The London Stock Exchange reported a boom in initial public offerings through the first half of 2006.

The LSE said today that 194 companies raised over £10.4 billion ($21.68 billion) through IPOs on the London Stock Exchange’s markets during the first six months of 2006, a 64% increase on the £6.4 billion in IPO money raised during the same period last year.

A good deal of its new issues came from overseas companies. The exchange attracted 50 international IPOs to the Main Market and AIM, drawing companies from 15 different countries. This total included seven international companies on the Main Market, raising £2.7 billion between them, and 43 international companies on AIM, raising £1.8 billion between them. By comparison, during the period from January to May this year, there were 15 international IPOs on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq combined.

Overall, during the first half of this year there were 40 IPOs on the Main Market, raising £5.2 billion, and 151 IPOs on AIM, raising £4.7 billion. This total included four IPOs on the Main Market in June 2006, raising £171.6 million, and 21 IPOs on AIM which raised £481.4 million, including eight IPOs from international companies.

Trading on the LSE also continued to show very strong growth in June. There were 7.3 million electronic trades during the month, up 77% from June 2005, and the value traded increased 68% to £138.2 billion. The average daily number of trades in June increased to 329,648 while the average daily value traded rose to £6.3 billion.

The exchange said its International Order Book had an excellent month with an 183% increase in the number of trades to 69,402, and an increase of 236% in the value traded to £5.6 billion.

Covered warrants and structured products saw 7,714 trades during the month, up 89% from June 2005, and a total value traded of £80.5 million, an increase of 299%. The number of ETF trades during the month was up 92% on the same month last year to 20,002, and the value traded increased 161% to £1.6 billion.