British media giant Reuters has reported its first quarter of underlying revenue growth since 2001, while also announcing it would return £1 billion to shareholders over the next two years.
Reuters said recurring revenues rose 0.4% to £547m in the three months to the end of June compared with the same period last year. The second-quarter figure was the first period of growth since the third quarter of 2001, the group said in a statement.
'It is a huge step forward for Reuters to see our most closely-watched revenue measure - underlying recurring revenue - back in positive territory in the second quarter,' said Reuters chief executive Tom Glocer.
Recurring revenues, the best measure of underlying demand for Reuters' data and news terminals, had been in steady decline since mid-2001, after massive falls on global stock exchanges produced huge job cuts in the financial services industry.
Reuters also said it would return £1 billion to investors through a repurchase of its own shares, funded mainly by the £1 billion sale of its controlling stake in US electronic brokerage Instinet.
The media group also gave an encouraging assessment of the year ahead. 'For the second half of 2005, Reuters expects underlying recurring revenue growth of 1-2%,' the statement added.
Reuters unveiled a 2.3% drop in sales during the first half of the year to £1.14 billion, compared with £1.17 billion the previous year. Pre-tax profits meanwhile stood at £147m compared with £300m a year earlier.
