Reuters today showed further signs of increased competitiveness in a market where the news and information group had lost ground to Bloomberg and other rivals.
The group said an 8.4 per cent decline in recurring revenues, to £556 million, over the first quarter of 2004 bettered its earlier forecast for a drop of around 9 per cent.
The company reported a ”noticeable improvement” in trading conditions and said that it continued to build the “competitive momentum” that allowed it to win sales for its financial information products.
Reuters expects further improvements in the current three-month period when recurring revenues, which represent 93 per cent of the company’s core earnings, are expected to fall by between 6 per cent and 6.5 per cent on a year-on-year basis.
The company, which reported the rate of decline at 11 per cent last year, added the improvement was likely to be more gradual in the second half of the year.
Tom Glocer, Reuter’s chief executive, said the recent improvement had been most noticeable in the US where new sales over the quarter outpaced cancellations for the first time since March 2001.
He added: ”We are continuing to build competitive momentum, with good sales wins in all three of our financial segments.”
Total revenues for the three months to March 31 were £598 million, down from £670 million for the same period last year.
Reuters said that the actual 10.7 per cent fall in revenues represented an underlying 8.2 per cent fall after stripping out exceptional items the effects of currency movements.
The dollar’s weakness against sterling cost Reuters £25 million in the first quarter, the company said.
The media group had been rocked by a sharp fall in demand for its products in recent years, especially from corporate customers who cut staff numbers and turned to Reuters’ competitors during the economic downturn.
That led to annual losses of almost £500 million in 2002, the first loss since Reuters listed as a public company in 1984.
Around 3,000 job cuts over the next three years were also announced in February of last year - among a range of initiatives that helped it achieve profits of £49 million in 2003.
The group said an 8.4 per cent decline in recurring revenues, to £556 million, over the first quarter of 2004 bettered its earlier forecast for a drop of around 9 per cent.
The company reported a ”noticeable improvement” in trading conditions and said that it continued to build the “competitive momentum” that allowed it to win sales for its financial information products.
Reuters expects further improvements in the current three-month period when recurring revenues, which represent 93 per cent of the company’s core earnings, are expected to fall by between 6 per cent and 6.5 per cent on a year-on-year basis.
The company, which reported the rate of decline at 11 per cent last year, added the improvement was likely to be more gradual in the second half of the year.
Tom Glocer, Reuter’s chief executive, said the recent improvement had been most noticeable in the US where new sales over the quarter outpaced cancellations for the first time since March 2001.
He added: ”We are continuing to build competitive momentum, with good sales wins in all three of our financial segments.”
Total revenues for the three months to March 31 were £598 million, down from £670 million for the same period last year.
Reuters said that the actual 10.7 per cent fall in revenues represented an underlying 8.2 per cent fall after stripping out exceptional items the effects of currency movements.
The dollar’s weakness against sterling cost Reuters £25 million in the first quarter, the company said.
The media group had been rocked by a sharp fall in demand for its products in recent years, especially from corporate customers who cut staff numbers and turned to Reuters’ competitors during the economic downturn.
That led to annual losses of almost £500 million in 2002, the first loss since Reuters listed as a public company in 1984.
Around 3,000 job cuts over the next three years were also announced in February of last year - among a range of initiatives that helped it achieve profits of £49 million in 2003.
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