Revenue at news and information group Reuters rose by 17% to £970 million for the first quarter of this year, boosted once again by a strong performance at Reuters Financial and Instinet.
Peter Job, chief executive, says revenue growth is expected to grow at a slightly lower rate for the current quarter, but adds: " Our business model remains robust based on repeat revenues which show no sign of eroding. The financial customer base is well diversified across many different types of institutions in over 50,000 locations worldwide."
Reuters is currently embroiled in a bidding war with SunGard over the core US institutional assets of rival vendor Bridge.
Potential acquisitions aside, Job says the group will continue to pare back costs so that "we can achieve the large savings to which we have committed as part of our Internet strategy".
At Reuters Financial revenue rose 11% to £658 million (US$941 million) compared with the same quarter last year. Underlying revenue was up 7%. Reuters subscription-based information products grew to £458 million (US$655 million), up 7% on an underlying basis, in line with growth levels achieved through 2000. Revenue growth was strong in the main economies of continental Europe and in the US. Sales of the flagship product, 3000 Xtra, remain on track and now stand at almost 33,000, says the vendor.
Within the trading solutions business, Application and Enterprise Solutions, which provides data management systems and applications for financial markets, increased to £86 million (US$123 million), up 21%. The Retail Solutions business, directed at financial intermediaries who use internet technologies and content to benefit their own client base, grew to £19 million (US$28 million), up 62% over the same period last year. This was offset by a 9% decline in transaction products, reflecting continued downward pressure in foreign exchange markets.
Reuters released first quarter results for electronic brokerage Instinet yesterday - showing a 27% growth in revenue to £250 million - in line with regulatory requirements pending its forthcoming IPO.
Job is bullish about Instinet's prospects: "The strength of Instinet's franchise in the US has enabled us to increase market share still further. We have now clocked up our first full calendar quarter in which Instinet's share of US equities markets exceeded 10 percent."