Thomson Reuters first-quarter profit beats estimates

News and information company Thomson Reuters Corp on Tuesday reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings, but revenue slightly missed forecasts, hurt by currency fluctuations.The company affirmed its 2016 revenue outlook of low single-digit percentage growth.Revenue increased 1 percent to USD 2.79 billion in the first quarter from a year earlier before factoring in currency changes but it fell 1 percent when they were factored into the results.Analysts on average were expecting USD 2.81 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.Excluding special items, earnings were 48 cents per share, compared with 39 cents a year earlier. Analysts were expecting 44 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.Revenue from the Financial & Risk business, which provides news and analytics to financial services companies, fell to USD 1.51 billion from USD 1.55 billion, hurt by lower revenue from sales of third-party content.Sales in the division, which accounted for about half of the company's total revenue, outpaced cancellations for the eighth straight quarter. The company said sales of its products to financial customers were up in the quarter.Revenue at the Legal division rose 2 percent to USD 822 million, but was down 2 percent when factoring in currency. Tax & Accounting revenue increased 8 percent to USD 389 million but was down 4 percent when factoring in currency.Thomson Reuters said in February that it expected to sell its Intellectual Property & Sciences business in the second half of the year. The division, which has 3,200 employees, provides intellectual property and scientific information and associated tools and services to governments, universities and companies.The company, parent of Reuters News, competes against Bloomberg LP and News Corp's (NWSA.O) Dow Jones unit for financial customers.