by Kenneth Li and Nick Zieminski
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Thomson Reuters raised its 2022 revenue forecast on Tuesday after beating first-quarter expectations, driven by strong growth in its core legal, tax, accounting and corporate businesses.
The group, which also owns Reuters News, said while the past quarter was encouraging, the pandemic, geopolitical risks and any deterioration in the economy could hurt its ability to meet its targets.
Thomson Reuters, which also owns legal database Westlaw and tax and accounting service Checkpoint, reported adjusted earnings of 66 cents (0.62 euros) per share, 5 cents above Wall Street expectations.
Total revenue rose 5.5% to $1.67 billion (€1.58 billion), just above expectations, and a 5.5% increase is expected this year, against an earlier estimate of around 5%.
“We’re off to a strong start in 2022,” CEO Steve Hasker said. “We are a little ahead of what we expected in terms of revenue growth trajectory. We are on track and executing our change agenda.”
Thomson Reuters is completing a two-year restructuring aimed at transforming itself from a holding structure to a fully operational company, and from a content provider to a content-focused technology company. The company said that 80% of its revenue is recurring, which insulates it to some extent from unpredictable economic vagaries.
Its three main divisions – Legal Professionals, Tax & Accounting Professionals and Corporates – each recorded an increase in their quarterly sales, with growth of 11% in particular in tax activity. Reuters News revenue increased by 9%.
U.S.-listed Thomson Reuters stock has fallen about 20% this year, compared with a 10% decline for the S&P 500.
(Report Ken Li and Nick Zieminski in New York, French version Augustin Turpin, edited by Jean-Michel Bélot)