TORONTO — Thomson Reuters Corp. raised its dividend by 10 per cent as it reported its fourth-quarter profit more than tripled compared with a year earlier and its revenue also climbed higher.
The company says it will now pay a quarterly dividend of 54 cents US, up from 49 cents US per share.
The increased payment to shareholders came as the company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says it earned US$678 million or US$1.49 per diluted share for the quarter ended Dec. 31, up from US$218 million or 45 cents US per diluted share in the last three months of 2022.
On an adjusted basis, which excludes the changes in value of the company's London Stock Exchange Group investment and the related foreign exchange contracts as well as other adjustments, Thomson Reuters says it earned 98 cents US per share, up from an adjusted profit of 75 cents US per share a year earlier.
Revenue for the quarter totalled US$1.82 billion, up from US$1.77 billion a year earlier.
Revenues at Reuters News were US$220 million, up 10 per cent due primarily to Generative AI-related content licensing, the company said.
In its outlook for 2024, Thomson Reuters says it expects revenue growth of about 6.5 per cent for the year compared with three per cent growth in 2023.
The company said its US$1-billion share buyback program announced in November is expected to close by the end of the second quarter. As of the end of January, Thomson Reuters said it has repurchased approximately 3.3 million of its common shares under the buyback program, totalling US$457 million.
President and CEO Steve Hasker said in a news release that the company plans to maintain its momentum in 2024.
First-quarter organic revenue growth is expected to be around eight per cent, boosted by the expectation for additional artificial intelligence licensing revenue at Reuters, the company said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 8, 2024.
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