(Bloomberg) -- London Stock Exchange Group Plc plans to release a number of products generated by its data partnership with Microsoft Corp. in the coming months, it said as its first-quarter earnings met expectations. 

The market infrastructure and data provider said total income excluding recoveries was £2.09 billion ($2.6 billion) in the first quarter, up 4.1% on a year ago. That compared to £2.1 billion in analyst predictions compiled by Bloomberg.

“We have started the year well,” Chief Executive Officer David Schwimmer said in a statement. “We are now picking up the pace of migrating our datasets onto the Microsoft platform, which will transform access to our data for customers.” 

First-quarter revenue from data and analytics, the group’s biggest division, edged up 1% to £999 million. The capital markets unit jumped 11% to £439 million, helped by rates trading. Post-trade income rose 3% to £297 million.

Shares fell as much as 1.8% in early trading in London and were 0.1% lower at 8:11 a.m.

In 2022, LSEG agreed to work with Microsoft Corp. on technology projects including the development of artificial intelligence models — a collaboration the London-based firm said will yield either pilots or full releases of new products during the first half of the year. 

LSEG completed its $27 billion purchase of Refinitiv in 2021, kicking off a new era where the majority of its revenues come from data. The parent company of Bloomberg News competes with Refinitiv to provide financial news, data and information. 

The update comes ahead of LSEG’s annual meeting on Thursday, where shareholders will vote on whether to more than double Schwimmer’s maximum pay to about £13 million. If approved, he will potentially be one of the best-paid chiefs in the FTSE 100. 

(Adds share price in fifth paragraph.)

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.