Media giant sees 9% revenue decline for first quarter

Global news and information company Reuters Group Plc said on Thursday that the worst of a prolonged revenue slide was over.

The group forecast first-quarter core subscription revenues to fall 9% or less.

Chief Executive Tom Glocer said in a statement: "I am confident that we have now passed the inflection point in our recurring revenue decline."

Reuters, the world's largest listed provider of news and data to financial markets, also provides news to online, broadcast, and print media.

It said in a brief trading update that subscriber cancellations for the final quarter of 2003 had shown an improvement over the previous quarter, extending a trend seen in the first three quarters of last year.

Reuters sells real-time news and data to banks, brokerages and fund managers worldwide and over 90% of its core information revenues come from subscription contracts.