LSE boss expects fresh bout of floats

THE boss of the London Stock Exchange is looking forward to a fresh wave of stock market listings as the market enjoyed its best year for flotations since 2007.

Xavier Rolet, who has been chief executive for six years, said he expects a flurry of activity in the UK after the general election in May.

The 55-year-old Frenchman also said the European economy is moving into a ‘sweet spot’ which would encourage more businesses to launch initial public offerings on the Continent this year.

His comments came as the LSE, which also owns Borsa Italiana and pan-European trading platform Turquoise, reported a 19pc rise in profits for 2014 to £491.7m. Revenues were 32pc higher at £1.28bn.

The 214-year-old LSE group welcomed 219 new firms to its markets in London and Italy in 2014 – its busiest year since 2007.

That included 58 listings on the main market in London worth £14.1bn and a further 80 on AIM worth £2.8bn.

Among the highlights was the sale of shares in the 109-year-old AA to investors in a listing that valued Britain’s largest roadside recovery service at £1.4bn.

Online fashion retailer Boohoo.com became the biggest listing on AIM of 2014 when it raised £300m. Other high-profile IPOs included Pets At Home, Poundland and AO World.

Rolet hailed ‘another successful year’ for the company as he unveiled a 6.5pc increase in the dividend to 12.8p-a-share.

LSE shares – which have risen around 250pc under Rolet – closed 3p higher to 2403p.

Rolet said that low inflation across Europe, driven by the collapse in the price of oil and other commodities, ‘will be a very significant and positive trend to support the IPO market in the coming months’.

Chief financial officer David Warren added: ‘We have seen a good flow of IPOs – a seven-year high in new issue activity, with 219 new companies joining our markets. Looking ahead, the pipeline remains encouraging, with 12 IPOs so far in 2015, a 20pc increase on the same time last year.’