Final Results
Carphone Warehouse Group PLC
6 June 2002
STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL 0700 HOURS THURSDAY 6 JUNE 2002
The Carphone Warehouse Group PLC
Full Year Results to 30 March 2002
PERFORMANCE IN LINE WITH EXPECTATIONS
STRONG CURRENT TRADING
• Strong operating performance
• Headline profit after tax* to £36.5m (£36.3m last year)
• EBITDA pre exceptionals growth of over 10% to £72.8m (£66.0m
last year)
• Telecoms services recurring revenues tripled to £89.3m
• Continental European contribution increased by over 40%
• Improving quality on earnings
• Recurring revenues generated 45% of Group contribution (34%
last year)
• Telecoms services base up to 1,019,000 (214,000 last year)
• Insurance base up to 939,000 (795,000 last year)
• Sharp increase in Group market share
• UK market share over 20% (12% last year)
• Strong shift in subscription connections up 13% to 1.8m
• Total connections of 3.6m (last year 3.6m** ) despite
substantial fall in handset market in Western Europe
• Exceptional charges as previously announced
• Post balance sheet event: £36.6m sale and lease back
of London offices; exceptional profit of £16.5m
• £36.4m restructuring charges and £18.7m wireless
investment write down
• Net cash impact of the above is inflow of over £10m
Current Trading
Nine-week period to 1 June 2002
• Connections (including Sim Free) up 10% to 564,000 (513,000 last year).
Like for like retail revenue and gross margin of + 0.5% and + 3%
respectively
Four weeks of May 2002 (From 1 May 2002 year on year comparable trading
environment existed)
• Connections (including Sim Free) up 25% to 260,000 (208,000 last year).
Like for like retail revenue and gross margin of +12% and +16% respectively
* Before exceptionals and amortisation
** Ex-Tandy
Hans Roger Snook, Chairman said:
'In a market place that showed such a sharp drop in handset sales, The Carphone
Warehouse's performance demonstrated its quality as a retailer and the growing
impact of its telecoms services strategy. Increasingly, The Carphone Warehouse
is serving its customers throughout their mobile lifetimes - after the point of
sale as well as at the point of sale. This is building the average lifetime
value of our growing customer base.
'As a natural and impartial interface, The Carphone Warehouse is ideally placed
to introduce customers to the growing diversity of wirefree devices and
applications that will come with 2.5G and 3G services. This positions the Group
extremely well in the changing mobile market. The actions we put in place last
year are also strengthening the Group's retail business and its pan-European
support functions, as well as addressing the two weakest performing countries in
our retail operation. All this gives us confidence for the Group's performance
this year and beyond.'
Charles Dunstone, Chief Executive Officer said:
'In a challenging year, we have outperformed a European handset market that is
down by up to 40%. Our market share has increased substantially. We have also
delivered the strategy we outlined 12 months ago, with strong growth in
subscription sales, and the generation of significant recurring revenue streams
beyond the point of sale. We acted quickly to realign our business following the
operators' reduced appetite for pre-pay customers, and are restructuring our
operational functions accordingly.
'Looking ahead I believe we are perfectly positioned to benefit from both the
continued development of our core advice led proposition as well as the launch
of new technologies and mobile content services. It is now over a year since the
market's shift in focus, consequently comparisons are once again relevant. Our
current trading figures leave us feeling increasingly optimistic for the current
year ahead. We are delivering increased sales without the benefit of picture
messaging and the first 3G services which are still to come. All this forms a
stable platform from which we can deliver growth during the next 12 months and
beyond.'
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
52 Weeks 53 Weeks
30 March 31 March
2002 2001
£m £m
Turnover 1,152.7 1,110.7
EBITDA* 72.8 66.0
Headline* - Profit Before Tax 46.8 49.6
- Profit After Tax 36.5 36.3
- Earnings per Share 4.41p 5.00p
Amortisation of goodwill (14.7) (8.8)
Exceptional items (55.1) 6.6
Post exceptionals and amortisation
- Profit Before Tax (23.0) 47.4
- Profit After Tax (29.2) 35.4
- Earnings per Share (3.39)p 4.57p
* Before exceptionals and amortisation
The Carphone Warehouse Group PLC ('The Carphone Warehouse') today announces its
full year results for the 52 weeks ended 30 March 2002. Group turnover and
headline post tax earnings increased to £1,152.7m and £36.5m respectively.
