Number of companies trading on London Stock Exchange drops by 17% in 5 years

Data gathered by Buyshares.co.uk indicates that between January 2015 and May 2020, the number of monthly trading companies on the London Stock Exchange has dropped by 17%. The number has been gradually dropping in the last five years.

Coronavirus pandemic impacts LSE’s monthly trading companies

In January 2015, the number stood at 2,425 and by May this year, the number was 2,005, the lowest ever in the last five years. At the end of January this year, the companies were 2,024, and later increased by 0.56% to 2,036, a month later.

Between February 2017 and April 2018, the number of companies remained largely constant averaging at 2,034. Between April 2018 and May 2018, the companies increased by 6.98% to 2,163. This was one of the highest spikes in the last five years.

The companies were at the highest in January 2015 at 2,429. From this point, the number has been dropping gradually. The biggest plunge was between January 2017 at 2,261 and February 2017 at 2,037, a drop of 9.9%.

The London Stock Exchange is among the leading platforms globally, however recent events in the global economy are taking a toll on its operations. According to Buyshares.co.uk research report:

“The continued drop in the number of companies trading on LSE correlated with the coronavirus crisis. The crisis hit the global stock market hard resulting in a wipe-off in billions in stock values alongside extreme volatility and massive sell-offs. The losses registered on the London Stock Exchange are among the worst historically.”

Buyshares.co.uk‘s research also overviewed the number of daily trades on the London Stock Exchange in the United Kingdom between January 2015 and March 2020. During the period under review, the highest daily trades on LSE was in March 2020 at 2.04 million, a spike of about 158.7% compared to January figures.

Between January 2015 and March 2020, daily trade increased by 122.33%. In January 2015, the average daily trades stood at 916,050. The lowest daily trades were recorded in December 2015 at 772,990. Before the March 2020 spike, the highest daily trades on LSE were recorded in February 2018 when the number was 1.25 million.

The monthly trading companies are daily trades are expected to increase considering a majority of economies have begun reopening.

The full story, statistics and information can be found here