Thomson Reuters posts higher revenue but operating profit falls

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Thomson Reuters Corp on Tuesday reported higher revenue in the fourth quarter and raised its dividend and sales forecast, but said operating profit was down from a year ago, when it saw a significant gain from an investment sale and other items.

The news and data provider and parent company of Reuters News said fourth-quarter operating profit fell 73% year on year to $257 million. Adjusted earnings per share, which exclude one-time items, fell to 43 cents per share from 54 cents.

Analysts, on average, expected operating earnings of 46 cents per share. It was not immediately clear if the figures were directly comparable.

Toronto-based Thomson Reuters, which owns the Westlaw legal database and the Checkpoint tax and accounting service, said total revenues grew 6% in the quarter to $1.71 billion. Analysts had looked for $1.68 billion, according to estimates from Refinitiv.

The three main business divisions – Legal Professionals, Tax & Accounting Professionals, and Corporates – reported sales up between 5% and 9%, but only the tax segment saw higher adjusted earnings before interest and other items (EBITDA).

The Reuters News division showed double-digit increases in both sales and adjusted EBITDA.

Reuters News makes more than half its revenue from supplying news to Refinitiv, a data company spun off from Thomson Reuters and now owned by the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Thomson Reuters holds a minority stake in the LSE following the deal, worth about $7 billion as of Monday.