Crunch slows but doesni?1/2t stop Thomson juggernaut.(on the growth of Thomson Reuters)

Crunch slows but doesn't stop Thomson juggernaut

Michelle Perry

Demand for financial information has rescued the revenues of the newly merged Thomson Reuters despite slower overall growth, the information giant's chief executive has revealed.

In the first earnings report since Thomson took over Reuters in April, the Anglo-Canadian group reported lower pro forma revenue growth in its second quarter of 11% as the credit squeeze hit investment banks, which are big information consumers.

Chief executive Tom Glocer said demand from corporate customers had offset weaknesses in investment banking, showing the resilience of the company's professional and markets division.

"In markets, we are benefiting from leading positions in foreign exchange, commodities, energy, corporate and emerging markets, which have more than offset weakness among our global investment banking clients, while our enterprise solutions are seeing strong sales as these large institutions re-engineer their trading operations," Glocer said.

Revenues for the professional division grew 10% to $1.4bn, while operating profit was $412m, a 10% rise on the same period the previous year.