STRONG DECEMBER FOR SETS TRADES

The number of trades on SETS™, the London Stock Exchange’s electronic order book, increased to 2.67 million (of which 131,884 were trades on SETSmm™) in December 2003, a rise of 35 per cent on the number of trades in December 2002. The value traded on SETS during the month was £53.2 billion (of which £1.6 billion was for trades on SETSmm), up from £40.2 billion in December 2002. The average daily number of trades on SETS was 127,224 up from 98,718 in December 2002.

For the year as a whole, there were 32.9 million SETS trades, which represented a 38 per cent increase on 2002. The value of these trades in 2003 increased seven per cent on 2002, from £670.5 billion to £715.2 billion.

International Order Book (IOB) trading on the Exchange increased by 50 per cent to 27,936 trades in December 2003, up from 18,608 trades in December 2002. The value of these trades rose from £3.7 billion in December 2002 to £7.5 billion in December 2003.

The total number of equity trades on the Exchange was 4.47 million in December 2003. This was up 17 per cent on a total of 3.81 million equity trades in December 2002. The total value of shares traded in December 2003 was £304.3 billion, up from £258.3 billion in December last year. In 2003 there were 56.11 million trades, a seven per cent increase on 2002.

The number of trades in the covered warrant market increased to 4,165 trades in December 2003, compared with 901 trades in December 2002. The value of these trades was £128.1 million, compared with £1.67 million in December 2002.

On the primary market, there were 42 new issues during December 2003, 25 of which were IPOs: six on the Main Market and 19 on AIM, raising £1.2 billion between them. This compares with 17 new issues, of which seven were IPOs in December 2002.

During 2003, there were 201 new issues, 86 of which were IPOs: 20 on the Main Market, (17 UK companies and three international companies) and 66 on AIM, raising £4.5 billion between them. This compares with 228 new issues in 2002, 97 of which were IPOs: 37 on the Main Market and 60 on AIM, raising £5.3 billion between them.

There were 21 business days in December 2003 compared with 20 days in December 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 six 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).

• SETSmm

  SETSmm is the Exchange’s new trading service for FTSE 250 and other leading non order book securities. By combining the best features of the existing SETS and SEAQ trading services, SETSmm appeals to market users who want to trade electronically, as well as those customers who use the market making system.

• 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.

• International Order Book

  The International Order Book (IOB) is the market for trading liquid overseas securities. The market is based on an electronic order book similar to SETS but with the added option for member firms to display their identity pre-trade by using Named Orders.

  Currently almost 90 developing markets depositary receipts are traded on IOB. The depositary receipts are issued by large companies from countries in Central & Eastern Europe, Asia and Mediterranean. The IOB offers easy and cost efficient access for investors looking to invest in fast growing economies that otherwise are onerous or costly to access directly.

  
  LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE

  MONTHLY FACTSHEET FIGURES

  	December 2003
  		2003		2002
  	DOMESTIC EQUITY TRADING	Month	Year to date	Month	Year to date
  	Equity Trading Value (£m)	147,396	1,876,922	105,935	1,815,034
  	Number of Equity Trades	3,661,571	46,160,508	2,812,373	37,508,832
  	INTERNATIONAL EQUITY TRADING
  	Equity Trading Value (£m)	156,923	1,759,120	152,408	2,780,317
  	Number of Equity Trades	804,743	9,949,410	1,002,167	15,159,382
  	ORDER BOOK TRADING
  	Order Book Value £m	53,159	715,169	40,165	670,500
  	Order Book Trades	2,671,712	32,897,427	1,974,364	23,839,550
  		December 2003		December 2002
  	DOMESTIC MARKET CAPITALISATION (£m)		1,374		1,158
  	TOTAL NUMBER OF COMPANIES		2,692		2,824
  	UK list	1,557		1,701
  	Foreign	381		419
  	AIM	754		704
  	of which techMARK	178		210
  		2003		2002
  	MONEY RAISED (£m)	Month	Year to date	Month	Year to date
  	UK & AIM New Issues Equity	1,206	3,487	170	5,375
  	Further, Rights and Other	1,206	5,892	178	12,017
  	Bonds, Warrants, Fixed Interest	6,958	118,837	7,770	87,019
  	Int. New Issues Equity	-	1,134	-	-
  	Further, Rights and Other	2,687	7,879	-	5,455
  	Bonds, Warrants, Fixed Interest	6,394	94,650	6,096	73,284
  	COMPANIES ADMITTED	42	201	17	17

  
  

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