Headline basic earnings per share for the year was 4.41p against 5.00p in the
previous year. Exceptional items announced in March 2002 gave rise to a charge
in the year of £55.1m.
An exceptional profit of £16.5m has been recognised after the year-end following
the sale and lease back for £36.6m of the Group's London offices in London in
May 2002. The total net cash impact of this and the above exceptional items is a
net cash inflow of over £10m.
Distribution
The revenue streams for distribution are divided into retail, online, insurance
and wholesale.
The distribution business generated total revenues of £1,061.6m against
£1,079.1m last year and contribution of £95.4m (2001 £101.2m). Excluding
wholesale activities, which generated £8.6m less profit year on year, the
distribution contribution improved from £86.7m to £89.5m. This has been achieved
against a Western European market estimated to be down by up to 40% against the
prior year.
The core retail and online businesses generated 3.6m connections in the
twelve-month period to 30 March 2002, compared to 3.6m last year (ex-Tandy).
This reflected a significant increase in market share across Europe. In the UK,
we have grown our market share from 12% in March 2001 to over 20% by the end of
March 2002. This is an impressive performance. We aim to build on this success
and increase our European market share further.
The Group connected 1.8m high value subscription customers, compared to 1.6m
last year, an increase of over 13.5%. Retail like for like sales for the year
were -8%; but like for like gross margin was stronger at -1%. Our UK market
produced like for like revenue and gross margin of -3% and +5% respectively.
A significant focus has also been made in the year on the reorganisation of our
continental European retail operations. We have identified the need to
restructure and centralise certain functions with the aim of rolling out best
practice, reducing duplication and driving cost efficiencies. As a result the
experience that we have gained from our more mature markets, and especially the
UK, is now being more rapidly adopted within our mainland European operations.
This is already showing encouraging signs in terms of our in-store proposition
and after sales offerings to customers including the rapid rollout of repairs
services, which are increasingly important in a highly penetrated mobile market.
We have also embarked on the withdrawal from non-key markets and the closure of
a significant number of under performing stores.
As a result of this our mainland European retail operations are in much better
stead, generating contribution of £32.2m, up more than 40% against the previous
year. Continued improvement is foreseen across these operations in the next
twelve months.
At the year-end, our store portfolio was 1,104 following the opening of around
150 new stores during the year. It is the Group's intention to open a further
100 stores in the forthcoming year.
In the UK we now have 461 stores, opening 69 new stores during the year, and
considerably increasing our retailing presence and our market share of new
connections and upgrades.
In France, our store portfolio is 151 compared to 140 last year and we have also
increased the number of express repair centres available. Our business in France
continues to benefit from the good relationship that it enjoys with the French
network operators, which has also been reinforced by the telecoms services
operation acquired during the year.
Our Spanish business is evidence of our ability to manage a turnaround in
difficult market conditions. With a change of management, the strength of
relationship with our key network partners and a reengineering of a number of
business processes, we have transformed this country's performance. Our
businesses in Portugal and Ireland also performed well in a rapidly changing
market place, reflecting the strength of the management in place.
Our operations in Sweden and The Netherlands experienced a difficult year of
trading, particularly in the earlier part of the year, but following intensive
management focus both are showing signs of good recovery to the levels of
profitability we would expect from these fundamentally good operations.
Germany and Belgium have however proved to be very challenging and losses
increased to £14.5m from £7.0m for the previous year in these markets. Following
a change of management and specific store closures, we are confident that we
have taken steps to significantly reduce the rate of these losses, although
further action and time is required before we can enjoy a full turnaround. We
reiterate losses will not be permitted on an ongoing basis beyond this current
financial year.
As announced prior to the year-end we have re-negotiated the terms of trade with
two network operators which in turn has resulted in an additional share of
customer spend. The impact of this in 2002/3 will be in the order of £3m-£4m
however this will be more than compensated for in the following years.
The online business continues to perform well and connected over 196,000
customers. This division contributed revenue of £36.7m (2001 £32.6m) to the
Group's turnover.
Our insurance products are now available in eleven of our twelve markets and
this business generated £60.4m revenue and the customer base increased by 18% to
over 939,000. Our growth rate in mainland Europe was over 40%.
