LSEG cranks up profits and buybacks

Not the ticker you were looking for

This piece is about London Stock Exchange Group, not Liquid Holdings (LQDT), so the ticker on the prompt is a mismatch. But the actual company had a pretty solid year: total income excluding recoveries rose 5.8% to £8.986 billion, while adjusted EBITDA climbed 9% to £4.523 billion. Translation: the business is squeezing more profit out of each pound of revenue, which is usually the kind of thing Wall Street likes to see.

The margin machine keeps rolling

Management’s message is basically: the transformation plan is working, and AI/software-fueled efficiency is helping the company do more with less. EBITDA margin improved to 50.3%, which is a very fancy way of saying the company is getting a lot better at turning income into actual earnings instead of just vibes.

Shareholders are getting the good stuff

LSEG also leaned hard into capital returns:

• £2.1 billion was returned via share buybacks in 2025
• dividends were raised 15%
• another £3 billion buyback program is planned over the next 12 months

That’s the corporate version of “we made money, and yes, you’re coming with us.” If you own the stock, those returns can matter almost as much as the growth numbers, especially when the company is telegraphing confidence in future cash flow.

What comes next?

For 2026, the company is guiding to 6.5%–7.5% organic constant-currency growth in total income and an 80–100 basis point improvement in EBITDA margin. In plain English: management expects the business to keep growing and keep getting leaner at the same time.

Big picture: this is a classic “strong quarter/year plus generous capital returns” story — exactly the sort of combo that can keep long-term investors interested, even if the headline ticker in the prompt had nothing to do with it.