(Reuters) -The London Stock Exchange Group on Thursday announced a share buyback program of 1 billion pounds ($1.33 billion) for the second half after reporting a better-than-expected rise in first-half profit, driven by strong performance across its businesses.

The company said total income, excluding recoveries, in the first half was 4.49 billion pounds, up 7.8% on an organic constant currency basis. Analysts were expecting a 7.5% increase on average, according to a company-compiled poll.

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($1 = 0.7541 pounds)

(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)