Reuters to shed 3,000 more jobs after its worst year

The news and information group Reuters unveiled plans to shed another 3,000 jobs today after enduring the worst year in its 151-year history.

The group posted losses of almost £500 million and offered little sign of a respite from the conditions which have ravaged its annual figures.

Reuters has cut more than 2,000 jobs in the last 18 months.

It said the process would continue through a fresh restructuring plan.

That will take global head count from 16,000 to 13,000 by the end of 2005, with the programme expected to produce annual savings of £440 million.

The group wants its cost base "significantly smaller" and will largely achieve this through more focused product lines and a single technology platform.

Reuters, which employs 9,000 people in Europe, has not specified where the job cuts will be, although it is thought many will relate to "back-office" work.

Today's bottom-line losses of £493 million for the year to December 31 compare with profits of £158 million a year earlier and represent the group's first loss since listing as a public company in 1984. It is also the worst in its history.

Heavy, one-off finance charges at the group's electronic trading arm Instinet, which recorded losses of £370 million, caused the sizeable fall into the red.

But revenues also slumped 8% to £3.57 billion as banking and financial-based customers of Reuters reduced staff numbers and kept a tight control on costs during the current stock market slowdown.

Operating losses were £144 million, compared with profits of £302 million a year earlier.

Looking ahead, the company said trading conditions had remained tough in the current financial year and that the decline in recurring revenues would be 9% in the first quarter and "somewhat higher" in the following three months.

That compares with a drop of 6.5% in the fourth quarter of 2002, which Reuters said had been better than it expected.

The gloomy outlook further upset the company's share price, which fell 12% to 135p after peaking at 1135p in 2001.

Chief executive Tom Glocer said he was confident the new strategy - called Fast Forward - would meet the challenge of tough market conditions, but said there was still much to do. The plan builds on a five-year turnaround strategy announced 18 months ago.

Mr Glocer added: "By concentrating on Reuters core strength as an information supplier, we can protect and grow market share, differentiate ourselves from the competition and drive profitability."