Play our winning hand, CEO tells staff

Despite challenging market conditions, both divisions of the company - markets and professional - are performing well.

“I want to congratulate everyone for contributing to these outstanding results,” Glocer said. “Our strong first-half results and continued positive sales momentum across the company give us confidence to confirm our full-year revenue growth and operating profit margin outlook at a time when others have lowered theirs...”

“We are well on our way to becoming ‘one company in one year.’”

“What can we expect in the months ahead? Most analysts predict that the slump in the economy is a long way from over. If so, we are prepared. In economic downturns, the truly great companies extend their lead over the competition, or as Warren Buffett likes to say, ‘You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.’ At Thomson Reuters, we may be swimming against a stronger tide at the moment, but we are wearing high-performance swimwear and fins. It may not be as much fun to manage through difficult times, when clients are cutting costs, but this can be our time to outperform, to pull away from the pack and emerge even stronger when the cycle turns.”

Glocer said Thomson Reuters could face an economic downturn with quiet confidence for three reasons:

•  “We have the right business model: our core strengths match customer needs and market trends;
• “We serve the right markets: professional information markets will continue to grow;
• “We deliver the right products: the need for intelligent information has never been greater.”

He added: “I would not trade our opportunity for that of any other company I know. Sure, there will be some challenges in the coming months, but that’s what makes it interesting. We have a winning hand - let’s play it.” ■