Thomson Reuters sees higher sales despite softer markets

The company said in its annual report that financial conditions were challenging but it was well positioned geographically and by business segment to survive the global economic downturn.

"We expect large global banks and institutions in the United States, United Kingdom and Western Europe to be most affected. However, we anticipate that emerging markets will continue to grow, albeit at a slower pace," the company said.

It repeated the forecast it made in February of an underlying operating margin and cash flow comparable to those of 2008.

"We do not believe that our information is a discretionary purchase for our Markets division customers, but rather a necessity for them to run their businesses on a daily basis," Thomson Reuters said.

The company's markets division, which supplies news and data to financial institutions, brings in about 57 per cent of sales and 42 per cent of profits.

The rest is accounted for by the professional division, which sells news and information to lawyers, medical and healthcare professionals and accountants.

Thomson Reuters said it expected the economic environment for its professional division customers to soften this year, although it said those markets were historically resilient.

"We believe the professional markets we serve continue to offer opportunities for growth, albeit at lower rates than in 2008," it said.

"We expect the margins for Professional to be impacted in 2009 by investments in global expansion initiatives as well as a shift to higher growth software and services products."

Thomson Reuters' London-listed shares closed down 1.4 per cent at 1514 pence. In Toronto, the stock fell C$0.40 to C$30.80.

The company said it believed cash from its operations and available credit facilities would be sufficient to fund its cash dividends, debt servicing, capital expenditure, normal acquisitions and share buybacks.

Thomson Reuters has access to a $2.5 billion syndicated credit facility until August 2012. It also issued about $3 billion of long-term debt securities last year.

The company's net debt more than doubled to $6.76 billion by the end of 2008 from a year earlier, mainly due to Thomson's April 2008 acquisition of Reuters. Most of it is in US dollars or has been swapped into US dollar obligations.

The annual report is available in the Investor Relations section on www.thomsonreuters.com. Hard copies may be obtained, free of charge, by contacting Thomson Reuters Investor Relations at investor.relations@thomsonreuters.com or by phone at +1 800 969 9974. ■