairment and deferred tax. | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Summarised total comprehensive income 1 | 2025 | 2024 | | and cash flows | £m | £m | | Total income for the year | 1,558 | 1,350 | | Total profit for the year | 700 | 446 | | Total comprehensive income for the year | 324 | 544 | | Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents | 476 | (268) | 1 The summarised total comprehensive income of the Tradeweb group excludes any amortisation and impairment of goodwill and purchased intangible assets (together with any associated deferred tax). London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 174 Financial Statements ![]() 19.2 Post Trade Solutions group In October 2025, the Group completed the sale of a 20% interest in LSEG PTS Holdings Limited, the holding company for the Group’s Post Trade Solutions businesses (based in the UK and the US), for a total consideration of £170 million. Following the transaction, the Group retained an 80% ownership interest in LSEG PTS Holdings Limited. | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Summarised financial information attributable | 2025 | 2024 | | to non-controlling interests 1 | £m | £m | | Profit for the period attributable to non-controlling interests | – | – | | Total comprehensive loss for the period | | | | attributable to non-controlling interests | (3) | – | 1 The summarised financial information for the two months ended 31 December 2025, from the date of the non-controlling interest holders’ investment, includes any amortisation and impairment of goodwill and purchased intangible assets, together with the related deferred tax benefit, attributable to non-controlling interests. | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | Summarised balance sheet 1 | £m | £m | | Non-current assets | 838 | – | | Current assets | 232 | – | | Current liabilities | (167) | – | | Non-current liabilities | (66) | – | | Net assets | 837 | – | | Attributable to: | | | | Equity holders of the company | 670 | – | | Non-controlling interests | 167 | – | | Total equity | 837 | – | 1 The summarised balance sheet includes goodwill and purchased intangible assets of all businesses within the Post Trade Solutions group, together with associated amortisation, impairment and deferred tax. | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Summarised total comprehensive income 1 | 2025 | 2024 | | and cash flows | £m | £m | | Total income for the period | 31 | – | | Total loss for the period | (1) | – | | Total comprehensive loss for the period | (13) | – | | Net increase in cash and cash equivalents | 4 | – | 1 The summarised total comprehensive income of the Post Trade Solutions group for the two months ended 31 December 2025, from the date of the non-controlling interest holders’ investment, excludes any amortisation and impairment of goodwill and purchased intangible assets (together with any associated deferred tax). 19.3 LCH group The Group owns 94.4% of LCH Group Holdings Limited, which is the parent of LCH Limited, based in the UK, and LCH SA, based in France. In October 2025, the Group and some non-controlling interest holders made additional capital contributions to LCH Group Holdings Limited. As a result of the relative levels of contributions made, the non-controlling interest was slightly reduced, and the Group’s ownership interest increased by 0.2%. The Group received £34 million in cash consideration from those non-controlling interest holders that participated in the capital contribution process. | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Summarised financial information attributable | 2025 | 2024 | | to non-controlling interests 1 | £m | £m | | Profit for the year attributable to non-controlling interests | 28 | 53 | | Total comprehensive income for the year | | | | attributable to non-controlling interests | 34 | 45 | | Dividends paid to non-controlling interests | | | | in the year | – | 38 | 1 The summarised financial information includes any amortisation and impairment of goodwill and purchased intangible assets, and the related deferred tax benefit, attributable to non-controlling interests. | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | Summarised balance sheet 1 | £m | £m | | Non-current assets | 1,624 | 487 | | Current assets | 759,733 | 694,487 | | Current liabilities | (758,227) | (693,265) | | Non-current liabilities | (47) | (46) | | Net assets | 3,083 | 1,663 | | Attributable to: | | | | Equity holders of the company | 2,915 | 1,557 | | Non-controlling interests | 168 | 106 | | Total equity | 3,083 | 1,663 | 1 The summarised balance sheet includes goodwill and purchased intangible assets together with associated amortisation, impairment and deferred tax. | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Summarised total comprehensive income 1 | 2025 | 2024 | | and cash flows | £m | £m | | Total income for the year | 1,110 | 1,070 | | Total profit for the year | 523 | 407 | | Total comprehensive income for the year | 613 | 356 | | Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents | (130) | 101 | 1 The summarised total comprehensive income of the LCH group excludes any amortisation and impairment of goodwill and purchased intangible assets (together with any associated deferred tax). Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 19. Non-controlling interests continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 175 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() We operate various employee share-based compensation plans which allow employees to receive or acquire shares in the Company in different ways. This note describes our main share plans . Awards over restricted share units (RSU) are granted at nil cost to employees and generally vest in tranches after one, two and three years, subject to continuing employment. Awards granted under the EIP may attract dividend equivalents in shares or cash and a post-vesting holding period may be applied. All awards are subject to malus and clawback provisions. Unvested PSU and RSU awards granted before April 2024 are subject to the rules of the LTIP and RSAP respectively. Awards granted under the LTIP and RSAP do not attract dividend equivalents. – LSEG Deferred Bonus Plan (DBP) DBP awards are granted at nil cost to employees. Awards usually either vest after three years or in tranches after one, two and three years, subject to continuing employment and malus and clawback provisions. Awards granted under the DBP may attract dividend equivalents in shares or cash. – Save As You Earn (SAYE) and International Sharesave Plan 2018 The SAYE plans provide for grants of options over the Company’s shares to employees who enter into a savings contract. The options are granted at 20% below the market price and vest after three years, subject to continuing employment. The holders of the share options are not entitled to receive dividends declared during the vesting period. – International Share Incentive Plan (ISIP) The ISIP is a plan in which employees can buy shares in the Company monthly via salary deduction. For every two shares purchased by the employee (purchased shares), the Group awards them one additional share (accumulated shares) which vests after completion of a three-year plan cycle. Accumulated shares are not entitled to receive dividends declared during the vesting period. Further details on the Group’s share plans are provided in the Directors’ Remuneration Report on pages 82 to 103. The Company has an Employee Benefit Trust to administer the share plans and to acquire Company shares to meet the commitments to Group employees. At 31 December 2025, 1,398,424 Company shares were held by the trust (2024: 1,605,133) and the market value of these was £125 million (2024: £181 million). Fair valuation of share awards and options A Monte Carlo simulation was used to calculate the fair value of the PSU awards granted during the year that are subject to a relative TSR condition. The model simulates the TSR and compares it against the constituents of the UK FTSE 100 and global peers. The valuation approach for the RSU, DBP, ISIP awards and the remaining 60% of PSU awards that are subject to adjusted EPS targets depends on whether they are entitled to dividend equivalents. For those awards that are eligible for dividend equivalents, the market price at grant date is deemed to reflect the fair value. The Black-Scholes model was used to determine the related fair value for awards that are not eligible for dividend equivalents, as well as for determining the fair value of SAYE options. The inputs into both the Monte Carlo and Black-Scholes models include the share price at grant date, expected volatility, dividend yields, the risk-free interest rate and expected life of the awards. The volatility assumption is based on the historical three-year volatility of the Company’s share price as at the date of grant. The risk-free interest rate represents the yield available on a zero-coupon UK government bond on the date of grant for a term commensurate with the vesting period of the award. The expected life refers to the time from the date of grant to the date the awards vest . The charges arising from equity-settled share-based payment plans are as follows: | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | Notes | £m | £m | | Group share plans 1 | 20.1 | 95 | 92 | | Tradeweb share schemes | | | | | (recognised in non-controlling interests) | 20.2 | 81 | 73 | | Total share-based payment expense | 4.1 | 176 | 165 | 1 Charges of £nil million (2024: £3 million) relate to plans that are cash-settled as a result of local regulations. The following amounts were recognised in equity: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | 2024 | | | £m | £m | | Share-based payments | 95 | 89 | | Cash receipts from employees on vesting | 8 | 13 | | | 103 | 102 | 20.1 Group share plans In April 2024, the Equity Incentive Plan (EIP) was approved by ordinary resolution of shareholders at the Annual General Meeting, replacing the Long Term Incentive Plan 2014 (LTIP) and the Restricted Share Award Plan 2018 (RSAP). No awards have been granted under these legacy plans since April 2024. The Group has the following active share plans: – LSEG Equity Incentive Plan Awards over performance share units (PSU) are granted at nil cost to employees. Vesting of PSU awards is dependent on both market and non-market performance conditions and continuing employment. The performance conditions include achievement of relative TSR (40%) and adjusted EPS (60%) targets . Accounting policy The Group issues equity-settled share-based awards to certain employees. The share-based payment expense recognised in the income statement is determined by the fair value (using a stochastic valuation model) of the options granted or shares awarded at the date of grant. The calculated expenses are recognised over the relevant vesting periods. The fair value of the awards granted: – Includes any market performance conditions (for example, Total Shareholder Return (TSR)). – Excludes the impact of any service and non-market performance vesting conditions (for example, the need to remain an employee for a specified period of time). In the very few countries where the Group cannot issue equity- settled awards due to local restrictions, cash-settled share-based awards are issued instead . 