Signs of Spring at Reuters?
Devin Wenig, an executive director of the vendor and the president of customer segments made the Reuters Group PLC presentation at the UBS media week conference. He led off with an observation that the �market is better overall, no doubt about it.� That should come as welcome news to the other vendors since Reuters is generally regarded as the bellwether of industry trends. But, he made no specific forecasts leaving that to chief executive officer Tom Glocer who will speak ex cathedra on February 17 about revenues and profits prospects for 2004. He started off with a few digs at prime competitor Bloomberg stating that our products are �better than Bloomberg�s� with no comparative illustrations. Wenig said Bloomberg Professionals are �being switched off� in favor of Reuters products in the fixed income area but didn't elaborate.

He updated participants on the Fast Forward program, well worn ground that I won�t go into here. The 2003 review highlighted the acquisition of Multex in January and how the unit fits in with the total package of services rolled out this year and those due for rollout in the new year. Multex will also be a cornerstone in whatever independent research niche Reuters carves out for itself in the post-Spitzer settlement era.

As usual, no Reuters Q&A session is complete without a tealeaf-reading question aimed at getting a fix on revenue prospects when management is not prepared to make one. When asked if December cancellations were as bad as last December, Wenig said, �this December is very different with no radical cost reductions by customers" like the ones the vendor experienced last year. But, he pointed out there are two and a half weeks to go in the month. As balance, the lousy December last year seemed to me to set the stage for the lousy first half of this year. Maybe the reverse is true this time around. Are we seeing signs of spring for the vendor as we approach the first day of winter? Stick around and come back here periodically for updates.