Thomson Reuters names new CEO
NEW YORK: Thomson Reuters Corp said on Tuesday it had appointed former Nielsen Holdings Plc president Steve Hasker as its new chief executive officer, succeeding Jim Smith.
The parent of Reuters News also announced higher-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, reporting a 60% year-on-year rise in operating profit, helped by lower costs and investments following the sale of a controlling stake in the Financial and Risk (F&R) business.
Hasker, 50, most recently a top executive at Hollywood talent agency CAA and a senior adviser to TPG Capital, “will assume his new role on March 15,’’ Thomson Reuters said.
Smith, a former journalist who oversaw a period of major change at the company, will stay on for a transition period and become chairman of the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Stephane Bello, chief financial officer, will also step down from his role and will be succeeded by Mike Eastwood, current senior vice president of corporate finance.
“Bello will oversee strategy and business development into 2021,’’ the company said. “Neil Masterson and Brian Peccarelli will continue in their roles as joint chief operating officers at the company.’’
Thomson Reuters maintained its organic revenue growth target of 4% to 4.5% in 2020 and said its margins will be a little higher than it forecast in October and also above 2019 levels.
Operating profit in the quarter rose 60% to $216 million. On an adjusted basis, earnings in the fourth quarter rose to $185 million, or 37 cents per share, from $102 million, or 19 cents a share a year ago. Analysts, on average, expected 33 cents a share, according to IBES from Refinitiv.
The news and information provider posted a 4% rise in organic revenues to $1.58 billion and showed higher sales in each of its three largest divisions: legal professionals, corporates and tax & accounting professionals. The Reuters News division saw organic revenue of $164 million, up 5%.
“If you ask me what I am most proud of is the people in Thomson Reuters, and what we do every day and the difference that we make in the world,” Smith said in an interview.
Regarding Hasker, Smith added, “He’s going to focus on ... accelerating the growth rate and new plans, and I think he’ll be able to do that.”
Hasker, who also worked at McKinsey & Co as a media consultant earlier in his career, was selected by Thomson
‘‘ We have to see ourselves, before too long, to be true global leaders in the advanced analytics space and in the software and AI space.
STEVE HASKER
Incoming CEO of Thomson Reuters Corp
Reuters’ board based on his experience in building platforms and running businesses that collect and analyse data, two sources familiar with the matter said.
“We have to see ourselves, before too long, to be true global leaders in the advanced analytics space and in the software and AI space,” Hasker told employees in a staff conference call on Tuesday morning.
At Nielsen, which is primarily known for its TV ratings measurement business, Hasker helped accelerate the company’s transformation into a data and analytics firm tracking media consumption and consumer purchases, former colleagues said.
He negotiated partnerships with Facebook Inc and others to develop measurement tools at Nielsen to help advertisers identify the age, gender and location of people across the internet, one of the former colleagues said.