* Q4 adjusted EPS 43 cents vs forecast 46 cents
* Invested $25 mln to better position company for 2022
* Sees 2022 revenue growth of around 5% vs 4.5-5.0%
previously
(Recasts with earnings miss, adds detail on forecast)
NEW YORK, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Thomson Reuters Corp
missed fourth-quarter earnings forecasts on Tuesday as
the news and data provider stepped up investments it said would
help deliver stronger-than-expected revenue growth this year and
next.
The parent company of Reuters News said fourth-quarter
operating profit fell 73% year on year to $257 million. Adjusted
earnings fell to 43 cents per share per share from 54 cents.
Analysts, on average, expected operating earnings of 46
cents per share.
Toronto-based Thomson Reuters, which owns the Westlaw legal
database and the Checkpoint tax and accounting service, reported
total revenues grew 6% in the quarter to $1.71 billion, ahead of
analyst expectations, according to estimates from Refinitiv.
The company sees revenue growth of around 5% this year,
versus 4-5% previously, and expects to grow 5.5-6.0% in 2023,
versus 5.0-6.0% before.
It invested $25 million in the fourth quarter in areas such
as product development and data and analytics tools to try to
underpin future growth, as its core legal and financial
customers continue to benefit from the global economic recovery.
The three main business divisions - Legal Professionals, Tax
& Accounting Professionals, and Corporates - reported quarterly
sales up between 5% and 9%, but only the tax segment saw higher
adjusted earnings before interest and other items (EBITDA).
The Reuters News division showed double-digit increases in
both sales and adjusted EBITDA.
Reuters News makes more than half its revenue from supplying
news to Refinitiv, a data company spun off from Thomson Reuters
and now owned by the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
Thomson Reuters holds a minority stake in the LSE following the
deal, worth about $7 billion as of Monday, the company said.
(Writing by Nick Zieminski in New York
Editing by Mark Potter)
Relx (REL)
