Thomson Reuters Q1 profit beats, growth slows

By Georgina Prodhan and Tiffany Wu

LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Thomson Reuters Corp reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit due mainly to cost controls, but revenue growth slowed in the financial industry downturn.

The news and financial data publisher reaffirmed its expectation of a revenue increase in 2009, although this was not enough to prevent investors from taking profits after a more than 20 percent run-up in the share price this year.

Revenue in the group's Professional division, which supplies information to lawyers, scientists, accountants and the healthcare industry, rose 5 percent after excluding the impact of the strong dollar, to $1.27 billion.

But revenue at the Markets division, which supplies news and data to financial institutions, grew only 0.4 percent on a constant-currency basis to $1.85 billion, hurt by lower transaction volumes and job cuts.

Sentiment in financial markets is "quite good," Chief Executive Tom Glocer said in an interview on Thursday.

"I can't really call exactly where the bottom is. There can be false dawns," he said.

Thomson Reuters' New York- and Toronto-traded shares fell about 5 percent. The London-listed shares closed down 2.4 percent in weaker European markets, though the stock is still up more than 20 percent so far this year.

"With the banking sector apparently reaching a point of stability, we think the risk of a major disappointment in the Markets division is receding, thus removing a major plank of the bear case," said Colin Tennant, head of media research at Nomura.