Thomson Reuters’ Profit Drops 44% in Q3 Despite Flat Revenues

Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TRI) has reported its financial metrics for Q3 2018 ending September 30, 2018, which displayed lower profits and flat revenues.

For Q3 2018, Thomson Reuters revealed that revenues were mostly flat relative to a year earlier, coming in at $1.29 billion or up two percent from $1.27 billion reported back in Q3 2017. In addition, the nine-month figure was higher by a factor of three percent year-on-year, coming in at $3.98 billion relative to $3.88 billion in Jan-Sep period 2017.

Revenues from Reuters News declined four percent to $71 million due to lower recurring revenues.

The global information provider attributed the flat change in revenues to the growth in recurring revenues, which was offset by a negative impact from foreign currency changes. At constant currency, revenues increased three percent.

In terms of Thomson Reuters’ operating income for Q3 2018, the figure has yielded a profit of $162 million – this represents a drop of 44 percent year-over-year from $288 million in Q3 2017. The New York-headquartered organization attributed the steep decrease to higher depreciation and compensation-related expenses within the business segments. The prior-year period also benefited from the sale of a portion of investments.

Another area of weakness for the quarter was Thomson Reuters’ diluted earnings per share (EPS), which fell to $0.11 in Q3 2018, down 22 percent year-over-year from $0.16 in Q3 2017.

Commenting in a recent statement on the quarterly metrics, James Smith, President and CEO of Thomson Reuters, said: “Our third-quarter results continued to build on a solid first half. Accelerating sales momentum and strong recurring revenue growth delivered our best top-line performance in more than two years. Achieving 3% organic growth is particularly encouraging and we view this as a base to build upon. Our year-to-date performance strengthens our confidence that we are on track to deliver a solid year and an even better 2019.”