20. Share-based payments Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 176 Financial Statements ![]() Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued SAYE options Movements in the number of share options and awards outstanding and their weighted average exercise prices are as follows: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | | Weighted | | | | average | | | | exercise | | | | price | | | Number | £ | | 1 January 2024 | 546,098 | 64.98 | | Granted | 218,628 | 81.73 | | Exercised | (193,401) | 64.91 | | Lapsed/forfeited | (43,906) | 65.79 | | 31 December 2024 | 527,419 | 71.88 | | Granted | 193,444 | 72.95 | | Exercised | (133,553) | 64.24 | | Lapsed/forfeited | (81,942) | 76.55 | | 31 December 2025 | 505,368 | 73.55 | | Exercisable at 31 December 2025 | 11,580 | 67.61 | | 31 December 2024 | 37,177 | 66.99 | The weighted average share price of London Stock Exchange Group plc shares during the year was £102.95 (2024: £97.73). The range of exercise prices and the weighted average remaining contractual life of awards and options outstanding are as follows: | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | | 2024 | | | | | Weighted | | Weighted | | | | average | | average | | | | remaining | | remaining | | | | contractual | | contractual | | | Number | life | Number | life | | | outstanding | Years | outstanding | Years | | SAYE | | | | | | – Between £60 and £65 | 9,443 | 0.4 | 147,911 | 0.7 | | – Between £65 and £70 | 145,880 | 1.3 | 163,037 | 1.8 | | – Between £70 and £75 | 189,849 | 3.3 | – | – | | – Between £80 and £85 | 160,196 | 2.4 | 216,471 | 2.8 | | Total | 505,368 | | 527,419 | | The inputs used in the Black-Scholes model for the valuation of the share options are as follows: | | | | --- | --- | | Date of grant | 29-Sep | | Grant date share price (£) | 84.00 | | Expected life (years) | 3.34 | | Exercise price (£) | 72.95 | | Dividend yield (%) | 1.25 | | Risk-free interest rate (%) | 4.14 | | Volatility (%) | 19.94 | | Fair value (£) | 14.21 | Equity-settled share awards The number of awards and the weighted average fair value of the awards granted during the year are as follows: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | 2025 | | | | | Weighted | | | Awards | average | | | granted | fair value | | | Number | £ | | PSU | 588,575 | 87.20 | | RSU | 499,089 | 101.75 | | DBP | 136,463 | 112.08 | | ISIP | 55,843 | 96.53 | 20.2 Tradeweb share plans Tradeweb grants awards, including performance-based restricted share units (PRSUs), performance share units (PSUs), stock options, restricted stock units (RSUs) and dividend equivalent rights. The awards may have performance-based and time-based vesting conditions. Stock options have a maximum contractual term of 10 years. – PRSUs (Equity-Settled) PRSUs are promises to issue shares at the end of a three-year vesting period. The number of shares a participant will receive upon vesting is determined by a performance modifier, which is adjusted based on Tradeweb’s financial performance. For PRSU awards granted during 2024 and thereafter, Tradeweb’s financial performance is determined based on the compound annual growth rate over a three-year performance period beginning on 1 January in the year of grant. For PRSU awards granted during 2023, Tradeweb’s financial performance was determined based on the financial performance in the grant year, and any earned awards that remain outstanding are subject to time-based vesting conditions. The fair value of the equity-settled PRSUs is calculated as at the grant date using the share price. – PSUs (Equity-Settled) PSUs are promises to issue shares at the end of a three-year vesting period. The number of shares a participant will receive upon vesting is determined by a performance modifier, which is adjusted based on Tradeweb’s total shareholder return over a three-year performance period. The fair value of the equity-settled PSUs is calculated as at the grant date using the Monte Carlo simulation model. – Options Tradeweb awards options with a four-year graded vesting schedule, one half vesting based solely on the passage of time and one half vesting only if Tradeweb achieves certain performance targets. Costs related to options are recognised as an expense in the income statement over the service period. The fair value of options is calculated as at the grant date using the Black-Scholes model. – RSUs RSUs are promises to issue shares at the end of a vesting period. RSUs granted to employees vest over a three-year period. RSUs granted to non-employee directors vest after one year. The fair value of the RSUs is calculated as at the grant date using the share price. 20. Share-based payments continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 177 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() A commitment is a contractual obligation to make a payment in the future. These amounts are not recorded in the balance sheet as we have not yet received the related goods or services. The amounts below are the minimum amounts that we are committed to pay. The Group has the following contracts in place for future expenditure which are not provided for in the consolidated financial statements: In the normal course of business, the Group can receive legal claims and be involved in legal proceedings and dispute resolution processes including, for example, in relation to commercial matters, service and product quality or liability issues, employee matters and tax audits. The Group is also subject to periodic reviews, inspections and investigations by regulators in the UK and other jurisdictions in which it operates, any of which may result in fines, penalties, business restrictions and other sanctions. A provision for a liability is recognised when it is probable that an outflow of economic benefits will be required to settle a present obligation from past events and a reliable estimate can be made of the amount of the obligation. Any provision recognised is inherently subjective and based on judgement. | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Contract | Description | Minimum commitment | | 10-year strategic partnership | To architect LSEG’s data infrastructure using the Microsoft | Minimum cloud-related spend of US$2.8 billion | | with Microsoft | Cloud, and to jointly develop new products and services for | over the term of the partnership 1 | | | data and analytics | | | Collaboration with Amazon | Extension of collaboration with Amazon Web Services to | Cloud-related spend commitment over the term | | Web Services | provide cloud services to LSEG’s Markets, Risk Intelligence | of the agreement | | | and FTSE Russell divisions. This will strengthen LSEG’s | | | | resilience and security while delivering new services and | | | | products for customers. | | | Agreement with Reuters News, | To receive news and editorial content | Minimum CPI adjusted payment, which was | | entered into in 2018, for a 30-year term | | US$398 million for 2025 | 1 The remaining commitment at 31 December 2025 is US$2.8 billion. 21. Commitments and contingencies Notes to the consolidated financial statements continued For many of these matters it is too early to determine the likely outcome, or to reliably estimate the amount of any loss as a consequence and therefore no provision is made. While the outcome of legal, regulatory and tax matters can be inherently difficult to assess and/or the potential loss often cannot be reliably estimated, we do not believe that the liabilities, if any, which could result from the resolution of the legal, regulatory and tax matters that arise in the normal course of business are likely to have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, profit, or cash resources. However, it is possible that future results could be materially affected by any developments relating to any such legal, regulatory and tax matters. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 178 Financial Statements ![]() London Stock Exchange Group plc Company Financial Statements Year ended 31 December 2025 Registered number 5369106 London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 179 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() 2025 2024 At 31 December Notes £m £m Assets Non-current assets Investments in subsidiaries 3 25,020 24,954 Receivables 4 44 138 Deferred tax assets 5 16 25,069 25,108 Current assets Receivables 4 668 853 Cash and cash equivalents 5 2 4 670 857 Total assets 25,739 25,965 Liabilities Current liabilities Payables 6 2,667 604 2,667 604 Non-current liabilities Borrowings 7 1,366 1,318 Payables 6 919 883 Derivative financial instruments 8 25 2,293 2,226 Total liabilities 4,960 2,830 Net assets 20,779 23,135 Equity Capital and reserves attributable to the Company’s equity holders Ordinary share capital 37 38 Share premium 978 978 Retained earnings 1 2,262 3,321 Other reserves 17,502 18,798 Total equity 20,779 23,135 1 As permitted by Section 408 of the Companies Act 2006, the Company’s income statement has not been presented in these financial statements. The profit for the year was £849 million (2024: £1,07 0 million). The financial statements on pages 180 to 192 were approved by the Board on 25 February 2026 and signed on its behalf by: David Schwimmer Michel-Alain Proch Chief Executive Officer Chief Financial Officer 25 February 2026 London Stock Exchange Group plc Registered number 5369106 Company balance sheet London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 180 Financial Statements ![]() Other reserves Number of shares 1 Ordinary share capital Share premium Retained earnings Merger relief reserve 2 Capital redemption reserve 3 Total attributable to equity holders Notes millions £m £m £m £m £m £m 1 January 2024 541 38 978 3,796 18,283 515 23,610 Profit for the year (and total comprehensive income) – – – 1,070 – – 1,070 Share buyback (11) – – (1,005) – – (1,005) Dividends – – – (642) – – (642) Issue of shares to the Employee Benefit Trust 1 – – – – – – Share-based payments 8 – – – 89 – – 89 Cash receipts from employees on vesting – – – 13 – – 13 31 December 2024 531 38 978 3,321 18,283 515 23,135 Profit for the year (and total comprehensive income) – – – 849 – – 849 Share buyback 4 (22) (1) – (2,497) – 1 (2,497) Dividends 5 – – – (718) – – (718) Issue of shares to the Employee Benefit Trust 6 1 – – – – – – Share-based payments 8 – – – 95 – – 95 Cash receipts from employees on vesting – – – 8 – – 8 Transfer between reserves 7 – – – 1,297 (1,297) – – Recognition of Employee Benefit Trust as an extension of the Company 8 – – – (93) – – (93) 31 December 2025 510 37 978 2,262 16,986 516 20,779 1 At 31 December 2025, the Company held 21,451,599 (2024: 12,122,106) treasury shares which were acquired as part of its share buyback programme and 1,398,424 (2024: 1,605,133) shares were held by the Employee Benefit Trust. 2 The merger relief reserve is a potentially distributable reserve arising as a result of shares issued to acquire subsidiaries. 3 The capital redemption reserve was set up as a result of a court approved capital reduction scheme and is non-distributable. 4 During 2025, the Company repurchased 22.1 million of its own shares in the market under Board approved share buyback programmes. Of these, 11.8 million shares were cancelled and the remainder are being held as treasury shares. Further details of the share buyback are disclosed in note 18 of the Group’s consolidated financial statements We plan to execute an ordinary share buyback of £3 billion, which will commence as soon as is practicable and is expected to be completed by February 2027. 5 Dividends declared and paid are disclosed in note 8 of the Group's consolidated financial statements. The Board proposed a final dividend in respect of the year ended 31 December 2025 of 103.0p per share (31 December 2024: 89.0p per share). 6 The Board approved the allotment and issue of 120,231 ordinary shares at par to the Employee Benefit Trust (2024: 176,777 ordinary shares at par) and the transfer of 965,000 treasury shares (2024: 1,375,000) to settle employee share plans. 7 During the year, reserves of £1,297 million were transferred from the merger relief reserve to retained earnings, of which £1,300 million was originally recognised on acquisition of the Borsa Italiana group. 