Reuters Sees Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Reuters said today that revenue declines at the company have slowed and management is satisfied that the period of contraction is over.

The global information company saw revenues fall by around 11% last year as demand for subscription services slumped. However, the decline is expected to be no more than 9% in the first quarter of 2004 on an underlying basis compared with the equivalent period last year.

Cancellations in the fourth quarter of 2003 showed an improvement over the previous quarter, continuing the trend seen in the first three quarters.

Tom Glocer, Reuters chief executive, said: “I am confident that we have now passed the inflection point in our recurring revenue decline. While we still expect the recovery in recurring revenue to be gradual, we are looking forward to working with our customers to build on this improving trend.”

The market reacted positively to today’s statement, pushing the company’s share price up by 31p to 310.5p by 11am.

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