The London Stock Exchange Group this morning shrugged off concerns regarding the group's exposure to the Italian sovereign debt crisis, posting a strong performance for its first-half results that were buoyed by the group's Italian clearing house.

The UK exchange, which is exposed to Italy through its Borsa Italiana subsidiary, posted an 87% year-on-year rise in net profit in the six months ended September 30 to hit £116.1m. Revenue was up 9% at £328.1m from £300.6m previously.