Our wholesale division's performance reflects the decline in the handset market.
Whilst revenue remained reasonably constant at £343.0m, compared to £348.0m last
year, low margin voucher wholesaling activities significantly contributed to
this and as such the net contribution for this division fell significantly from
£14.5m last year to £5.9m.
Telecoms services
The telecoms services division generated revenue of £89.3m (2001 £30.5m) and
contribution of £35.9m (2001 £18.1m) representing growth of 193% and 98%
respectively. This division now plays an increasingly important role in the
Group's strategy.
As set out last year we have continued to invest in our strategy of generating
revenue beyond the point of sale and the telecoms services business now manages
over one million customers across five different networks in both the UK and
France.
The telecoms services business encompasses our facilities management operations
on behalf of network operators, with 864,000 customers, as well as management of
155,000 of our own customers in both the UK and France.
During the year we acquired and integrated CMC, the French telecoms services
business; established a 250 strong call centre in Le Mans, France on behalf of
SFR; secured facilities management contracts with Vodafone in the UK as well as
O2 and are looking at similar arrangements with additional European networks.
Altogether this is a significant change in activity from where we were only
twelve months ago.
Data services
The data services division generated revenues of £1.8m against £1.1m in 2001,
with losses of £2.4m against £5.3m in 2001. Following the re-organisation the
business has been profitable. We currently have 683,000 registered MViva
customers and continue our close partnership with AOL.
Balance Sheet and Cash Generation
The Group has a strong balance sheet, and has net funds including short-term
investments of £53.0m. The Group generated operating cash of £29.4m, and
invested £42.8m on acquisitions and £41.4m on capital expenditure for new stores
and operational infrastructure.
Net assets at the end of the year were £408.0m and the Group enjoys a liquidity
ratio of 1.4 reflecting the strength of the Group's financial position.
Post Balance Sheet Event
After the year end the Group exchanged contracts on the sale and lease back of
the its London offices for a cash consideration of £36.6m. This generated an
exceptional profit of £16.5m.
Exceptional Items
As announced in March, an exceptional charge of £31.2m has been made in the year
in relation to the reorganisation of our operations across Europe; a further
charge of £18.7m has been made to reflect the diminution in the value of the
Group's investment in Wireless Frontiers, an independently managed investment
fund; and exceptional costs of £5.2m have been recognised in relation to the
fundamental reorganisation of the Group's data services division.
Earnings per Share and Dividend Policy
Headline basic EPS for the year ending 30 March 2002 was 4.41p against 5.00p
last year. As in previous years the Board has decided to retain its shareholders
funds for continued investment in the development of the Group and the future
enhancement of shareholder value. The Board is therefore not proposing a
dividend for the year.
Current Trading
Trading for the nine-week period to 1 June 2002 reflects connections (including
Sim Free) increased by 10% to 564,000. Group like for like sales and gross
margin are +0.5% and +3% respectively.
For the period from 1 May 2002, when a year on year comparable trading
environment existed, actual connections increased by 25% to 260,000 and like for
like sales and gross margin are +12% and +16% respectively.
Our insurance base has risen to 960,000 and Telecoms services base to 1,055,000.
