The under-pressure boss of London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has come out fighting as he announced a record £3bn share buy-back and brushed aside investor fears over AI.
David Schwimmer delivered a bullish outlook in LSEG’s first set of results since it emerged that feared US activist investor Elliott Management has taken a stake.
Schwimmer insisted that the business’s focus would not be derailed by the potentially ‘unhelpful’ distraction created.
Shares climbed by nearly 7pc in early trading but are still down by 25pc over the past year after the group became caught up in an AI-related sell-off.
Investors have dumped a swathe of stocks including software and data businesses over fears that the rise of artificial intelligence will make them obsolete.
Schwimmer firmly rejected the idea that LSEG would be hurt by the rise of AI.
David Schwimmer said it was ‘verging on impossible’ that LSEG’s data could be replaced by AI
He said the group had been explaining to investors ‘how unlikely, verging on impossible it is’ that LSEG’s data ‘could be replicated or replaced by AI’.
The group owns a market business including the London Stock Exchange but its biggest revenue earner is its data and analytics division.
Schwimmer pointed out that major global firms had signed contracts with the group worth £1.9bn in the last quarter alone to access its ‘unmatched and trusted data’.
‘Evidently, they believe our solutions are more valuable in an AI world – not less,’ he added.
Schwimmer said the group has ‘had some discussions’ with Elliott, adding: ‘We always welcome constructive engagement. Shareholders have… lots of different views on different things.’
Asked how that had affected the business, he said: ‘The team immediately realised that you can have external distractions and that that can be unhelpful for the team, unhelpful for our customers and frankly unhelpful for our shareholders.
‘We immediately had a strong sense of – maintain focus, maintain delivery, focus on our customers. And that has been the mood music since then.’
The group rejected the idea that the share buy-back had been drive by pressure from Elliott – which has reportedly been pushing for a buy-back of £5bn.
Schwimmer also said it had no plans for asset sales.
It came as the group reported a 56pc rise in pre-tax profits to £2bn for 2025 as revenues grew 6c to £9bn and forecast performance for this year ahead of analysts’ expectations.
Analysts at JP Morgan said: ‘The positive message around momentum within the business should also help sentiment, and perhaps clear some of the fears of AI disruption that have impacted the stock over the previous months.’