Revenues slip at Reuters
Revenues slip at Reuters
27/10/2003 12:36
Global news and information firm Reuters has posted a 10.9% drop in core subscription revenues.

Chief executive Tom Glocer said the fall was "a little better than expected", but warned the group was still facing tough times ahead.

Mr Glocer said: ""We now expect the full year decline in recurring revenue to be 11% or slightly better."

He also said there were some positive signs in Europe, where the majority of the group's subscription cancellations have come from.

But he added: "I don't yet see enough of real evidence in the sales figures to say that we have turned the corner in Europe."

Wall Street contract

He did not give guidance on revenues for early 2004 but said an update would follow in January.

"Whilst the outcome today is a bit better than expected there is very little visibility and the lack of guidance for 2004 could worry some," HSBC bank said in a note to investors.

Reuters also announced a new contract with Wall Street investment bank JP Morgan to integrate the bank's fixed-income trading system with Reuters information screens.

The move will give Reuters' customers access to the eXpress trading platform.

The company, which has been suffering from a fall in revenues since 2001 as markets slumped and its clients cut costs, added group revenues dropped by 8% for the three months to September.

Shares doubled

In 2002 the firm posted record losses and launched an accelerated restructuring plan in a bid to save £440m ($738m) in annual costs by 2006, involving the loss of 3,000 jobs.

The measures helped Reuters bounce back to underlying profit in the first half of 2003.

The company said more than 1,000 people have left it this year.

Mr Glocer said: "At a time when so much of the Reuters story depends on our ability to deliver, it is particularly encouraging to be able to report that we are executing according to plan."

After hitting a 17-year low of 95.25p in mid-March, its shares have more than doubled on hopes of a sharp recovery in earnings over the next few years.

Reuters shares were up 8p, more than 3%, at 242.5p by 0930 GMT on Monday.

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