ENDS
For further information
The Carphone Warehouse Group PLC 07771 868 601
Charles Dunstone 07947 000 021
Roger Taylor
Tristia Clarke
For analyst and institutional inquiries 07801 580 090
Roger Taylor
Hugh Roberts
Citigate Dewe Rogerson 07973 611 888
Anthony Carlisle 020 7638 9571
www.carphonewarehouse.com
FINANCIAL REVIEW
Consolidated profit and loss account for the 52 weeks ended 30 March 2002
Before exceptional Exceptional items After exceptional Restated
items and and amortisation items and
amortisation amortisation
52 weeks ended 52 weeks ended 52 weeks ended 53 weeks ended
30 March 2002 30 March 2002 30 March 2002 31 March 2001
£000 £000 £000 £000
Turnover
Existing operations 1,106,353 1,106,353 991,690
Acquisitions 46,364 46,364 118,988
1,152,717 1,152,717 1,110,678
Cost of sales (834,413) (834,413) (830,126)
Gross profit 318,304 318,304 280,552
Operating expenses (excluding (245,500) (24,863) (270,363) (214,536)
amortisation and depreciation)
EBITDA 72,804 47,941 66,016
Depreciation (26,335) (26,335) (18,788)
Amortisation of goodwill (14,736) (14,736) (8,771)
Operating profit 46,469 6,870 38,457
Existing operations 40,886 3,340 37,700
Acquisitions 5,583 3,530 757
Amounts written off fixed asset (18,681) (18,681) -
investments
Profit on disposal of subsidiary - 16,514
undertakings
Loss on disposal of fixed assets (6,336) (6,336) (5,429)
Cost of fundamental reorganisation (5,210) (5,210) (4,530)
Profit (loss) before interest and 46,469 (23,357) 45,012
taxation
Net interest receivable 342 342 2,385
Profit (loss) on ordinary activities 46,811 (23,015) 47,397
before taxation
Tax on profit (loss) on ordinary (10,307) 4,145 (6,162) (11,998)
activities
Profit (loss) on ordinary activities 36,504 (29,177) 35,399
after taxation
Equity minority interests 262 653 915 (563)
Profit (loss) for the financial period 36,766 (28,262) 34,836
Earnings (loss) per share
Basic 4.41p (3.39)p 4.57p
Diluted 4.39p (3.39)p 4.43p
Headline earnings per share
Basic 4.41p 5.00p
Diluted 4.39p 4.86p
Consolidated statement of total recognised gains and losses for the 52 weeks
ended 30 March 2002
Restated
52 weeks ended 53 weeks ended
30 March 2002 31 March 2001
£000 £000
(Loss) profit for the financial period (28,262) 34,836
Loss on foreign currency translation (302) (383)
Total recognised gains and losses relating to the period (28,564) 34,453
Prior period adjustments (3,941) -
Total gains and losses recognised since last financial statements (32,505) 34,453
Consolidated balance sheet at 30 March 2002
Restated
30 March 2002 31 March 2001
£000 £000
Fixed assets
Intangible assets
Goodwill 274,798 231,471
Tangible assets 111,654 120,278
Investments 30,130 44,426
Total fixed assets 416,582 396,175
Current assets
Stock 50,088 52,437
Debtors due within one year 139,238 149,200
Short-term investments 67,637 46,374
Cash at bank and in hand 20,684 67,517
Total current assets 277,647 315,528
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year (199,669) (225,348)
Net current assets 77,978 90,180
Total assets less current liabilities 494,560 486,355
Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year (39,050) (15,434)
Provisions for liabilities and charges (47,483) (36,417)
Net assets 408,027 434,504
Capital and reserves
Called-up share capital 835 833
Share premium 359,305 356,235
Capital redemption reserve 30 30
Profit and loss account 47,085 75,719
Equity shareholders' funds 407,255 432,817
Minority interests 772 1,687
Total capital employed 408,027 434,504
Consolidated cash flow statement for the 52 weeks ended 30 March 2002
52 weeks ended 53 weeks ended
30 March 2002 31 March 2001
£000 £000
Net cash inflow from operating activities 29,352 43,663
Net cash inflow from returns on investments and servicing of 342 2,385
finance
Net cash outflow from taxation (9,398) (6,991)
Net cash outflow from capital expenditure and financial (48,742) (141,687)
investment
Net cash outflow from acquisitions and disposals (42,846) (18,818)
Net cash outflow before management of liquid resources (71,292) (121,448)
and financing
Net cash inflow from management of liquid resources - 196
Net cash inflow from financing 34,669 168,608
(Decrease) increase in cash in the period (36,623) 47,356
Reconciliation of operating profit to net cash inflow from operating activities
52 weeks ended 53 weeks ended
30 March 2002 31 March 2001
£000 £000
Operating profit excluding exceptional items 31,733 38,457
Operating exceptional items (24,863) -
Operating profit 6,870 38,457
Depreciation of tangible fixed assets 26,335 18,788
Amortisation of goodwill 14,736 8,771
EBITDA 47,941 66,016
(Profit) loss on disposal of fixed assets (646) 31
Increase (decrease) in provisions 9,533 (11,256)
Decrease in stock 2,700 5,187
Decrease (increase) in debtors 26,422 (54,248)
(Decrease) increase in creditors (56,598) 37,933
Net cash inflow from operating activities 29,352 43,663
Notes to the financial statements
For the 52 weeks ended 30 March 2002
Accounting policies
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with applicable
accounting standards under the historical cost convention. The principal
accounting policies have been applied consistently throughout the period and the
preceding period with the exception of the change in accounting policy resulting
from the adoption of Financial Reporting Standard 19 'Deferred Tax'.
