Thomson Reuters still EMEA #1 but loses market share

Its lead over Bloomberg slipped from 12.59 percentage points in 2008 to 4.91 points in 2012.

Thomson Reuters had a 36.36 per cent share with EMEA revenues of $3.58 billion, while Bloomberg narrowed the gap to less than $500 million with EMEA revenues of $3.10 billion, representing a 31.45 per cent share.

The report by US-based Burton-Taylor International Consulting and Porter Walford Consulting focussed specifically on France, Germany, Italy, the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) and the United Kingdom.

Thomson Reuters’ revenues were down three per cent from last year as a result of a subdued market and strong competitive challenges, according to the report, though the group reported a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.93 in the region. Bloomberg’s revenues rose 3.3 per cent from last year, and the company reported a five-year CAGR of 6.89 per cent.

The report said that, according to the results of interviews with product managers, regional sales managers and regional management from key data vendors in the region, Thomson Reuters may have suffered as a result of the implementation of single-vendor policies at consumer firms and poor initial sales of its Eikon desktop terminal. Sentiment is changing, however, said Douglas Taylor, managing director and co-author of the report.

“Globally, the market is seeing Thomson Reuters and Eikon as stabilizing a bit, and so the bleeding might have stopped. Thomson Reuters has been speaking about the prospect of a pickup, and I do feel like the perception of the market from users is that they have stabilized. There is no question that Eikon is improving and that the vendor is perhaps on firmer legs,” said Taylor, a former Reuters executive. ■