Upcoming AWS Coverage on Meredith Post-Earnings Results

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2017 / Active Wall St. announces its post-earnings coverage on Thomson Reuters Corp. (NYSE: TRI). The Company disclosed its first quarter fiscal 2017 results on April 28, 2017. The news and financial information Company outperformed sales and earnings estimates and also re-affirmed outlook for fiscal 2017. Register with us now for your free membership at:

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One of Thomson Reuters' competitors within the Publishing - Periodicals space, Meredith Corp. (NYSE: MDP), reported on April 27, 2017, its Q3 FY17 third quarter and nine month results. AWS will be initiating a research report on Meredith in the coming days.

Today, AWS is promoting its earnings coverage on TRI; touching on MDP. Get our free coverage by signing up to:

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Earnings Reviewed

For the quarter ended March 31, 2017, Thomson Reuters' revenues increased 1% to $2.82 billion compared to revenue of $2.78 billion in Q1 2016, driven by higher subscription revenues and contributions from Financial & Risk's acquisitions, partially offset by the impact of foreign currency and a decline in Financial & Risk's recoveries revenues. The Company's revenue numbers exceeded analysts' consensus of $2.80 billion

For Q1 2017, Thomson Reuters' operating profit increased 43% to $444 million due to higher revenues, lower expenses, and the favorable timing of certain corporate costs. The Company's adjusted EBITDA increased 17% to $876 million and margin increased to 31.1% from 26.8% in the year ago same period, primarily due to higher revenues and lower expenses, which reflected savings from transformation initiatives to simplify the business and favorable timing for certain corporate costs.

For Q1 2017, Thomson Reuters' net income was $314 million, or $0.41 per share, compared to net income of $272 million or $0.34 per share, in Q1 2016. Adjusted for special items, the Company's earnings were $0.63 per share, beating Wall Street's estimates of $0.53 per share.

Segment Results

During Q1 2017, Thomson Reuters' Financial & Risk revenues increased 1% to $1.5 billion. Organic revenues grew approximately 2%, excluding the impact of lower recoveries revenues and commercial pricing adjustments related to the migration of certain customers to new platforms.

The segment's recurring revenues which consist of 77% of the segment's overall revenue grew 2% on a y-o-y basis, primarily due to an annual price increase and positive net sales. Transactions revenues, comprising 15% of the segment's revenues were up 4% due to increased revenue from Tradeweb and the BETA brokerage processing business as well as contributions from acquisitions. Low-margin recoveries revenues (8% of the segment's revenues) decreased 9%, partially due to third parties continuing to move to direct billing with their customers.

For Q1 2017, Financial & Risk's adjusted EBITDA increased 6% to $463 million and margin increased to 30.8% from 29.0% due to savings related to Q4 2016 charges and higher revenues.

During Q1 2017, Thomson Reuters' Legal segment revenue increased 1% to $824 million. Excluding US print, revenues grew 2%. The segment's solutions businesses, which consist of 44% of its revenues, grew 2% resulting from subscription revenue growth of 5%, partially offset by a 9% reduction in transactional revenues. US Online Legal Information, comprising of 43% of the segment's revenues grew 2% in the reported quarter. US Print, which consist of 13% of the segment's revenues, fell 4%.

For Q1 2017, Legal segment's adjusted EBITDA increased 3% to $307 million, while margin increased to 37.3% from 36.3% primarily due to the impact of higher revenues. Expenses declined compared to the year ago same period, attributed to transformation and cost-management initiatives.

During Q1 2017, Thomson Reuters' Tax & Accounting segment reported revenue of $417 million, up 6% on a y-o-y basis, driven by the Corporate and Professional businesses. Growth was partially offset by declines in the Knowledge Solutions and Government businesses. The segment's adjusted EBITDA increased 24% to $141 million and the margin increased to 33.8% from 29.3% due to higher revenues, savings related to Q4 2016 charges and the absence of severance costs incurred in Q1 2016

During Q1 2017, Thomson Reuters' Corporate & Other, which includes Reuters News, revenue was $74 million, up 1% on a y-o-y basis. Corporate & Other costs at the adjusted EBITDA level were $35 million for the reported quarter compared to $101 million in the prior year's comparable period. Including depreciation and amortization of software, Corporate & Other costs were $46 million compared to $118 million in the prior year's corresponding period.

Financial Position

During Q1 2017, Thomson Reuters' cash flow from operations, which includes discontinued operations, was negative $368 million due to a $500 million pension plan contribution, $86 million of payments related to Q4 2016 severance charges, and the loss of cash flow from IP & Science following its sale. Thomson Reuters' free cash flow for Q1 2017 was negative $585 million.

In February 2017, the Thomson Reuters' board of directors approved a $0.02 per share annualized increase in the dividend to $1.38 per common share. A quarterly dividend of $0.345 per share is payable on June 15, 2017, to common shareholders of record as of May 18, 2017.

In February 2017, Thomson Reuters announced that it planned to repurchase up to an additional $1.0 billion of its shares after completing its previous buyback program. In Q1 2017, the Company repurchased 6.8 million shares at a cost of $284 million.

Business Outlook

For the full year 2017, Thomson Reuters is forecasting low single-digit revenue growth, adjusted EBITDA margin to range between 28.8% to 29.8% and adjusted EPS target of $2.35. The Company is forecasting free cash flow to range between $0.9 billion and $1.2 billion. The first quarter is historically the Company's weakest of the year for free cash flow generation.

Stock Performance

At the closing bell, on Tuesday, May 09, 2017, Thomson Reuters' share price finished the trading session at $44.17, marginally down 0.96%. A total volume of 1.01 million shares exchanged hands. The stock has surged 9.76% and 12.03% in the last six months and past twelve months, respectively. Furthermore, since the start of the year, shares of the Company have gained 1.67%. The stock is trading at a PE ratio of 29.64 and has a dividend yield of 3.12%.

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