Segmental analysis
Divisional results are analysed as follows:
2002 2001
Turnover Profit (loss) Net assets Turnover Profit before Restated Net
before tax tax assets
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Distribution 1,061,646 95,460 351,223 1,079,143 101,160 360,029
Telecoms services 89,321 35,872 28,875 30,481 18,125 21,802
Data services 1,750 (2,398) 27,929 1,054 (5,265) 52,673
Common costs - (56,130) - - (48,004) -
1,152,717 72,804 408,027 1,110,678 66,016 434,504
Depreciation (26,335) (18,788)
46,469 47,228
Exceptional items (55,090) 6,555
Amortisation (14,736) (8,771)
Net interest receivable 342 2,385
(Loss) profit before tax (23,015) 47,397
Results by geographical location are analysed by origin as follows:
2002 2001
Turnover Profit (loss) Net assets Turnover Profit before Restated Net
before tax tax assets
£000 £000 £'000 £000 £000 £000
United Kingdom 777,872 96,700 329,639 749,160 91,118 387,279
Rest of Europe 374,845 32,234 78,388 361,518 22,902 47,225
Common costs - (56,130) - - (48,004) -
1,152,717 72,804 408,027 1,110,678 66,016 434,504
Depreciation (26,335) (18,788)
46,469 47,228
Exceptional items (55,090) 6,555
Amortisation (14,736) (8,771)
Net interest receivable 342 2,385
(Loss) profit before tax (23,015) 47,397
There is no material difference between turnover by destination and turnover by
origin.
Acquisitions during the period generated the following turnover and profit
before tax by segment.
Turnover Profit Net assets
before tax
£000 £000 £000
Distribution 2,799 (51) (109)
Telecoms services 43,565 8,096 12,604
Common costs - (3,891) -
46,364 4,154 12,495
Rest of Europe 46,364 8,045 12,495
Common costs - (3,891) -
46,364 4,154 12,495
Tax on profit on ordinary activities
The tax charge for the period comprises:
Restated
2002 2001
£000 £000
Current tax
UK corporation tax 6,930 7,662
Overseas tax 2,778 473
9,708 8,135
Adjustments in respect of prior periods
UK corporation tax (2,538) (1,888)
Total current tax 7,170 6,247
Deferred tax
Origination and reversal of timing differences (1,008) 5,751
Total deferred tax (1,008) 5,751
Total tax on profit on ordinary activities 6,162 11,998
Earnings per share
The calculations of earnings per share are based on the following profits or
losses and numbers of shares:
Basic and diluted
Restated
2002 2001
£000 £000
(Loss) profit for the financial period (28,262) 34,836
Amortisation of goodwill 14,736 8,771
Operating exceptional items (net of tax and minority 21,573 -
interests)
Non-operating exceptional items (net of tax and minority 28,719 (5,429)
interests)
Earnings before amortisation of goodwill and exceptional 36,766 38,178
items
2002 2001
Number of shares Number of shares
000's 000's
Weighted average number of shares:
For basic earnings per share 833,382 763,002
Dilutive effect of share options 3,759 23,122
For diluted earnings per share* 837,141 786,124
Basic pence per share Diluted pence per share
Restated Restated
2002 2001 2002 2001
(Loss) earnings per share (3.39) 4.57 (3.39) 4.43
Headline earnings per share 4.41 5.00 4.39 4.86
*In accordance with FRS 14 'Earnings per Share', the dilutive effect of share
options has not been applied where doing so would decrease the loss per share.
Headline earnings per share calculations are provided since the Directors
consider that earnings before amortisation of goodwill and exceptional items
gives a better indication of underlying performance than standard earnings per
share.