8 In June 2025, the Employee Benefit Trust deed was amended to change the sponsoring company from London Stock Exchange plc to London Stock Exchange Group plc. As a result of this amendment, the Employee Benefit Trust is now treated as an extension of the Company. Company statement of changes in equity London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 181 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Reporting entity Notes to the Company financial statements 1. Accounting policies This section describes the Company’s material accounting policy information that relates to its financial statements and notes as a whole. Where an accounting policy relates to a particular note, it is disclosed in that note. These policies have been consistently applied to all the periods presented, unless otherwise stated. 1.1 Basis of preparation The Company’s financial statements are prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006 and Financial Reporting Standard (FRS) 101 Reduced Disclosure Framework. The following disclosure exemptions under FRS 101 have been considered and applied where deemed to be applicable: – Paragraphs 45(b) and 46 to 52 of IFRS 2 Share-based Payment (details of the number and weighted-average exercise prices of share options, and how the fair value of goods or services received was determined) – IFRS 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures – Paragraphs 91 to 99 of IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement (including disclosure of valuation techniques and inputs used for fair value measurement of assets and liabilities) – The following paragraphs of IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements – 10(d) (statement of cash flows) – 16 (statement of compliance with all IFRS) – 111 (cash flow information) – 134-136 (capital management disclosures) – IAS 7 Statement of Cash Flows – Paragraphs 30 and 31 of IAS 8 Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors (requirement for the disclosure of information when an entity has not applied a new IFRS that has been issued but is not yet effective) – The requirements in IAS 24 Related Party Disclosures to disclose related party transactions entered into between two or more members of a group, provided that any subsidiary which is a party to the transaction is wholly owned by such a member – Paragraphs 17 and 18A of IAS 24 (key management compensation and amounts incurred for key management services provided by a separate management entity) – IAS 36 Impairment of Assets disclosure of impairment reviews – Paragraphs 88C and 88D of IAS 12 Income Taxes (qualitative and quantitative information about its exposure to Pillar Two income taxes) The financial statements are prepared on a historical cost basis except for derivative financial instruments which are measured at fair value. The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis (see note 1.2 to the consolidated financial statements for this assessment). As permitted by Section 408 of the Companies Act 2006, the Company’s income statement has not been presented in these financial statements. 1.2 Significant accounting estimates, assumptions and judgements Estimates, assumptions and judgements are regularly reviewed based on historical experience, current circumstances and expectations of future events. There are no significant accounting estimates, assumptions and judgements in the preparation of the Company financial statements that have a significant effect on the amounts recognised in its financial statements. 1.3 Material accounting policy information applied in the current reporting period that relates to the Company financial statements as a whole Foreign currencies The financial statements are presented in sterling, which is the Company’s functional currency. Transactions in foreign currencies are initially recorded and translated into the functional currency at the exchange rate ruling at the date of the transaction. Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated into sterling at the exchange rate prevailing at the reporting date. Foreign exchange gains and losses resulting from the settlement of such foreign currency transactions or from the translation of monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are recognised in the income statement, either within operating expenses or net finance costs depending on the nature of the item or transaction. Non-monetary items measured in terms of historical cost in a foreign currency are not retranslated. Non-monetary items measured at fair value that are denominated in foreign currencies are retranslated at the exchange rate at the date when the fair value was determined. The foreign exchange gain or loss on assets and liabilities carried at fair value is reported as part of the fair value gain or loss. This means foreign exchange gains and losses on non-monetary assets and liabilities held at fair value through profit or loss are recognised in the income statement within operating expenses. Taxation Current income tax assets and liabilities are measured at the amount expected to be recovered from or paid to taxation authorities. Dividends Dividend distributions to the Company’s equity holders are recognised as a liability in the Company financial statements in the period in which the dividends are approved by the Company’s shareholders. These financial statements have been prepared for London Stock Exchange Group plc (the “Company”). The Company is a public limited company, incorporated and domiciled in England and Wales. The address of its registered office is 10 Paternoster Square, London, EC4M 7LS. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 182 Financial Statements ![]() 2. Income statement 2.1 Employees The Company had no employees in the year (2024: nil). Details of Directors’ emoluments are disclosed in the Remuneration Report on pages 82 to 103. 3. Investments in subsidiaries 4. Receivables 2.2 Auditors’ fees The fees paid or are payable to the Company’s auditors, Deloitte LLP, and its associates for 2025 in respect of audit services were £0.1million (2024: £0.1 million). Accounting policy Investments in subsidiaries, as well as loans and other contributions to subsidiaries, are recognised at cost less accumulated impairment. Investments in subsidiaries are reviewed for impairment when events indicate the carrying amount may not be recoverable. When an indication of impairment is identified, the investment’s recoverable amount is estimated as the higher of its fair value less costs of disposal and its value-in-use. An impairment loss is recognised when the recoverable amount of an investment is less than its carrying amount. 2025 2024 £m £m Cost 1 January 26,287 26,287 Additional investments in subsidiaries 1,2 578 – Disposals 2 (512) – 31 December 26,353 26,287 Accumulated impairment 1 January 1,333 1,333 31 December 1,333 1,333 Net book value 31 December 25,020 24,954 1 During the year, the Company invested £55 million in London Stock Exchange Group (Services) Limited and £11 million in London Stock Exchange Reg Holdings Limited. 2 In October 2025, the Company contributed 100% of the shares of AcadiaSoft Inc. (which merged with LSEGH US PT, Inc.) with a carrying value of £512 million in exchange for London Stock Exchange Reg Holdings Limited issuing new ordinary shares to the Company for £512 million. A full list of the Group’s subsidiaries as at 31 December 2025 is provided in note 10.1. Accounting policy Amounts due from Group companies are initially measured at fair value and are subsequently reported at amortised cost less provision for expected credit losses. Allowances for expected credit losses are made based on the risk of non-payment, taking into account ageing, previous experience, economic conditions and forward-looking data. The Company has a tax indemnity receivable from Thomson Reuters for any tax liabilities incurred before Refinitiv (previously the Thomson Reuters Financial & Risk Business) separated from Thomson Reuters on 1 October 2018. The tax indemnity receivable is measured on the same basis as the corresponding indemnified tax liabilities. When there is a change in the indemnified tax liabilities, which is recognised within tax in the income statement, there is an offsetting change in the tax indemnity receivable. This change is recognised within operating expenses in the income statement. 2025 2024 £m £m Non-current Tax indemnity receivable 44 43 Amounts due from Group companies – 95 44 138 Current Amounts due from Group companies 1 537 665 Group relief receivable 119 177 Other receivables 4 – Prepayments 8 11 668 853 Total receivables 712 991 1 Amounts falling due from Group companies within one year are unsecured, repayable on demand and are predominantly interest bearing. Notes to the Company financial statements continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 183 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() 5. Cash and cash equivalents 2025 2024 £m £m Cash at bank 2 4 Total cash and cash equivalents 2 4 2025 2024 £m £m Non-current Tax indemnity payable 177 178 Amounts due to Group companies 1 742 705 919 883 Current Trade payables 5 4 Other payables 51 22 Share buyback obligation 417 – Accrued expenses 11 27 Amounts due to Group companies² 2,183 551 2,667 604 Total payables 3,586 1,487 1 Amounts falling due to Group companies after more than one year are unsecured, interest bearing and repayable at maturity, in September 2034. 2 Amounts falling due to Group companies within one year are unsecured, repayable on demand and are predominantly interest bearing. 2025 2024 £m £m Non-current Bank borrowings – committed bank facilities 1 – (4) Bonds 1,366 1,322 Total borrowings 1,366 1,318 1 Balances are shown net of capitalised arrangement fees. Where there are no amounts borrowed on a particular facility, this gives rise to a negative balance. Notes to the Company financial statements continued 6. Payables 7. Borrowings Accounting policy Amounts due to Group companies are initially recognised at fair value and are subsequently measured at amortised cost. Accrued expenses are recognised for goods and services received before the end of the year for which no invoice has been received. They are measured at amortised cost. The Company has a tax indemnity payable to Thomson Reuters with a matching tax receivable. The tax indemnity payable is measured on the same basis as the indemnified tax receivable. When there is a change in the indemnified tax receivable, which is recognised within tax in the income statement, there is an offsetting change in the tax indemnity payable. This change is recognised within operating expenses in the income statement. Accounting policy Borrowings are initially recorded at the fair value of amounts received, net of capitalised direct issue costs and arrangement fees (including upfront facility fees). Subsequently, these liabilities are carried at amortised cost. Interest payable on the borrowings, direct issue costs and arrangement fees (including upfront facility fees) are recognised in the income statement over the period of the borrowings using the effective interest method. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 184 Financial Statements ![]() The Company has the following committed bank facilities and unsecured bonds: Maturity date Facility/ bond Carrying value Interest rate 2025 £m 2024 £m £m % Committed bank facilities Multi-currency revolving credit facility 1 Dec 2027 1,925 – (2) see note 2 Multi-currency revolving credit facility 1 Dec 2027 1,075 – (2) see note 2 3,000 – (4) Bonds €500 million bond, issued December 2018 Dec 2027 436 435 413 1.750 €500 million bond, issued September 2017 Sep 2029 436 435 413 1.750 £500 million bond, issued April 2021 Apr 2030 500 496 496 1.625 1,372 1,366 1,322 Total borrowings 1,366 1,318 1 Negative balances represent the value of unamortised arrangement fees. 2 Interest is payable at the risk-free rate plus a margin and credit adjustment spread (CAS). The CAS is variable and depends on the tenor and currency of the borrowings. 