Thomson Reuters profit beats but currency weighs on revenue

(Reuters) - Thomson Reuters Corp on Wednesday reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit as the company's biggest division that serves banks and financial institutions showed underlying growth for the first time since 2011.

Currency weighed on revenues, however, and the news and information company said volatile currencies would have a bigger impact on this year's results than usual. A strong dollar erodes the value of international sales when translated into U.S. currency.

"The quarter and the first half just confirms the momentum that is building inside the business," Chief Executive Jim Smith said in an interview.

Second-quarter net earnings were $281 million, or 33 cents per share, compared with $260 million, or 31 cents per share, a year ago.

Adjusted for special items, earnings were 52 cents per share. Analysts, on average, were looking for 50 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenues fell 4 percent to $3.04 billion, but rose when factoring out currency. That was slightly below Wall Street estimates of $3.07 billion, based on a survey of 12 analysts who follow the New York-listed shares, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

In its Financial & Risk segment, Thomson Reuters' largest division, revenue excluding currency and acquisitions rose 1 percent, the segment's best performance since 2011. Segment sales outpaced cancellations and were positive in all regions.

"We have seen the underlying momentum now over the past couple of years," Smith said about the key division. "I am confident in the trajectory, and we will maintain that trajectory of continued improvement."

Revenue in its Legal business, which includes the Westlaw legal database, rose 2 percent on an organic basis. The Tax & Accounting division rose 5 percent organically.

The company said it continues to expect positive organic revenue growth for 2015.

Thomson Reuters, which is the parent of Reuters News, competes for financial customers with Bloomberg LP, as well as News Corp's Dow Jones unit.

(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf in New York; Editing by Alden Bentley and Nick Zieminski)