Stock Exchange profits up 22%

The London Stock Exchange posted a 22 per cent rise in full-year profits to £341m yesterday, exceeding City forecasts and giving its chief executive Xavier Rolet's strategy a welcome lift ahead of his planned expansion with the purchase of Canada's TMX.

The exchange has seen its share of domestic equities trading slump in the past three years amid increasing competition from upstarts such as Chi-X Europe and Bats Europe.

Separately, Bats Global Markets, the third-largest US exchange operator, filed with US regulators for an initial public offering yesterday.

Bats is owned by many of the world's largest banks, including JPMorgan and Credit Suisse, and trading firms such as Lime Brokerage. It unveiled plans to merge its European unit with Chi-X Europe in February.