STRONG START TO TRADING IN 2004

Trading in 2004 began strongly with the number and value of trades in January increasing year on year across most of the London Stock Exchange’s markets.

January 2004 was the strongest month yet for trading on EDX London with 2.24 million contracts traded. This was an increase of 27 per cent on the previous high in October 2003.

The value traded on SETS™, the Exchange’s electronic order book, was £75.4 billion during the month, rising from last year’s value of £62.1 billion. The total number of trades on SETS reached an all-time high of 3.37 million in January 2004 - a 17 per cent increase year on year. Included in these figures were 220,481 SETSmm trades worth £3.0 billion, a healthy increase on the 131,884 trades worth £1.6 billion recorded in December. The average daily number of trades on SETS rose to 160,521 from 130,806.

There were 4.76 million UK equity trades on the Exchange in January 2004, up 22 per cent on the total of 3.91 million equity trades in January 2003. The total value of UK shares traded in January 2004 was £209.7 billion, up from £148.7 billion last year.

The number of international equity trades fell from 1.16 million trades in January 2003 to 968,082 trades in January 2004, a decrease of 16 per cent. But the value of these trades was £210.2 billion compared to £177.1 billion in January 2003.

On the primary market, there were 11 new issues during January 2004, one on the Main Market and ten on AIM (three of which were IPOs) raising £84.32 million between them. This was down from the 14 new issues seen in January 2003.

There were 21 business days in January 2004 compared with 22 days in January 2003.

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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 2003, the market capitalisation of UK and international companies on its markets amounted to £3.3 trillion, with £3.6 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 over 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.

LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE

FACTSHEET FIGURES

	January 2004
		2004		2003
	DOMESTIC EQUITY TRADING	Month	Year to date	Month	Year to date
	Equity Trading Value (£m)	209,749	209,749	148,712	148,712
	Number of Equity Bargains	4,763,719	4,763,719	3,907,217	3,907,217
	INTERNATIONAL EQUITY TRADING
	Equity Trading Value (£m)	210,245	210,245	177,146	177,146
	Number of Equity Bargains	968,082	968,082	1,156,449	1,156,449
	ORDER BOOK TRADING
	Order Book Value £m	75,431	75,431	62,147	62,147
	Order Book Bargains	3,370,940	3,370,940	2,877,723	2,877,723
		January 2004		January 2003
	DOMESTIC MARKET CAPITALISATION (£bn)		1,367		1,055
	TOTAL NUMBER OF COMPANIES		2,681		2,815
	UK list	1,548		1,694
	Foreign	376		416
	AIM	757		705
	techMARK	176		209
		2004		2003
	MONEY RAISED (£m)	Month	Year to date	Month	Year to date
	UK & AIM New Issues	84	84	26	26
	Further, Rights and Other	988	988	170	170
	Bonds, Warrants and Fixed	16,609	16,609	5,680	5,680
	International New Issues	-	-	-	-
	Further, Rights and Other	91	91	-	-
	Bonds, Warrants and Fixed	8,586	8,586	9,064	9,064
	COMPANIES ADMITTED	11	11	14	14

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