Thomson Reuters Q4 Top-Line Beats Consensus Backed by ‘Big 3’ Segments; Hikes Dividend

The Thomson Reuters headquarters stands in Times Square in New York, on Sept. 19, 2013. Mario Tama/Getty Images

Thomson Reuters Corp. reported fourth-quarter FY21 revenue growth of 6 percent year-on-year to $1.71 billion, beating the consensus of $1.68 billion.

Organic revenues increased 6 percent, driven by recurring revenues and transactions revenues.

The “Big 3” segments (Legal Professionals, Corporates, and Tax & Accounting Professionals) collectively comprised 79 percent of total revenues and reported organic revenue growth of 7 percent. Legal Professionals revenue grew 5 percent Y/Y to $689 million, Corporates revenue rose 7 percent Y/Y to $361 million, and Tax & Accounting Professionals revenue increased 9 percent Y/Y to $309 million.

Reuters News revenue improved 11 percent Y/Y to $182 million, and the Global Print revenue declined 4 percent Y/Y to $170 million.

Adjusted EBITDA margin contracted 610 bps to 26.4 percent due to Change Program costs.

Adjusted EPS of $0.43 missed the consensus of $0.46.

Thomson Reuters generated $397 million in operating cash flow during the quarter. It held $778 million in cash and equivalents.

Dividend

Thomson Reuters raised the quarterly dividend per share from $0.405 to $0.445, up 9.9 percent.

Outlook

Thomson Reuters anticipates FY22 revenue growth of 5.0 percent versus previous view of 4.0 percent–5.0 percent. It sees FY23 revenue growth outlook of 5.5 percent–6.0 percent versus prior view of 5.0 percent–6.0 percent.

The company sees FY22 free cash flow of $1.3 billion versus the prior view of $1.2 billion–$1.3 billion. It expects FY23 free cash flow of $1.9 billion–$2.0 billion versus previous view of $1.8 billion–$2.0 billion.

By Anusuya Lahiri

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