Reuters parent swings to a profit

Thomson Reuters Corp., the parent company of the Reuters news service, swung to a first-quarter profit, but revenue edged down 1.4 percent as the financial data and news provider’s core financial and risk business reported softer revenue, reports Ben Fox Rubin of The Wall Street Journal.

Rubin writes, “Thomson Reuters’s financial and risk division has been working to cut costs as it struggles with soft demand from its bank clients, which have reduced head count in recent years. The company late last year unveiled plans to trim the size of its workforce by about 3,000 positions, mostly in the financial and risk unit.

“In the latest period, revenue from the financial and risk division fell 1% to $1.66 billion. Legal revenue rose 1.1% to $803 million, and tax and accounting revenue jumped 10% to $348 million.

“Overall, the company reported a profit of $282 million, or 34 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $31 million, or four cents a share. Excluding items, earnings were 46 cents a share, up from 38 cents.

“Revenue shrank to $3.13 billion.

“Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share profit of 38 cents and revenue of $3.11 billion.”

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