Reuters Posts 19% H1 Profit Rise

The Reuters Group, the business news service that has agreed to be taken over by Thomson Corp., reported Thursday that H1 profit was up 19% to £114 million ($234 million) while revenue fell 0.7% to £1.27 billion ($2.6 billion). Excluding items, revenue rose 6.4% and profit was up 36% to £175 million. U.S. dollar weakness and other currency issues cut into H1 revenue by £85 million ($174 million), and the company spent £21 million ($43 million) during the period on costs associated with the £8.7 billion ($17.8 billion) merger. "Against the backdrop of the pending Thomson-Reuters transaction, Reuters stayed focused on driving growth in the first half and delivered the strongest six months of sales and installations in more than five years," said CEO Tom Glocer. Reuters announced it is raising its interim dividend to 5 pence from 4.1 pence per share. The company also said the U.S. Department of Justice has started its antitrust review of the merger and that information is being provided to European and Canadian competition authorities. Reuters ADRs closed down 2% at $76.83.

Sources: Bloomberg, Reuters, Forbes, MarketWatch
Commentary: Cash Flow From Reuters Merger Could Boost Thomson Shares • Reuters Agrees To Merge With Thomson; Regulatory Scrutiny To Follow
Stocks/ETFs to watch: RTRSY. Competitors: DJ, TOC, NWS. ETFs: RCD

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