Thomson Reports Second Quarter

It is reporting day today for a number of publishing companies. Earlier Reed reported decent gains in revenues and profit across business units and later in the day Thomson does the same.

• Revenues increase 11%; organic revenue up 6%
• Operating profit grows 15%; operating profit margin increases in all segments
• Diluted EPS increases to $0.58, from $0.26 a year ago
• Proposed acquisition of Reuters progressing

With the divestiture of Learning Thomson now divides itself into five operating units: Legal, Fiancial, Tax & Accounting, Scientific and Healthcare. Revenues were up sustantially in all segments with the big units Legal and Financial up 9% and 8% respectively. (Organic growth was up 6% and 4%). Double digit gains were seen in Tax (+23%) and Healthcare (+43%) indicating that while much smaller than the larger two units their revenue growth paths will soon materially impact topline revenues.

For the full six month period, revenues are up 11% and operating profit is up 12%. The company also stated that they continued to make significant product line investments and that these results included those investments. Additionally, the company expects to continue to make material improvements to operating margins into the future. CEO, Harrington:

"Building on a solid start to the year, the business continued to gain momentum in the second quarter. We achieved solid growth in revenues, operating profit, margins, and earnings. Organic revenue was up 6%, led by our Legal and Tax & Accounting business segments. “We also continued to make significant progress driving operational efficiencies throughout our company, resulting in a 15% increase in operating profit. Our success was reflected in substantial increases in operating profit margins in each of our business segments, which included the benefits of our THOMSONplus initiatives. THOMSONplus remains on track to generate run-rate savings of $150 million by the end of 2008,”

The company beat by 2cents the prevailing analyst forecast for EPS. The company is not making any detailed forecasts on performance until the Reuters deal is completed only to say things look good.

With respect to Reuters, the company detailed the deal and also noted the regulatory hurdles that the company must make both in the US and Europe.

“Given the complementary nature of the two companies’ businesses and the highly competitive nature of the financial information services industry, we remain confident that the transaction will be approved,” Mr. Harrington said. “Upon completion of the transaction, Thomson-Reuters will be well positioned to capitalize on the positive trends driving growth in our markets. The combined business will also benefit from significantly greater global diversification and a broader and more deeply integrated product mix. We are confident this combination will equip us to meet our customers’ growing needs in an expanding and dynamic worldwide market translating into faster growth and higher profitability.

Thomson Press Release
Bloomberg