7. Borrowings continued Accounting policy The Group operates a number of equity-settled share-based payment plans for the employees of its subsidiaries using the Company’s equity instruments. The share-based payment is recharged to its subsidiaries by the Company with a corresponding increase in retained earnings within equity. The expense is determined by the fair value (using a stochastic valuation model) of the options granted or shares awarded at the date of the grant. The calculated expenses are recognised over the relevant vesting periods. Further details on the share plans are provided in the Directors’ Remuneration Report on pages 82 to 103 and note 20 to the consolidated financial statements. The Company has an Employee Benefit Trust to administer the share plans and to acquire Company shares to meet the commitments to Group employees. At 31 December 2025, 1,398,424 Company shares were held by the trust (2024: 1,605,133). The Employee Benefit Trust is treated as an extension of the Company and is fully funded by the Company via loans, cash gifts and the issue and transfer of shares. The cost of the shares held by the Employee Benefit Trust is recognised directly in equity. 9. Financial guarantees The Company has guaranteed unsecured bonds and commercial paper issued by LSEG Finance plc, LSEG Netherlands B.V. and LSEG US Fin Corp which at 31 December 2025 amounted to £9,727 million (2024: £8,020 million). 8. Share-based payments Notes to the Company financial statements continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 185 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() 10. Group companies Name, address and country of incorporation Class of share held Share ownership % Parent Group Australia Level 10, 60 Margaret Street, Sydney, NSW 2000 EnergybankLink Pty Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Lipper Australia Pty Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv Australia Pty Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Telfer Investments Australia Pty Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Special 100.0 Telfer Pty Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Special 100.0 The Red Flag Group (Australia) Pty Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Tora Trading Services Pty Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Level 6, 14 Martin Place, Sydney, NSW 2000 Tradeweb Australia Pty Limited Ordinary A 100.0 50.9 Ordinary B 100.0 TWAS Holding I Pty Limited Ordinary 100.0 50.9 TWAS Holding II Pty Limited Ordinary 100.0 50.9 Austria Kohlmarkt 8-10, 1010, Vienna Refinitiv Austria GmbH Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Bahrain Flat 1002, Building 1459, Road 4626, Block 346, Manama R.M.E. Bahrain Limited W.L.L. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Bermuda C/o Conyers Corporate Services (Bermuda) Ltd, Clarendon House, 2 Church Street, Hamilton, HM 11 Refinitiv (Canvas) Holdings 1 Limited Common 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv (Canvas) Holdings 2 Limited Common 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv (Canvas) Holdings 3 Limited Common 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv UK Holding Company Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Brazil Avenida Doutor Cardoso de Melo 1855, Vila Olimpia, São Paulo 04548-005 Refinitiv Brasil Servicos Economicos Limitada Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv Tecnologia em Sistemas Brasil Limitada Ordinary 100.0 100.0 485, Rua Apeninos, room 12, Aclimação, in the City of São Paulo, State of São Paulo, 01533-000, Brazil Tradeweb Brasil Limitada Ordinary 100.0 50.9 Notes to the Company financial statements continued 10.1 Subsidiaries In accordance with section 409 of the Companies Act 2006, a full list of the Company’s subsidiaries as at 31 December 2025 is provided below. Companies owned directly by the Company Name, address and country of incorporation Class of share held Share ownership % Parent Group United Kingdom – England & Wales 10 Paternoster Square, London EC4M 7LS London Stock Exchange (C) Limited Ordinary £ 100.0 100.0 Ordinary € 100.0 London Stock Exchange Group (Services) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 London Stock Exchange Group Holdings (Italy) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 London Stock Exchange Group Holdings (R) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 London Stock Exchange Group Holdings Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 London Stock Exchange plc Ordinary 100.0 100.0 London Stock Exchange Reg Holdings Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEG Finance plc (formerly LSEGA Financing plc) Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEGA Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEGA2 Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEGH (Luxembourg) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Cayman Islands C/o Intertrust Corporate Services (Cayman) Ltd, 1 Nexus Way, Camana Bay, Grand Cayman, KY1-9005 Refinitiv Parent Limited Ordinary 1 70.5 100.0 Netherlands 10th Floor, Eduard van Beinumstraat 24, Amsterdam 1077 CZ LSEG Netherlands B.V. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 186 Financial Statements ![]() Name, address and country of incorporation Class of share held Share ownership % Parent Group British Virgin Islands C/o Harkom Corporate Services, Jayla Place, Wickhams Cay I, 2nd Floor, Road Town, Tortola, VG1110 The Red Flag Group (BVI) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Canada 77 City Centre Drive, Wet Tower, Suite 300, Toronto, ON, L5B 1M5 FTSE Global Debt Capital Markets, Inc Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Suite 2400, 333 Bay Street, Toronto, ON M5H 2T6 Millennium IT Software (Canada) Inc Common 100.0 100.0 Suite 400, 333 Bay Street, Toronto, ON M5H 2R2 Refinitiv Canada Holdings Limited Common 100.0 100.0 Cayman Islands C/o Intertrust Corporate Services (Cayman) Ltd, 1 Nexus Way, Camana Bay, Grand Cayman, KY1-9005 Caspian Holdings Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv TW Holdings Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Tora Trading Services Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Zawya Limited Common 100.0 100.0 C/o Vistra (Cayman) Limited, P.O. Box 31119, Hibiscus Way, 802 West Bay Road, Grand Cayman, KY1-1205 Cayman Islands TWC Limited Ordinary 100.0 50.9 China Room 8B, 18th Floor, E1 Office Building, Oriental Plaza, East Chang’an Street, Dongchen District, Beijing, China FTSE (Beijing) Consulting Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Room 2026-33, 5th Floor, 1st to 16th Floor, Inner 01, Building 2, No.3 Court, Jinli South Road, Fengtai District, Beijing China Refinitiv Information Services (China) Co. Limited Contribution Unit 100.0 100.0 A2 Tower, ZhongGuanCun #1, 81 BeiQing Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100193 Refinitiv Technology (China) Co. Limited Contribution Unit 100.0 100.0 Unit 201F, Building No.2, No. 138 Fen Yang Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai, 200030 Tradeweb Information Technology Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. Contribution Unit 100.0 50.9 Cook Islands C/o Cook Islands Trust Corporation, 1st Floor, BCI House, PO Box 141, Avaura, Rarotonga Alta Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Data Development Services Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Lipper Asia Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Monitor Services Hong Kong Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 10. Group companies continued Name, address and country of incorporation Class of share held Share ownership % Parent Group Costa Rica San Jose-Santa Ana radial a San Antionio de Belen, Doscientos metros norte de la Cruz Roja de Santa Ana, Edificio Murano, Piso Uno, Oficina 13 Refinitiv Costa Rica Srl Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Cyprus Kerkyras & John Kennedy, 11, Amaranthe House, Ground Floor, Limassol, 3107, Cyprus Refinitiv Cyprus Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Czechia Na Perstyne 342/1, Staré Mesto, 110 00 Praha 1 Refinitiv Czech Republic s.r.o. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Denmark Vesterbrogade 1E, 4.Sal, DK-1620, Copenhagen V Refinitiv Denmark A/S Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Finland Spaces Postitalo, Mannerheiminaukio 1A, Helsinki 00100 Refinitiv Finland OY AB Ordinary 100.0 100.0 France Le Centorial, 18 rue du Quatre-Septembre, 75002 Paris Banque Centrale de Compensation (LCH SA) Ordinary 100.0 94.4 Beyond Ratings Ordinary 100.0 100.0 FTSE EU SAS Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv France Holdings SARL Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv France SAS Ordinary 100.0 100.0 20 Avenue Andre Malraux, 92300 Levallois-Perret The Red Flag Group (France) SAS Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Germany Maurenbrecher Strasse 16, 47803 Krefeld Quaternion Risk Management Deutschland GmbH Ordinary 100.0 80.0 Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage 49, 60327 Frankfurt am Main Refinitiv Germany GmbH Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv Germany Holdings GmbH Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Greece 53 Solonos Street, 10672 Athens Refinitiv Hellas Single Member SA Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Guernsey C/o Alternative Risk Management Ltd, Level 5, Mill Court, La Charroterie, St. Peter Port GY1 1EJ Refinitiv Europe Middle East and Africa (Central Region) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Notes to the Company financial statements continued Companies owned indirectly by the Company continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 187 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Name, address and country of incorporation Class of share held Share ownership % Parent Group Hong Kong SAR 18/F ICBC Tower, 3 Garden Road, Central FTSE China Index Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 FTSE International (Hong Kong) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 IntegraScreen Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEG HK Financing Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 The Red Flag Group (HK) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 The Red Flag Group Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 The Red Flag Group Products (HK) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Tora Trading Services (Asia) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Tora Trading Services Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Hungary Szervita tér 8, Budapest 1052 Refinitiv Hungary Kft. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 India Godrej Centre – Indiranagar, 2nd Old Madras Road, Binnamangala, India, 560038, Indiranagar (Bangalore), Bangalore North, Bangalore TW Global Capability Centre Private Limited Ordinary 100.0 50.9 One World Center, 12th Floor, Tower 1, 841 Senapati Bapat Marg, Mumbai 400013 Millennium Information Technologies (India) Private Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv Global Private Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv India Private Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv India Shared Services Private Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv India Transaction Services Private Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Ascend Coworks, 1304, FP463, Opp Cadbury Co, Khopat, Thane, Maharashtra, 400601, India TW Technology and Trading Private Limited Ordinary 100.0 50.9 Indonesia Menara Astra, #37-118, Jl. Jendral Sudirman Kav 5-6, Jakarta Pusat, Jakarta 10220 PT Refinitiv Services Indonesia Ordinary Bearer 100.0 100.0 PT LSEG Transaction Services Indonesia Class A 2 100.0 49.0 Class B – 10. Group companies continued Name, address and country of incorporation Class of share held Share ownership % Parent Group Ireland 12/13 Exchange Place, IFSC, Dublin, D01 P8H1 Financial & Risk Transaction Services Ireland Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv Ireland Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Quaternion Risk Management Limited Ordinary 100.0 80.0 Unit 3100, Lake Drive, Citywest Business Campus, Dublin 24, D24 AK82 LSEG Ireland Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEG Ireland 2 Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEG Ireland 3 Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Israel 121-123 Derech Menachem Begin, Azrieli Sarona Building, 30 Fl, Tel Aviv 6701203 Refinitiv Israel Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Italy Piazza Generale Armando Diaz 2, Milan 20123 FTSE Italy S.p.a. