Reuters Stock Falls As Profits Drop 34%

Shares in global news and information provider Reuters have fallen heavily this morning, as the group posted full year profits that were down by 34% and said that the trading environment remains difficult.

Huge restructuring and business start-up costs – the Business Transformation Programme – pushed Reuters’ pre-tax profit for the year to 31 December down by 34% to £304 million.

Whilst the group has created a number of new products that should aid growth from 2003/4 onwards, it is expecting this year to be weak, particularly in recruitment revenues. Underlying subscription revenues are predicted to fall by 2-3% in the first half of 2002.

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