May 19 (Bloomberg) -- London Stock Exchange Plc must do ``a lot more'' to meet its own expectations of capturing as much as 30 percent of the market for Dutch stock trading, after only securing an average of less than 2 percent since it started the initiative.

``We need to be doing a lot more,'' Chief Executive Clara Furse said today on a conference call with journalists. ``The decision to shift liquidity is up to the customers. You can lead a horse to the water but you can't make it drink.''

European exchanges are vying for dominance as they try to boost earnings, and the Dutch stock market has become an arena for competition between the continent's three largest stock exchanges. LSE, which reported the 2 percent market share figure in full-year results today, entered the Dutch market in May 2004 to compete with rival Euronext NV.

Furse, 47, said at the time that she expected LSE will handle between 20 percent and 30 percent of trading in Dutch stocks within the first year of its entry. Furse today declined to provide a new target for the Dutch trading business. She also wouldn't say when the company may meet the previous goal.

``Forecast is the wrong word, target is right,'' Furse said, in response to a question about LSE's intention to grab as much as a third of trading in the Netherlands.

LSE entered the Dutch market after Deutsche Boerse AG, Europe's biggest exchange by market value, moved in to challenge incumbent Euronext, which operates the Amsterdam market.

LSE today reported a 9 percent decline in second-half profit to 27.4 million pounds ($50.4 million).

The average market share for trading in Dutch stocks since the U.K. exchange started the project is little changed from the first week of trading last year. LSE said last June that its share of the market for Amsterdam-listed shares fell below 2 percent in its first week of operation.

``This start was in line with expectations,'' LSE said at the time. ``Once vendors resolve their outstanding software issues it is expected that the service will develop.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Nandini Sukumar in London at nsukumar@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 19, 2005 06:26 EDT