Cost cuts spur Thomson’s earnings

Article Excerpt

THOMSON REUTERS CORP. $56 (Toronto symbol TRI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 711.6 million; Market cap: $39.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.6; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.thomsonreuters.com) sells specialized information products to banks, brokerage firms, lawyers and tax accountants. It also owns the Reuters news service. In the three months ended September 30, 2017, the company’s revenue rose 1.7%, to $2.79 billion from $2.74 billion a year earlier (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). Higher North American revenue offset slower demand in Europe due to uncertainty over data-protection regulations and the U.K. plan to exit the European Union. Factoring out exchange rates, revenue rose 1%. Thanks to a successful restructuring plan, including job cuts and the sale of less-profitable operations, earnings in the quarter jumped 20.8%, to $487 million from $403 million. Thomson spent $230 million in the quarter on share buybacks. As a result, earnings per share gained 25.9%, to $0.68 from $0.54. The…