Thomson Reuters Posts Drop in 3Q Earnings

News and information provider Thomson Reuters Corp. said Thursday its third-quarter net income tumbled 60 percent from a year ago, as revenue in its legal and market divisions fell and it booked large one-time costs.

The company has weathered a difficult year, with the financial crises leading to layoffs and cost cutting at the financial and law firms that use its services.

CEO Tom Glocer told analysts on a conference call that demand appears to have bottomed in the first half of the year but he expects a "long, slow improvement" as cutbacks among customers continue to filter through to the company's sales. Thomson Reuters offers many services, such as trading terminals, on a subscription basis. So revenue it records from new sales or losses from cancellations is spread over several months.

The divisions that provide information and services for tax, accounting, health care and science professionals helped offset declines elsewhere. Revenue from those units grew 7 percent.

For the three months ended Sept. 30, Thomson Reuters earned $162 million, or 19 cents per share, down from $404 million, or 49 cents per share, a year earlier.

Stripping out one-time costs related to its 2008 acquisition of the Reuters news service and other unusual items, it says earnings slipped to 43 cents per share from 47 cents a share a year ago. Analysts had expected 40 cents per share.

Revenue declined 4 percent to $3.22 billion, in part because of unfavorable foreign exchange rates.

Shares fell 34 cents, or 1 percent, to $32.01 in morning trading.

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