Exceptional items
2002 2001
£'000 £'000
Costs of operational reorganisation
Store closures (a) (11,956) -
Business closures and reorganisation (a) (12,907) -
Exceptional operating items (24,863) -
Loss on disposal of fixed assets (b) (6,336) (5,429)
Amounts written off fixed asset investments (c) (18,681) -
Cost of fundamental reorganisation (d) (5,210) (4,530)
Profit on disposal of subsidiary undertakings (e) - 16,514
(55,090) 6,555
a) Costs of operational organisation
As anticipated in the financial statements for the period ended 31 March
2001, the Group has incurred costs in reorganising its operations across
Europe. This reorganisation comprises:
• the withdrawal from certain non-key territories;
• the closure of a significant number of under-performing retail outlets;
• the reorganisation of back office operations across the Group including
the establishment of shared service centres in the UK and Portugal.
b) Loss on disposal of fixed assets
Fixed assets with a net book value of £6.3m have been written down in
the period principally as a result of the withdrawal from non-key
territories and the store closures noted in (a). A provision of £2.9m
was made in the period ended 31 March 2001 in anticipation of the
withdrawal from non-key territories; this provision has been utilised to
offset the charge in the current period.
c. Amounts written off fixed asset investments
A provision of £18.7m has been made against the Group's holding in Wireless
Frontiers, an independently managed internet fund, to reflect the diminution
in the value of the fund at 30 March 2002.
d. Cost of fundamental reorganisation
A charge of £5.2m, reflecting the write-down of fixed assets and other
restructuring costs, has been made during the period principally in respect
of the fundamental reorganisation of the Group's Data services division,
involving a significant downscaling of wireless internet portal activities.
Costs arising in the period ended 31 March 2001 relate to the integration of
the support function and retail operations of Tandy into those of other UK
operations.
e. Profit on disposal of subsidiary undertakings
During the period ended 31 March 2001, the Group entered into a
strategic partnership agreement with AOL Europe SA to provide funding,
functionality and services to the Group's subsidiary, MViva Limited,
whereby AOL Europe paid $25m for a 15% interest, giving rise to a profit
of £16.5m.
Effect of exceptional items on taxation and minority interests
The effect of exceptional items on the amounts charged to the profit and loss
account for taxation and minority interests was:
Tax on profit on ordinary Minority interests
activities
2002 £'000 2001 £'000 2002 £'000 2001 £'000
Costs of operational reorganisation (3,290) - - -
Cost of fundamental reorganisation (855) (1,350) (653) -
Profit on disposal of subsidiary undertakings - - - 2,475
(Decrease) increase in charge to profit and loss account (4,145) (1,350) (653) 2,475
Reserves
Profit and loss Share Premium Capital redemption Total
account account reserve
£000 £000 £000 £000
Group
At 31 March 2001 as previously stated 79,660 356,235 30 435,925
Prior period adjustment (3,941) - - (3,941)
At 31 March 2001 as restated 75,719 356,235 30 431,984
Loss for the financial period (28,262) - - (28,262)
Currency translation (302) - - (302)
Issue of share capital (70) 3,070 - 3,000
At 30 March 2002 47,085 359,305 30 406,420
Reconciliation of movements in shareholders' funds
Restated
2002 2001
£000 £000
(Loss) profit for the financial period (28,262) 34,836
Currency translation (302) (383)
Issue of share capital 3,002 356,468
Other movements - (1,676)
Net movements in shareholders' funds (25,562) 389,245
Opening shareholders' funds 432,817 43,572
Closing shareholders' funds 407,255 432,817
Preliminary Financial Information
This financial information is prepared on the basis of accounting policies set
out in the Group's statutory accounts for the 52 weeks ended 30 March 2002.
The Directors of The Carphone Warehouse Group PLC are responsible, in accordance
with the Listing Rules of the Financial Services Authority and applicable United
Kingdom accounting standards, for preparing and issuing this preliminary
announcement, which was approved on 5 June 2002.
The financial information is extracted from the Group's full financial
statements for the period ended 30 March 2002 which were approved by the
Directors on 5 June 2002 and which received an unqualified audit report. This
financial information is abridged and does not constitute statutory accounts for
the 52 weeks ended 30 March 2002 and 53 weeks ended 31 March 2001. Full
financial statements for the 52 weeks ended 30 March 2002 will be filed with the
Registrar of Companies in due course. The 2001 Annual Report and Financial
Statements on which the auditors gave an unqualified report have been filed with
the Registrar of Companies.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange