Reuters revenues raised by 5.3%

Sales at Reuters powered ahead by 5.3 per cent in the third quarter and the financial information giant said that full-year growth would come out at the top end of expectations.

The group also said it was selling its 50 per cent stake in the news archive service Factiva to its joint venture partner Dow Jones for $160m (£90m). Although Reuters had also considered buying out Dow Jones, a much higher value was put on Factiva by Dow Jones. Reuters had invested $40m in the business.

Third-quarter revenue was £631m, a 3.3 per cent gain, but the underlying growth rate was 5.3 per cent - after excluding currency fluctuations and acquisitions and disposals.

Tom Glocer, the chief executive, said: "The business has really found its stride. We didn't see any signs of the typical summer slowdown."

The company had previously stated that full-year 2006 revenues would show a gain of between 5 and 6 per cent. It said yesterday that "Reuters now expects full year 2006 revenue to be at the top end of this range".

However, there was some disappointment among investors who had been anticipating that the company would raise its full-year guidance.

Reuters said that market conditions were "generally favourable" and provided good viability for revenues for the rest of the company.

The company also said that its "Core Plus" initiative, which seeks new sources of business, was starting to show results. In the third quarter, Core Plus programmes had contributed £8m of sales.