Pre-tax losses more than doubled at Plus Markets in the six months to June 30, after the junior stock exchange suffered from a dearth of listings and had to find an extra £2.5m ($3.97m) in costs arising from a threatened court battle with the London Stock Exchange.

The dispute with the LSE over the rights of Plus to report trades in the shares of all the companies quoted on Aim delayed the group’s expansion plans, ratcheted up lawyers’ costs and meant Plus needed an injection of £5.5m from Middle Eastern investors, Amara Dhari Investments.