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv Italy Holding S.p.a. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv Italy S.p.a. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Japan 30/F Akasaka Biz Tower, 5-3-1 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-6330 Mergent Japan KK Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv Japan KK Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Tora Trading Services KK Ordinary 100.0 100.0 JP Tower 2-7-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Level 14, Tokyo, 100-7014 Tradeweb Japan KK Ordinary 100.0 50.9 Jersey 13 Castle Street, St Helier JE1 1ES LSEGA Jersey Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv Hong Kong Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Tora Trading Services (Jersey) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Korea 9F S Tower, 82 Saemunan-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03185 Refinitiv Korea Limited Common – Voting 100.0 100.0 Luxembourg C/o Crestbridge Luxembourg, 33 Avenue J.F. Kennedy, L-1855 Luxembourg globeSettle S.à r.l. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEG LuxCo 1 S.à r.l. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEG LuxCo 2 S.à r.l. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Notes to the Company financial statements continued Companies owned indirectly by the Company continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 188 Financial Statements ![]() Name, address and country of incorporation Class of share held Share ownership % Parent Group Malaysia Suite 13.03, 13th floor, Menara Tan & Tan, 207 Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur 50400 IntegraScreen (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEG Malaysia Sdn Bhd Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv Malaysia Sdn Bhd Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv Transaction Services Malaysia Sdn Bhd Ordinary 100.0 100.0 The Red Flag Group (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Mauritius C/o International Proximity, 5th Floor, Ebene Esplanade, 24 Bank Street, Cybercity, Ebene, Mauritius Reuters Asia Pacific Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Mexico Torre 3, Privada Paseo de los Tamarindos 120, Bosques de las Lomas, Mexico City 05120 FTSE Mexico S de R.L. de C.V. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Torre Esmeralda II, Blvd. Manuel Avila Camacho 36, Piso 19, Lomas de Chapultepec, Mexico City 11000 Refinitiv de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. Common 100.0 100.0 Netherlands Eduard van Beinumstraat 24, 10th Floor, Amsterdam 1077 CZ Global Data Consortium Netherlands B.V. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEG Regulatory Reporting B.V. (formerly UnaVista TRADEcho B.V.) Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Quantile B.V. Ordinary 100.0 80.0 Refinitiv Netherlands B.V. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv Netherlands Finance B.V. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv Netherlands Holdings B.V. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv Netherlands Overseas Holdings B.V. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Turquoise Global Holdings Europe B.V. Ordinary 100.0 84.2 Strawinskylaan 457 1077 XX, Amsterdam Tradeweb EU B.V. Ordinary 100.0 50.9 Tradeweb Execution Services B.V. Ordinary 100.0 50.9 New Zealand C/o Business Advisory Group Limited, Level 9, 55 Shortland Street, Auckland 1010 Refinitiv New Zealand Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Norway Dronning Eufemias gate 16, 0191 Oslo Refinitiv Norge AS Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Name, address and country of incorporation Class of share held Share ownership % Parent Group Panama The Century Tower, Via Ricardo J. Alfaro y Calle 65, Oeste Piso 10, Local 1005, Panama IntegraScreen (Panama), Inc. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Obarrio, 55th East, “Santa Rita O” St., SFC Tower, 15th Floor, Office 15-ABC, Panama City, Panama The Red Flag Group International (Panama) S.A. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Peru 102 Real 2, Avenida Victor Andrés Belaúnde 147, Lima 15073 Refinitiv Peru Srl Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Philippines Level 6, Ayala Triangle Gardens, Tower 2, Paseo de Roxas Cor Makati Ave, Bel-Air, Makati City, Philippines The Red Flag Group (Philippines) Inc. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 AcadiaSoft Philippines Inc. Ordinary 100.0 80.0 Poland Ul. Opolska 22, 40-084 Katowice IntegraScreen Sp. z o.o. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Ul. Marszalkowska 126/134, 00-008 Warsaw Refinitiv Poland Sp. z o.o. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 UI. Kotlarska 11, 31-539 Krakow The Red Flag Group (Poland) Sp. z o.o. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Portugal Rua Mouzinho da Silveira 10, Lisboa, 1250-167 Refinitiv Portugal Unipessoal Limitada Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Romania 6L Iuliu Maniu Boulevard, Campus 6.1, 4th Floor, District 6, Bucharest 061344 LSEG Business Services RM S.R.L. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv Romania S.R.L. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 77, 21 Decembrie 1989 Boulevard, Building E, Floor 1 Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County Tora Trading Services S.R.L. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Russian Federation 5 Petrovka Street, Berlin House, Business Centre, Moscow 107031 Refinitiv RUS LLC Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Saudi Arabia 3229, Financial Boulevard, 6789, Al Aqeeq Dist., Riyadh, 13519 LSEG Saudi Arabia LLC Ordinary 100.0 100.0 4962 Ibn Rawahah, 6933 Al Muhammadiyah Dist., Riyadh, 12361 Refinitiv Saudi for Information and Communication Technology Ordinary 3 75.0 75.0 C/o, PPG KSA FOR BUSINESS SERVICES LLC, Office #118, Offices Zone, King Abdulaziz Road, Riyadh, 12432 Tradeweb Company Ordinary 100.0 50.9 Notes to the Company financial statements continued 10. Group companies continued Companies owned indirectly by the Company continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 189 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Name, address and country of incorporation Class of share held Share ownership % Parent Group Singapore 1 Raffles Quay, #28-01, Singapore 048583 Global Data Consortium Singapore Pte Ltd Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv Asia Pte Ltd Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv Transaction Services Pte Ltd Ordinary 100.0 100.0 The Red Flag Group Pte Ltd Ordinary 100.0 100.0 9 Raffles Place, #26-01, Republic Plaza, Singapore 048619 Tora Trading Services Pte Ltd Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Tradeweb Asia Pte. Ltd Ordinary 100.0 50.9 Spain Paseo de la Castellana 95, 7a, Edificio Torre Europa, Madrid 28046 Refinitiv SL Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Sri Lanka Exchange House, Trace Expert City, Maradana, Colombo 10 LSEG Business Services Colombo (Private) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 65/2, Sir Chittampalam A Gardiner Mawatha, Colombo 02 Millennium IT Services (Private) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 1 Millennium Drive, Malabe, Colombo 10115 Millennium IT Software (Private) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Sweden c/o Covendum, Kungsgatan 9, Stockholm, 11143 Refinitiv Sweden AB Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Switzerland Rue de Lausanne 17, 1201 Genève Refinitiv International Holdings SARL Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv SA Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Baarerstrasse 112, 6300 Zug The Red Flag Group (Switzerland) AG Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Taiwan, China 26F, 100 Song Ren Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City 110 FTSE International Taiwan Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Thailand U Chu Liang Building, 34th Floor, 968 Rama IV Road, Silom, Bangrak, Bangkok 10500 Refinitiv (Thailand) Limited A Ordinary 2 100.0 49.0 B Preference 2 100.0 Refinitiv Holdings (Thailand) Limited Preference 2 – 49.0 Ordinary 2 100.0 Refinitiv Software (Thailand) Limited Ordinary 2 100.0 49.0 Turkey Is Kuleleri, Kule 2, Kat 1-2, 4. Levent, Istanbul 34330 Refinitiv Enformasyon Limited Sirketi Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Name, address and country of incorporation Class of share held Share ownership % Parent Group United Arab Emirates Office 15501, Level 15, The Gate Building, Dubai International Finance Centre, PO Box 121208, Dubai FTSE International (MEA) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Premises 501, 5th Floor, Thomson Reuters Building, Dubai Media City, PO Box 1426, Dubai Refinitiv Middle East FZ-LLC Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Office 104, Building 3, PO Box 500 630, Dubai Internet City, Dubai The Red Flag Group FZ-LLC Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Unit GD-GB-00-15-BC-52-0 Level 15, Gate District Gate Building, Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai Tradeweb (DIFC) Limited Ordinary 100.0 50.9 P.O. Box 41640, Green Tower, District-Deira, Dubai Zawya Internet Content Provider LLC Ordinary 2 49.0 49.0 United Kingdom – England & Wales 1 Fore Street Avenue, London EC2Y 9DT Institutional Cash Distributors Limited Ordinary 100.0 50.9 Tradeweb Europe Limited Ordinary 100.0 50.9 Tradeweb Execution Services Limited Ordinary 100.0 50.9 10 Paternoster Square, London EC4M 7LS Blaxmill (Eleven) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Blaxmill (Nine) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Blaxmill (Ten) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Blaxmill (Thirteen) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Blaxmill (Thirty-Three) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Blaxmill (Twelve) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Blaxmill (Twenty-Eight) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Enterprise Risk Management Technology Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 FTSE (Australia) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 FTSE (Japan) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 FTSE Fixed Income Europe Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 FTSE Global Debt Capital Markets Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 FTSE International Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 International Commodities Clearing House Limited Ordinary 100.0 94.4 LCH Group Holdings Limited Ordinary 94.4 94.4 LCH Limited Ordinary 100.0 94.4 LCH.Clearnet Group Limited Ordinary 100.0 94.4 London Stock Exchange Connectivity Solutions LP Partnership interest 4 – – London Stock Exchange LEI Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEG (ELT) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEG (F) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEG (M) Financing Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Notes to the Company financial statements continued 10. Group companies continued Companies owned indirectly by the Company continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 190 Financial Statements ![]() Name, address and country of incorporation Class of share held Share ownership % Parent Group LSEG B1 Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEG B2 Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEG B3 Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEG Business Services Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEG Employment Services Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEG F1 Limited Ordinary 5 99.5 100.0 LSEG F2 Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEG F3 Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEG Foundation (charitable incorporated organisation) – 6 – – LSEG International Financing Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEG Pension Trustees Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEG Post Trade Services Limited Ordinary 100.0 80.0 LSEG Regulatory Reporting Limited (formerly UnaVista Limited) Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEG Technology Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LUH Financing Limited Limited by guarantee 4 – – Refinitiv Group Nominees Limited Limited by guarantee 4 – – Refinitiv UK Financial Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 SSC Global Business Services Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 SwapAgent Limited Ordinary 100.0 80.0 The London Clearing House Limited Ordinary 100.0 94.4 The London Produce Clearing House Limited Ordinary 100.0 94.4 TicketAid Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Tora Trading Services Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Turquoise Global Holdings Limited Ordinary A 100.0 84.2 Ordinary B 67.5 UK LSEG Financing 1 Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 UK LSEG Financing Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Five Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5AQ Financial & Risk Organisation Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Global World-Check Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Global World-Check Holdings (Nominee) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Global World-Check Holdings Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEG Data and Risk Limited (formerly Refinitiv UK Parent Limited) Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Lipper Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 REDI Technologies Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv Benchmark Services (UK) Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv Transaction Services Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv UK (Rest Of World) Holdings Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Name, address and country of incorporation Class of share held Share ownership % Parent Group Refinitiv UK Eastern Europe Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv UK Holdings Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv UK Overseas Holdings Limited Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Reuters Pension Fund Limited Limited by guarantee 7 – – Reuters SPS Trustee Limited Limited by guarantee 7 – – RRP Pension Trustee Limited Limited by guarantee 7 – – Cannon Green Building, 27 Bush Lane, London, EC4R 0AN LSEG PTS Holdings Limited Ordinary 80.0 80.0 Quantile Technologies Limited Ordinary 100.0 80.0 United States C/o Corporation Service Company, 251 Little Falls Drive, Wilmington, DE 19808 BondDesk Group LLC Membership Interest 100.0 50.9 DW SEF LLC Membership Interest 100.0 50.9 ICD Intermediate Holdco 1, LLC Membership Interest 100.0 50.9 ICD Intermediate Holdco 2, LLC Membership Interest 100.0 50.9 Institutional Cash Distributors Technology LLC Membership Interest 100.0 50.9 r8fin Holdings LP Limited Partnership 8 – – r8fin LLC Membership Interest 100.0 50.9 r8fin Technology Services LLP Membership Interest 100.0 50.9 Refinitiv US Tradeweb LLC Ordinary 9 100.0 45.6 Tech Hackers LLC Membership Interest 100.0 50.9 Tradeweb Direct LLC Contribution Unit 100.0 50.9 Tradeweb Global Holding LLC Ordinary 100.0 50.9 Tradeweb Global LLC Ordinary 100.0 50.9 Tradeweb IDB Markets, Inc. Ordinary 100.0 50.9 Tradeweb LLC Common 100.0 50.9 Tradeweb Markets Inc. Class A 9 – 45.6 Class B 9 100.0 Class C 9 100.0 Class D 9 98.3 Tradeweb Markets LLC Membership Interest 100.0 50.9 TW SEF LLC Limited Liability Company Interest 100.0 50.9 Notes to the Company financial statements continued 10. Group companies continued Companies owned indirectly by the Company continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 191 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Name, address and country of incorporation Class of share held Share ownership % Parent Group TWEL Holding LLC Limited Liability Company Interest 100.0 50.9 TWICD I Inc Ordinary 100.0 50.9 TWICD II Inc Ordinary 100.0 50.9 C/o Corporate Service Company, 251 Little Falls Drive, Wilmington, DE 19808 Dealerweb LLC Common 100.0 50.9 C/o Corporation Service Company, 2710 Gateway Oaks Drive, Sacramento, CA 95833 Institutional Cash Distributors LLC Membership Interest 100.0 50.9 C/o United Agent Group Inc, Suite 201, Brandywine Plaza, 1521 Concord Pike, Wilmington DE 19803 AcadiaSoft, Inc. Common stock 100.0 80.0 FTSE Fixed Income LLC Membership Interest 100.0 100.0 FX Alliance International, LLC Common 100.0 100.0 FX Alliance, LLC Common 100.0 100.0 Giact Systems, LLC Membership Interest 100.0 100.0 IAG US LLC Member Shares 100.0 100.0 Intrinsic Research Systems, Inc. Common 100.0 100.0 LCH.Clearnet LLC Ordinary 100.0 94.4 LSEG Information Services (US) Inc. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEG Financing Corporation Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEG Financing LLC Membership Units 100.0 100.0 LSEG US Fin Corp Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEG US Holdco, Inc. Common 100.0 100.0 LSEGA, Inc. Common Stock 100.0 100.0 LSEGH (I) LLC Ordinary 100.0 100.0 LSEGH Inc. Common 100.0 100.0 Maystreet LLC Common Stock 100.0 100.0 Mergent, Inc. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Millennium IT (USA) Inc. Common 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv Global Markets Inc. Common 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv US IP Corp Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv US LLC Member Interest 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv US Organization LLC Member Interest 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv US Personal Focus Inc. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv US PME LLC Class A 100.0 100.0 Class B 100.0 Refinitiv US SEF LLC Ordinary 100.0 100.0 Refinitiv US Services Corp Ordinary 100.0 100.0 The Red Flag Group Inc. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 The Yield Book, Inc. Common 100.0 100.0 Name, address and country of incorporation Class of share held Share ownership % Parent Group Tora Holdings LLC Common 100.0 100.0 Tora Trading Services LLC Common 100.0 100.0 Turquoise Global Holdings US, Inc. Common 100.0 84.2 C/o Corporation Service Company, 1821 Logan Avenue, Cheyenne, WY 82001 TIPS LLC Member Interest 100.0 50.9 C/o United Agent Group Inc, 155 E. Boardwalk #490, Fort Collins, CO 80525 Lipper Inc. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 C/o United Agent Group Inc, 707 W. Main Avenue #B1, Spokane, WA 99201 Frank Russell Company Common 100.0 100.0 C/o United Agent Group Inc, 600 Mamaroneck Avenue #400, Harrison, NY 10528 FTSE Americas, Inc. Ordinary 100.0 100.0 REDI Global Technologies LLC Member Interest 100.0 100.0 1 29.5% is held by the Company indirectly. 2 The Group’s equity interest is 49.0%, but the ultimate economic interest is 100.0%. 3 The Group’s equity interest is 75.0%, but the ultimate economic interest is 100.0%. 4 The Group’s voting and economic interest is 100.0%. 5 0.5% directly held by the Company. 6 The Group has control through its right to appoint a majority of trustees. 7 The Group has control through its right to appoint a majority of directors. 8 The Group’s voting and economic interest is 50.9%. 9 The Group’s voting interest in Tradeweb Markets Inc. and Refinitiv US Tradeweb LLC is 89.9%. 10.2 Associates and joint ventures As at 31 December 2025, the Company does not directly own any associates or joint ventures. The Group’s associate and joint venture undertakings are: Name, address and country of incorporation Identity of each class of share held Share ownership % held by the investing company Ultimate Group share ownership % Australia Level 10, 60 Margaret Street, Sydney, NSW2000 ASX Refinitiv Charity Foundation Ltd Charitable incorporated organisation 50.0 50.0 British Virgin Islands OMC Chambers, Wickhams Cay 1, Road Town, Tortola LabCi Holding Inc Ordinary 47.6 47.6 United Kingdom – England & Wales 3 Spring Mews, London SE11 5AN Citywire Holdings Limited Ordinary 22.0 18.6 107 Cheapside, London EC2V 6DN Fomtech Limited Ordinary 23.3 23.3 United States 270 Madison Ave #301, New York, NY 10016 iAltA Capital Markets, LLC Ordinary 50.0 50.0 All equity-accounted investees have the same year end as the Group, except Fomtech Limited which has a 31 August year end. Notes to the Company financial statements continued 10. Group companies continued Companies owned indirectly by the Company continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 192 Financial Statements ![]() Additional Information In this section Alternative performance measures 194 Glossary 197 Investor Relations 199 Disclaimers 200 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 193 ![]() Alternative performance measures An alternative performance measure (APM) is a measure of historical or future financial performance, financial position or cash flow, other than a measure defined or specified in the applicable financial reporting framework. APMs should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for, IFRS measures of financial performance and liquidity. The Group’s APMs discussed in this report are listed below and defined later in this section. Alternative performance measure Closest equivalent IFRS measure Reconciled, presented or defined in section Performance metrics Adjusted operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation and impairment Operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation and impairment Performance metrics Adjusted EBITDA Profit before tax Note 2.2 to the consolidated financial statements Adjusted EBITDA margin N/A Performance metrics Adjusted depreciation, amortisation and impairment Depreciation, amortisation and impairment Performance metrics Adjusted operating profit Profit before tax Note 2.2 to the consolidated financial statements Adjusted net finance costs Net finance costs Performance metrics Adjusted profit before tax Profit before tax Performance metrics Adjusted profit for the year Profit for the year Performance metrics Adjusted earnings per share Earnings per share Note 7 to the consolidated financial statements Constant currency growth N/A Performance metrics Organic (constant currency) growth N/A Performance metrics Annual Subscription Value (ASV) growth N/A Performance metrics Cash flow metrics Equity free cash flow Cash generated from operations Cash flow metrics Net debt Borrowings less cash and cash equivalents and net derivative financial assets Cash flow metrics Operating net debt Borrowings less cash and cash equivalents, net derivative financial assets and lease liabilities Cash flow metrics Leverage N/A Cash flow metrics Capex intensity N/A Cash flow metrics Performance metrics Adjusted measures We use ‘adjusted’ measures including adjusted EBITDA to assess the profitability and performance of our business. These are not measures of performance under IFRS but provide supplemental data that helps convey an understanding of the Group’s financial performance when read together with the statutory results. Adjusted measures exclude non-underlying items (defined below). Non-underlying items The Group classifies income or expenses as non-underlying when they do not arise in the normal course of business and they are material by amount or nature. Non-underlying items typically reflect the impact of mergers, acquisitions and disposals and other significant restructuring activity that would otherwise not be recognised or incurred. The main non-underlying items are: – Amortisation and impairment of goodwill and purchased intangible assets. Purchased intangible assets include customer relationships, trade names and databases and content, all of which were acquired as a result of business combinations. – Incremental amortisation and impairment of any fair value adjustments of intangible assets recognised as a result of acquisitions. – Amortisation and impairment of intangible assets recognised as a result of mergers, acquisitions or other strategic initiatives. – Significant impairment of software and other non-current assets linked to a change in strategy or operating model. – Transaction, integration and separation costs directly related to acquisitions and disposals of businesses. – Significant restructuring costs which are not considered to drive the day-to-day operating results of the Group. – Tax on non-underlying items and non-underlying tax items. When items meet the criteria, they are recognised and classified as non-underlying and this is applied consistently from year to year. Any releases to provisions originally booked as a non-underlying item are also classified as non-underlying. After the acquisition of a business, revenue generated and operating costs incurred by that business are not classified as non-underlying. