The London Stock Exchange, seen as a takeover target since the collapse of its bid for a Canadian rival, reported a 14 per cent rise in revenue for its financial first quarter driven by its smaller post-trade business.

The UK exchange said revenue for the three months to the end of June rose to £190.2 million.

Revenue at its top-earning share trading business was up by 4 per cent to £79.7 million. Its smaller post-trade unit posted a 58 per cent rise to £51.8 million and data services rose by 6 per cent to £44.7 million.

"These strong first-quarter figures confirm that we continue to make good progress," LSE chief executive Xavier Rolet said in a statement.

Speculation about the LSE's future has intensified since the collapse three weeks ago of its high-profile $3.5 billion bid to merge with Canadian exchange TMX Group .

The LSE announced a friendly merger with TMX in February but a Canadian consortium named Maple opposed the plan in May, arguing the Canadian exchange should not be allowed to fall into foreign hands.

The LSE pulled its TMX bid on June 29th, just hours before TMX shareholders voted on the plan, because it had failed to secure enough support from shareholders voting by proxy and could not win enough support to proceed.

LSE shares have risen by 17 per cent since Maple opposed the LSE's deal as traders have gambled that the UK exchange would itself become a takeover target, possibly for US peer Nasdaq OMX or the Singapore Exchange if the TMX deal failed.

No bid has emerged for the LSE since it dropped the TMX bid, but the firm's stock is trading around a 12-month high of £10 a share on speculation an offer may be pending.

Reuters