Thomson Reuters Achieves Uptick in Q4 and 2018 Revenues

Thomson Reuters, a multinational mass media and information firm, has published its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2018. Overall the results were mixed with revenues up for both time periods, but operating profit fell.

For the three months ended December 31, 2018, revenues for Thomson Reuters was $1.52 billion. When compared to the same time period in 2017, which achieved revenues of $1.4 billion, this is up by seven percent.

Operating profit for the fourth quarter of 2018 was $146 million. This represents a fall of 43 percent when measured against the operating profit of $254 million reported in 2017.

Diluted earnings per share (EPS), however, increased dramatically during the final quarter of 2018, climbing by an impressive 663 percent from $0.81 in 2017 to $6.18 in 2018.

This jump includes the share of Reuter’s results from its 45 percent investment in Refinitiv. Because of this adjusted EPS, which does not include this share, was $0.20 in 2018, which is nine percent less than that achieved in 2017.

Commenting on the results, Jim Smith, the president and CEO of Thomson Reuters said: “It was encouraging to see our positive momentum continue through the fourth quarter.”

“With the solid close to an eventful year, we enter 2019 with a ‘new’ Thomson Reuters superbly positioned to build on the improved organic revenue growth rate we achieved in 2018.

“The financial services partnership with Blackstone is up and running smoothly, and our management team is now focused on accelerating the leading positions we hold in our core markets.”

Thomson Reuters Reports Fall in 2018 Operating Profit

For the full year, revenues for Thomson Reuters was $5.5 billion, which represents a slight increase of four percent from the $5.3 billion achieved in 2017. Similar to the fourth quarter, operating profit for the full year also fell by 25 percent year-on-year.