NEW YORK, Aug 5 (Reuters) – Thomson Reuters Corp’s second quarter outcomes beat analysts’ estimates on Thursday, with greater gross sales throughout its major divisions, because it raised its annual income forecast.
Underscoring its outlook, which was fueled by a recovering international financial system, the worldwide information and data firm stated on Thursday it could purchase again as much as $1.2 billion of its shares.
Thomson Reuters stated it’s monitoring whether or not the unfold of the Delta variant of COVID-19 is affecting its companies, however didn’t anticipate a significant impression in 2021.
“We don’t assume that there’s a vital monetary impression for our prospects, and due to this fact for us via the remainder of this yr,” Chief Govt Steve Hasker stated, including that the course of the pandemic was unpredictable.
The Thomson Reuters print and occasions companies are among the many areas most susceptible in case of a worsening of the COVID-19 scenario, Chief Monetary Officer Michael Eastwood added.
Thomson Reuters, the mother or father firm of Reuters Information, stated its complete revenues rose 9% to $1.53 billion, in comparison with expectations of $1.5 billion.
Adjusted earnings per share of 48 cents additionally topped analyst expectations, primarily based on knowledge from Refinitiv, marking the fifth consecutive quarter that Thomson Reuters’ adjusted earnings topped Wall Road estimates.
Though working revenue was down 14% to $316 million, this mirrored one-time positive aspects within the year-ago quarter.
The New York and Toronto-listed shares of Thomson Reuters have been every up greater than 3.5% after the outcomes have been revealed. The inventory is up by greater than a 3rd this yr.
The three major enterprise divisions — Authorized Professionals, Tax & Accounting Professionals, and Corporates — all reported greater gross sales, with the tax group reaching a 15% income achieve, excluding forex fluctuations.
On that foundation, the Reuters Information phase noticed gross sales up 6% to $168 million within the quarter, aided by its occasions enterprise.
All of the divisions are anticipated to point out greater gross sales within the third quarter, and complete income for 2021 is now seen rising 4% to 4.5%, Thomson Reuters stated, marking the second improve to gross sales steering this yr.
“The core enterprise that generates the lion’s share of income and much more of the income is fairly predictable even in tough working environments for many firms, and that is why traders gravitate in direction of this inventory,” stated Matt Arnold, analyst at Edward Jones, referring to the authorized, company and tax and accounting segments.
Thomson Reuters executives stated the corporate would spend between $300 million and $350 million this yr as a part of an estimated $600 million deliberate reinvestment within the enterprise.
The executives additionally stated $700 million remained of a $2-billion mergers and acquisitions finances and it has a “sturdy” pipeline of targets in areas equivalent to automation and small-to-medium cloud-based and software-as-services companies.
The London Inventory Alternate Group in January closed a $27-billion deal knowledge and analytics firm Refinitiv that was a part of Thomson Reuters till 2018. Thomson Reuters holds a minority stake in LSE price $7.5 billion as of Aug. 4.
Writing by Nick Zieminski; Modifying by Carmel Crimmins and Alexander Smith
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