FURTHER GROWTH IN SETS TRADES IN AUGUST

The number of trades on SETS™, the London Stock Exchange’s electronic order book, increased to 2.35 million in August 2003, 15 per cent higher than the 2.03 million trades in August 2002. The value traded on SETS during the month was £52 billion, up from £50 billion in August 2002.

The average daily number of trades on SETS was 117,254, up 21 per cent from 96,848 in August 2002. SETS achieved a 60.6 per cent share of eligible trades by value in August 2003, compared with 63.7 per cent in August 2002. There were 20 business days in August 2003 compared with 21 in August 2002.

The total number of equity trades on the Exchange was 4.13 million in August 2003. This represents a marginal increase on August 2002, during which there was a total of 4.11 million equity trades. The total value of shares traded this August was £270.1 billion, down from £305.9 billion last August.

In August 2003, there were 775,519 retail trades representing 18.8 per cent of all trading on the Exchange. This was up on July 2003, when retail trading represented 17.4 per cent of all trading. These figures are calculated on declarations from participating member firms.

On the primary market, there were 15 new issues during August 2003, seven of which were IPOs on AIM, raising £12.8 million between them. This compares with 21 new issues, of which 4 were IPOs, in August 2002.

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Notes to editors:

• About the London Stock Exchange:

  The London Stock Exchange is one of the world’s leading equity exchanges and a leading provider of services that facilitate the raising of capital and the trading of shares.

  The London Stock Exchange is the most international equities exchange by trading in the world and Europe's largest pool of liquidity. By the end of 2002, the market capitalisation of UK and international companies on its markets amounted to £3.1 trillion, with £4.6 trillion of equity business transacted over the year.

  The London Stock Exchange is a Recognised Investment Exchange (RIE) under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and is supervised by the Financial Services Authority.

• SETS – the electronic order book.

  It is now five years since the launch of SETS and the service continues to go from strength to strength. Overall, the market is benefiting from tighter spreads and greater liquidity. Usage of SETS continues to grow, as shown by recent record increases in the number of orders entered, the number of firms using the order book and order book share of business.

  Indices are calculated and managed by FTSE Group, a world-leader in the creation and management of global equity indices. The FTSE Group is jointly owned by the London Stock Exchange and the Financial Times, but operates as a wholly autonomous company.

  For information about the company or any FTSE indices, please contact media@ftse.com

  IPO - when a new company joins our market raising money. This excludes transfers and introductions (a company that joins a market without raising money).

• Retail Trading Figures

  Retail trading figures are available from our website at - http://www.londonstockexchange.com/trading/retailtrade.asp
  Figures are available from November 2002 to date.

LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE

MONTHLY FACTSHEET FIGURES

August 2003

	July 2003
		2003		2002
	DOMESTIC EQUITY TRADING	Month	Year to date	Month	Year to date
	Equity Trading Value (£m)	146,237	1,165,527	131,088	1,246,540
	Number of Equity Trades	3,478,227	29,592,289	2,994,509	24,095,025
	INTERNATIONAL EQUITY TRADING
	Equity Trading Value (£m)	123,895	1,110,211	174,820	1,999,538
	Number of Equity Trades	648,496	6,814,315	1,111,787	10,154,848
	ORDER BOOK TRADING
	Order Book Value £m	52,044	456,624	50,014	451,653
	Order Book Trades	2,345,084	21,083,341	2,033,818	14,474,475
		August 2003		August 2002
	DOMESTIC MARKET CAPITALISATION £bn		1,283		1,253
	TOTAL NUMBER OF COMPANIES		2,701		2,865
	UK list	1,601		1,754
	Foreign	393		429
	AIM	707		682
	of which techMARK	188		224
		2003		2002
	MONEY RAISED £m	Month	Year to date	Month	Year to date
	UK & AIM New Issues Equity	22	1,770	29	5,002
	Further, Rights and Other	613	3,028	530	9,949
	Bonds, Warrants, Fixed Interest	3,495	72,887	1,804	54,142
	Int. New Issues Equity	-	100	-	-
	Further, Rights and Other	-	4,830	2	1,717
	Bonds, Warrants, Fixed Interest	9,523	64,753	2,929	53,506
	COMPANIES ADMITTED	15	99	21	166

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