Now London Stock Exchange is hit by supply chain turmoil

THE London Stock Exchange has been hit by global supply chain disruption after the delivery of “tech hardware” components was delayed.

Shares in the company that owns the LSE were down 6pc after it revealed the news alongside its latest trading update. Investors were also spooked by higher than expected costs related to the London Stock Exchange Group’s $27bn (£20bn) deal for data provider Refinitiv earlier this year.

The stock exchange’s website also went down yesterday morning, meaning it was unable to display real time prices on its website. The glitch was later resolved.

The company said that “supply chain pressures may impact the timing of some technology spend this year.” It said there was no change to its overall cost and capital expenditure guidance.

Finance chief Anna Manz said: “We’ve seen a few weeks’ delay in the delivery of some particular tech hardware-type items. It’s not impacting any of our transformation or integration project timing or any of our overarching change delivery.” The warning highlights how supply chain chaos and chip shortages, which have affected manufacturers such as carmakers, have now seeped through to the finan- cial services industry.

It comes as London Stock Exchange Group is upending its business model following the Refinitiv deal. The acquisition by one of the world’s oldest bourses doubled its revenues, increased its workforce fivefold and gained 400,000 customers overnight. It also means that the majority of LSEG’S revenue now comes from data.

However, the integration of Refinitiv has not been smooth. The LSE warned of higher than expected costs earlier this year, while its Eikon data terminals have experienced several blackouts. Shares have slumped more than 16pc since the beginning of January.

David Schwimmer, chief executive of London Stock Exchange Group, said: “We are making excellent progress on the integration of Refinitiv and are comfortably on-track to achieve £125m of cost synergies in 2021, ahead of our original phasing.”

The group also warned its income will not grow as quickly in the fourth quarter as the prior three months.