Thomson Reuters third-quarter profit beats estimates
THOMSON Reuters on Wednesday (Nov 1) reported higher-than-expected third-quarter profit as its biggest divisions serving legal, tax and accounting professionals performed well amid an “uncertain macro environment.”
The provider of information and tools for lawyers, accountants and other professionals reported adjusted earnings of 82 cents per share, above analyst forecasts of 71 cents.
Total revenue rose 1 per cent in the quarter to US$1.59 billion, missing expectations of US$1.61 billion, according to LSEG data.
Thomson Reuters, which owns the Westlaw legal database, Reuters news agency and the Checkpoint tax and accounting service, announced a new US$1 billion share repurchase programme, and maintained its 2023 outlook except for updates to depreciation and amortisation, and interest expense.
CEO Steve Hasker said the company achieved “solid momentum” in the quarter despite “an uncertain macro environment,” and added “our confidence in generative AI continues to strengthen.”
Organic revenues in the Legal Professionals segment increased 6 per cent, while total revenue fell 2 per cent, reflecting sales of some divisions. Thomson Reuters sold a majority stake in Elite, a vendor of business management software for law firms, earlier this year to private equity firm TPG.
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Organic revenues in the Reuters News division increased 3 per cent in the quarter, driven by factors including a contractual price increase digital advertising revenue growth.
Thomson Reuters has said it will use a “build, partner and buy” strategy to incorporate generative AI solutions into its products and services, and has earmarked US$10 billion for acquisitions and about US$100 million per year in investments in AI capabilities.
Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that generates new content or data in response to a prompt, or question, by a user.
In August, the company closed its US$650 million cash acquisition of Casetext, a California-based AI company that helps legal professionals conduct research, analysis and prepare documents using generative AI. REUTERS
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