Thomson reuters profit rises 38% on legal data, tax businesses

Thomson Reuters Corp., the owner of the Westlaw database, said third-quarter profit rose 38 percent, driven by revenue from the legal-information and tax units.

Net income advanced to $381 million, or 44 cents a share, from $277 million, or 32 cents, a year earlier, the New York- based company said today in a statement. Excluding some items, earnings of 56 cents a share topped the 54 cent average of analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Sales rose 6.1 percent to $3.45 billion, compared with an average estimate of $3.24 billion. Revenue from the legal-data unit advanced 9 percent, while the tax and accounting division jumped 20 percent. Sales from the markets unit gained 5 percent as revenue from the investment and advisory business was unchanged.

In September, Thomson Reuters appointed James Smith chief operating officer as part of a plan to disband a divisional structure between the markets and professional units. The company will move to a set of focused business divisions, maintaining the current financial reporting structure for the rest of the year.

Stephane Bello was also named chief financial officer to replace Robert Daleo, who will retire in July of next year when he turns 63.

Thomson Reuters fell 1.9 percent to C$29.49 yesterday. The shares have dropped 21 percent this year before today.

Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, competes with Thomson Reuters in selling financial and legal information and trading systems.