Thomson Reuters profit beats expectations, reaffirms outlook

By Jessica Toonkel

REUTERS - Thomson Reuters Corp on Thursday reported flat quarterly revenue excluding currency effects and reaffirmed its full-year sales outlook.

The news and information company reported second quarter net earnings of $350 million, or 45 cents per share, compared with $281 million or 33 cents per share, a year ago.

Adjusted for special items, earnings were 50 cents per share.

Analysts on average, were looking for 49 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company reaffirmed its forecast of positive organic revenue growth for the year.

Sales in the Financial & Risk division, which accounted for about half of the company's total revenue, outpaced cancellations for the ninth straight quarter. Financial & Risk, which provides news and analytics to financial services companies, saw revenue fall 2 percent to $1.52 billion as more companies that distribute content through Thomson Reuters opted to bill customers directly.

Thomson Reuters' total revenues were flat from a year earlier at $2.77 billion before currency, but fell 1 percent when currency changes were factored into the results. Analysts on average estimated $2.83 billion in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

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.

Revenue in its Legal business was $846 million, down 1 percent when factoring in currency changes. Before currency, Legal's revenues were up 1 percent. Tax & Accounting's revenue was down 1 percent to $324 million including currency, and up 1 percent before currency.

(Reporting By Jessica Toonkel; Editing by Nick Zieminski)