LSE reports rising quarterly revenues

London Stock Exchange Group on Friday posted rising revenues for the third quarter of the company's financial year, despite volatile financial markets. Revenues grew seven percent to £160.8 million ($308 million, 234.5 million euros) in the three months to the end of December, compared with the same period of 2010, the firm revealed in a trading update. That was higher than expectations of £152.4 million, according to analysts polled by the group, which operates the London Stock Exchange and Italy's Borsa Italiana. The company added that total income, which combines revenue with treasury income from its Italian clearing business, rose 17 percent to £196.3 million in the reporting period. "Our diversification strategy continues to pay dividends and the breadth and balance of our offering gives our portfolio a good element of natural hedge, making us well-placed to drive the ongoing performance of the group," chief executive Xavier Rolet said in the statement. "We remain firmly committed to enhancing the group's competitiveness, focusing on our customers and to developing our wide range of products and services." The LSE has been aggressive in trying to woo foreign companies from all over the world to list in London, an effort matched by its strategy to enlarge its business through acquisitions. Over the past two and a half years, it has acquired Turquoise, an erstwhile competitor in European share trading, as well as Sri Lankan technology provider MillenniumIT. The group failed last year in its attempt to purchase Canada's TMX Group Inc, operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange. However, LSEG is currently in talks to buy a stake in leading independent clearing house group LCH.Clearnet. Clearing houses play a key role in the transaction of shares between two parties, charging clients a fee to guarantee deals should one side default. Last month, meanwhile, the LSE bought the remaining 50-percent stake in FTSE International Ltd that it did not already own from publisher Pearson for £450 million.