London Stock Exchange Group's revenue rises to £359m in the first quarter and beats forecast

London Stock Exchange Group, which is in the process of merging with rival Deutsche Borse, posted an increase in first-quarter revenue, despite a disappointing performance in its technology division.

In the three months to 31 March, the group's technology business, which supplies trading and clearing software to exchanges across the world fell 18% year-on-year to £16.2m (£23.6m) as projects fell behind schedule.

However, the sluggish performance in the unit was more than offset by an 8% revenue gain in the capital markets division and a 10% year-on-year rise in the information services arm, which reflected continued good growth at FTSE Russell.

As a result, total group revenue in the period rose 8% from the corresponding quarter in 2015 to £358.9m, beating company's forecast for a £350.1m reading, while total income climbed 9% year-on-year to £387.6m.

"The group has started the year well and delivered a strong financial performance in the first quarter," said group chief executive Xavier Rolet. "We achieved underlying growth in each of our core business areas."

Rolet added the group's financial position had not "materially changed" in the first three months of the year, indicating LSE had continued to make good progress by integrating recent acquisitions, developing new products and expanding services and partnerships in line with its strategy.

The FTSE 100 company added it was in the process of preparing the documents for its proposed merger with Deutsche Borse, including the shareholder prospectus and antitrust filings, and would update the market in the following months.

"This [the merger] presents a compelling opportunity to expand our business in an industry-defining combination, creating a global markets infrastructure group," said Rolet.

"With substantial cost synergies and multiple opportunities to extend our product offerings, we believe this transaction offers significant value and benefits to customers and shareholders."