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 194 Additional Information ![]() The following table reconciles adjusted measures to the corresponding reported figures:: 2025 2024 Year ended 31 December Total £m Exclude: Non- underlying £m Adjusted 1 £m Total £m Exclude: Non- underlying £m Adjusted 1 £m Revenue 9,081 – 9,081 8,579 – 8,579 Net treasury income 257 – 257 266 – 266 Other income 8 – 8 13 – 13 Total income 9,346 – 9,346 8,858 – 8,858 Cost of sales (1,113) – (1,113) (1,173) – (1,173) Gross profit 8,233 – 8,233 7,685 – 7,685 Staff costs (2,417) (116) (2,301) (2,367) (141) (2,226) IT costs (675) (7) (668) (648) (12) (636) Third-party services (371) (27) (344) (448) (52) (396) Other costs (374) (8) (366) (349) (6) (343) Foreign exchange gains 1 – 1 1 – 1 Fair value (losses)/gains on embedded foreign exchange contracts (33) – (33) 40 – 40 Operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation and impairment 2 (3,869) (158) (3,711) (3,771) (211) (3,560) Profit on disposal of business – – – 8 8 – Income from equity investments – – – 27 – 27 Share of profit/(loss) after tax of associates and joint ventures 1 – 1 (4) – (4) Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and impairment 4,365 (158) 4,523 3,945 (203) 4,148 Amortisation of purchased intangible assets (1,034) (1,034) – (1,048) (1,048) – Amortisation of software 3 (939) (186) (753) (903) (215) (688) Impairment of software and other intangible assets (12) (1) (11) (216) (186) (31) Depreciation and impairment of property, plant and equipment (253) – (253) (282) (17) (265) Impairment of investment in associate – – – (33) (33) – Depreciation, amortisation and impairment 4 (2,238) (1,221) (1,017) (2,482) (1,499) (983) Operating profit/(loss) 2,127 (1,379) 3,506 1,463 (1,702) 3,165 Finance income 153 – 153 175 – 175 Finance costs (340) (8) (332) (380) (10) (370) Gains on digital and related assets 29 18 11 – – – Profit/(loss) before tax 1,969 (1,369) 3,338 1,258 (1,712) 2,970 Income tax expense (463) 337 (800) (337) 376 (713) Profit/(loss) for the year 1,506 (1,032) 2,538 921 (1,336) 2,257 Profit/(loss) attributable to: Equity holders 1,249 (955) 2,204 685 (1,249) 1,934 Non-controlling interests 257 (77) 334 236 (87) 323 Profit/(loss) for the year 1,506 (1,032) 2,538 921 (1,336) 2,257 Earnings per share attributable to equity holders 5 Basic earnings per share 238.4p 420.6p 128.8p 363.5p Diluted earnings per share 237.0p 418.2p 128.0p 361.5p 1 Before non-underlying items (‘adjusted’). 2 Non-underlying operating expenses before depreciation, amortisation and impairment are classified as follows: 2025 £m 2024 £m Transaction costs/(costs credit) 25 (15) Integration and separation costs (2a) 131 211 Restructuring and other costs 2 15 Non-underlying operating expenses 158 211 2a Integration and separation costs mainly consist of Refinitiv integration costs of £121 million (2024: £166 million). 3 Includes amortisation of the SwapClear intangible asset of £19 million for two months since its initial recognition and fair value uplifts. 4 Non-underlying depreciation, amortisation and impairment of £1,221 million (2024: £1,499 million) mainly relates to the amortisation of intangible assets recognised as a result of the acquisition of Refinitiv. 5 Adjusted profit for the year attributable to equity holders is used to calculate adjusted basic earnings per share and adjusted diluted earnings per share. Alternative performance measures continued London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 195 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Alternative performance measures continued Adjusted EBITDA margin Adjusted EBITDA margin is calculated as adjusted EBITDA divided by total income excluding recoveries. Constant currency growth We serve customers in over 170 different countries and a significant proportion of our income is generated in currencies other than our reporting currency, sterling. Movements in exchange rates can therefore have a significant impact on our reported financial growth rates and so it can be helpful for us to remove this volatility when assessing and disclosing business performance. We calculate constant currency growth rates on the basis of consistent exchange rates applied across the current and prior year period. Leverage Leverage is calculated as operating net debt (as above) divided by adjusted EBITDA (before foreign exchange gains and losses) for the prior 12 months. Organic (constant currency) growth We measure organic growth rates in order to compare business performance with prior periods independent of acquisition and disposal activity. Organic growth is calculated on a constant currency basis, adjusting the results to remove disposals from the entirety of the current and prior year periods, and by including acquisitions from the date of acquisition with a comparable adjustment to the prior year. Capex intensity We use capex intensity as a measure of our rate of investment, relative to the income we generate. Capex intensity is calculated as cash capex (excluding sales commissions), divided by total income excluding recoveries. Annual Subscription Value (ASV) growth Our ASV growth metric measures the year-on-year expansion in the annualised value of our book of subscription contracts, at a point in time. By annualising the value of contracts that have recently been initiated, the metric can be indicative of future growth in subscription revenue within Data & Analytics, FTSE Russell and Risk Intelligence and data solutions within Markets. Cash flow metrics Equity free cash flow We use equity free cash flow to determine residual cash inflow or outflow, after operational usages of cash such as interest payments, taxes paid, dividends paid to minority interests and capital expenditure. Equity free cash flow represents the cash that we have available to distribute to shareholders via dividends and buybacks, and for other uses such as M&A activity and debt repayments. Year ended 31 December 2025 £m 2024 £m Cash generated from operations 4,205 3,971 Net interest paid (187) (180) Net taxes paid (396) (395) Capex 1 (919) (957) Payment of principal portion of lease liabilities (161) (156) Other items 2 (97) (99) Equity free cash flow 2,445 2,184 1 Includes payments for intangible assets and property, plant and equipment, but excludes sales commissions paid and payment for the SwapClear intangible asset. 2 Includes sales commissions paid, dividends received, dividends paid to non-controlling interests and proceeds on the disposal of digital assets. Net debt and operating net debt At 31 December 2025 £m 2024 £m Borrowings and lease liabilities 11,718 9,965 Cash and cash equivalents (3,949) (3,475) Net derivative financial assets (171) (36) Net debt 7,598 6,454 Less: lease liabilities (627) (634) Add back: regulatory and operational amounts 1,204 1,358 Operating net debt 8,175 7,178 London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 196 Additional Information ![]() Glossary $ US dollar, unless otherwise specified. Acadia Acquired March 2023, provider of automated uncleared margin processing and integrated risk and optimisation services for the global derivatives community. ADV Average daily volumes or average daily value traded. AI Artificial intelligence. AIM The Group’s market for smaller and growing companies established in London. APAC Asia-Pacific. API Application programming interface. ASV Annual Subscription Value. A point in time measure of our recurring book of subscription contracts versus 12 months ago. AUM Assets under management. Autex Trade Route (ATR) Global FIX-based order-routing network, delivering order flow in equities, options, futures, FX and fixed income. CAGR Compound annual growth rate. CCP Central Counterparty – stands between two parties to a trade to eliminate counterparty risk by ensuring that settlement takes place. CDSClear LCH’s over-the-counter credit default swap (CDS) clearing service. Company London Stock Exchange Group plc. Data-as-a-Service Cloud-based, on-demand data platform providing access to LSEG’s extensive financial datasets. Derivatives Tradable financial instruments whose value is determined by the value of underlying instruments; this could be equity, an index, a commodity or any other tradable instrument. Exchange traded derivatives (ETD) Listed derivatives traded on an electronic trading venue such as an exchange and cleared through a clearing house. Over the counter (OTC) Derivatives are negotiated privately between two parties and may be cleared through a clearing house. DigitalAssetClear Segregated clearing service for cash-settled Bitcoin index futures and options contracts traded on GFO-X, the UK’s first FCA-regulated, centrally-cleared multilateral trading facility (MTF) dedicated to digital asset futures and options. DMI Digital Markets Infrastructure. EBITDA Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. Eikon Refinitiv’s legacy financial desktop solution replaced by Workspace. EMEA Europe, Middle East and Africa. Exchange-traded fund (ETF) Low-cost and flexible investments that track indices and sectors. FCA Financial Conduct Authority, the current regulator of conduct of providers of financial services in the UK and of UK trading venues such as recognised investment exchanges (RIEs) and MTFs. Fintech Financial technology. FMI Financial Market Infrastructure. ForexClear LCH’s over-the-counter foreign exchange clearing service. FTSE Russell FTSE International Limited and its subsidiaries, the Group subsidiary that is a leading global provider of index and analytics solutions. FX Foreign exchange. FXall The Group’s dealer-to-client electronic FX trading and workflow platform. FX Matching The Group’s dealer-to-dealer FX trading venue. GAV Global Account Verification; an API product designed to address challenges of Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud. Green Economy Mark Mark recognising equity issuers on London Stock Exchange with 50% or more green revenues. GSO Group strategic objective. Group/LSEG The Company and its Group undertakings. ICD Institutional Cash Distributors; an institutional investment technology provider for corporate treasury organisations acquired by Tradeweb in 2024. IPO Initial public offering – the process whereby companies join our markets and raise capital for the first time. KYC ‘Know your customer’ screening. LCH or LCH Group LCH Group Holdings Limited and its subsidiaries, the Group’s 94.4% owned global clearing and risk management business. LDA LSEG Data Access; premium multi-year agreement giving customers access to a broad selection of LSEG’s products on all-you-can- eat basis in a single contract. Lipper Lipper provides global, independent fund performance data in a precise, granular fund classification system, and includes mutual funds, closed-end funds (CEFs), exchange- traded funds (ETFs), hedge funds, domestic retirement funds, pension funds, and insurance products. LLM Large language model. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 197 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report Glossary continued LPC Data Syndicated loan, direct lending and CLO market data, news and analysis, acquired by LSEG as part of the Refinitiv transaction. LSE London Stock Exchange plc. Main Market The market for companies that have been admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange’s principal market. MCP Model Context Protocol; an open-source standard for connecting AI applications to sources of data. Multilateral trading facility (MTF) Alternative electronic trading systems as categorised under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID). Non-Executive Director (NED) A Non-Executive Director (NED) is a member of the Board who is not part of the Company’s executive management team. NTI Net treasury income. Income earned on cash deposited with LCH (the Central Counterparty) as margin and default funds as part of the risk management process. Open Directory Inter-company chat and collaboration product accessible via Microsoft Teams and interoperable with LSEG Workspace. OTC Over-the-counter trades in financial instruments executed outside a Regulated Market or MTF – see also Derivatives. Paris Agreement A legally binding international treaty on climate change, signed at the COP21 conference in Paris in 2015. Parker Review An independent review commissioned in 2017 to consider how to improve the ethnic and cultural diversity of UK boards. PISCES Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System. Post Trade Solutions A solutions suite made up of Acadia, Quantile, SwapAgent and TradeAgent, providing risk management and optimisation services to the uncleared derivatives market. Primary Market The listing of securities for the first time via an IPO or introduction of existing securities. PRS Pricing and Reference Services. Refinitiv Refinitiv, a global provider of financial market data and infrastructure, was founded in 2018. It became a subsidiary of London Stock Exchange Group as of 29 January 2021. Refinitiv transaction/acquisition The all-share acquisition of Refinitiv by London Stock Exchange Group plc, completed on 29 January 2021. Regulated Market A multilateral system that brings together multiple third-party buying and selling in financial instruments in accordance with rules authorised under provisions of MiFID. Repo Repurchase agreement – the process of borrowing money by combining the sale and subsequent repurchase of an asset cleared through LCH. RNS Regulatory News Service, the Group’s Primary Information Provider, for dissemination of regulatory and non-regulatory news to the market. Secondary Market The public market on which securities once issued are traded. SEDOL The Group’s securities identification service. StarMine Unique value-added analytics and predictive financial modelling, designed to improve investment decision making and control risk. Sustainable Bond Market (SBM) A dedicated segment of London Stock Exchange for social and sustainable bonds. Sustainable issuers The total number of issuers across the Sustainable Bond Market and the Voluntary Carbon Market, plus those that display the Green Economy Mark. SwapAgent LCH’s service designed to simplify the processing, margining and settlement of non-cleared derivatives. SwapClear LCH’s over-the-counter interest rate swap clearing service. The Yield Book The Yield Book provides fixed income analytics that enables market makers and institutional investors to perform portfolio analysis and risk management. LSEG acquired The Yield Book in August 2017 and incorporated it within FTSE Russell. Tick History Data LSEG’s historical archive of real-time pricing data, covering OTC and exchange-traded instruments from trading venues and third- party contributors. Tradeweb Global operator of electronic marketplaces for rates, credit, equities and money markets, majority owned by LSEG. Turquoise Turquoise Global Holdings Limited, the Group’s 84.2% owned pan-European MTF equity trading subsidiary, a venture between the Group and a number of global investment bank clients. UST Futures U.S. Treasury Futures. Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) The Voluntary Carbon Market enables private investors, governments, non-governmental organisations and businesses to voluntarily purchase carbon offsets to offset their emissions. Workspace LSEG’s data and analytics workflow solution designed to provide access to company financial data and economic indicators as well as news, analytics and productivity tools. World-Check The Group’s risk intelligence database designed to assist organisations in meeting their KYC and third-party due diligence screening obligations. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 198 Additional Information ![]() Investor Relations Shareholder services Equiniti registrars Shareview services Shareholders who hold London Stock Exchange Group shares in certificated form or within an Equiniti Investment Account or ISA can access Shareview. Shareview is a free service provided by our registrars, Equiniti. It may be accessed through the internet at: www.shareview.co.uk. By creating a Shareview portfolio, shareholders will gain online access to information about their London Stock Exchange Group shares and other investments, including: – Direct access to information held for you on the share register including share movements. – A daily indicative valuation of all investments held in your portfolio. – A range of information and practical help for shareholders. To register at Shareview shareholders will need their shareholder reference (which can be found on your share certificate) and they will be asked to select their own personal identification number. If shareholders have any problems in registering their portfolio for the Shareview service, contact Equiniti on 0371 384 2544. For calls from outside the UK, contact Equiniti on +44 (0)121 415 7047. American Depositary Receipts London Stock Exchange Group plc sponsors an American Depositary Receipt (ADR) programme in the United States. Four American Depositary Shares (ADSs) represent one ordinary share. ADSs are traded over-the- counter on the OTCQX Best Market using the symbol ‘LSEGY’. Enquiries regarding ADR holder accounts and payment of dividends should be directed to: Citibank Shareholder Services PO Box 43077, Providence, Rhode Island 02940-3077, USA. tel: 1-877-CITI-ADR (toll-free) or +1-781-575-4555 (outside US) email: citibank@shareholders-online.com website: www.citi.com/dr Group’s share price service To obtain share price information for London Stock Exchange Group plc, see our website at: www.lseg.com. By clicking on the Investor Relations tab, you will find the Company’s share price, historical closing prices and volumes and an interactive share price graph. Substantial shareholders As at 31 December 2025 the Company had been informed of the following notifiable voting rights in the issued share capital of the Company in accordance with DTR 5 of the FCA’s Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules: – Qatar Investment Authority 6.2% – BlackRock, Inc. 5.7% – The Capital Group Companies, Inc. 5.1% – Microsoft Corporation 4.1% – Lindsell Train Limited 4.1% Between 31 December 2025 and 25 February 2026 the Company had not received any additional notifications pursuant to DTR 5. Financial calendar (provisional) – Ex dividend date for final dividend – 16 April 2026. – Final dividend record date – 17 April 2026. – AGM – 23 April 2026. – Q1 Trading Statement (revenues only) – 23 April 2026. – Final dividend payment – 20 May 2026. – Half year end – 30 June 2026. – Interim results (for six months ended 30 June 2026) – 30 July 2026. – Q3 Trading Statement (revenues only) – 22 October 2026. – Financial year end – 31 December 2026. – Preliminary results – February 2027. Please refer to our website: www.lseg.com/en/ investor-relations and click on the shareholder services section for up-to-date details. For Tradeweb’s reporting dates please refer to their website: investors.tradeweb.com. 2026 AGM The AGM for the year ended 31 December 2025 will be held on 23 April 2026 at ‘87 Barts Close’, 87 Bartholomew Close, London EC1A 7EB, starting at 10.30am. Investor Relations London Stock Exchange Group plc 10 Paternoster Square London EC4M 7LS For enquiries relating to shareholdings in London Stock Exchange Group plc email ir@lseg.com. Visit the Investor Relations section of our website for up-to-date information including the latest share price, announcements, financial reports and details of analysts and consensus forecasts: www.lseg.com/en/ investor-relations. Registered office London Stock Exchange Group plc 10 Paternoster Square London EC4M 7LS Registered company number London Stock Exchange Group plc: 5369106 Registrar information Equiniti Aspect House Spencer Road Lancing West Sussex BN99 6DA T +44 (0)371 384 2030 Lines open 8:30 to 17:30 Monday to Friday. www.shareview.co.uk Independent auditors Deloitte LLP 2 New Street Square London EC4A 3BZ Principal legal adviser Freshfields LLP 100 Bishopsgate London EC2P 2SR T +44 (0)20 7936 4000 Corporate brokers Citi 33 Canada Square Canary Wharf London E14 5LB T +44 (0)20 7500 5000 www.citigroup.com Goldman Sachs Plumtree Court 25 Shoe Lane London EC4A 4AU T +44 (0)20 7774 1000 www.goldmansachs.com Morgan Stanley 25 Cabot Square Canary Wharf London E14 4QA T +44 (0)20 7425 8000 www.morganstanley.com London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 199 Financial Statements Additional InformationGovernanceStrategic Report ![]() Disclaimers LSEG, LSEG Coat of Arms, London Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange Group, LSE, the London Stock Exchange Coat of Arms Device, FTSE Russell, FTSE, FTSE Russell, SEDOL, SETS, UnaVista, Beyond Ratings, CDSClear, GIACT, LCH, SwapClear, SwapAgent, EquityClear, ForexClear, RepoClear, MillenniumIT, Refinitiv, the Refinitiv logo, Refinitiv Workspace, Lipper, World- Check, REDI, FXall, Eikon, Red Flag Group, Scivantage, Datastream, Tradeweb, Turquoise, the Yield Book, WGBI, Main Market and the Green Economy Mark are trademarks of London Stock Exchange Group and its group companies. London Stock Exchange Group plc | Annual Report 2025 200 Additional Information ![]() CBP00019082504183028 Consultancy, design and production by Design Bridge and Partners www.designbridge.com Board and Executive Committee photography byHenrik Andersen (LSEG) and Nabor Godoy (www.godoyshots.com). Printed by a CarbonNeutral® company with an Environmental Management System certified to ISO14001. This document is printed on paper using wood fibre from well-managed, FSC®-certified forestsand other controlled sources. 100% of the inks used are HP Indigo ElectroInk whichcomplies with RoHS legislation and meets thechemical requirements of the Nordic Ecolabel (Nordic Swan) for printing companies, and 100% ofany waste associated with this production has been recycled or diverted from landfill. The paper is Carbon Balanced with World Land Trust, an international conservation charity, who offset carbon emissions through the purchase and preservation of high conservation value land. Through protecting standing forests, under threat ofclearance, carbon is locked-in, that would otherwise be released. ![]() London Stock Exchange Group plc 10 Paternoster Square London EC4M 7LS Telephone +44 (0)20 7797 1000 Registered in England and Wales No. 5369106 lseg.com