Reuters admits losing 'data wars'

REUTERS today admitted that it is still losing market share in its financial data wars with arch-rival Bloomberg but claimed it is fighting back at the higher end of the market.

The news, put out in a Reuters statement, took the edge off shares in the information giant. They slipped 4p to 396p after closing last night at 400p for the first time in nearly two years.

Reuters admitted that in the overall market of providing dealing screens and financial information throughout the Square Mile and beyond, it had lost two percentage points of market share through 2003.

The figures produced from its own research show that 38% of all market users use a Reuters terminal, giving Reuters a 37% share of market revenue.

Reuters is blaming that on Bloomberg's historical strength in bond trading - last year's strong market - against Reuters traditional bias toward equities.

The general market provides Reuters with about 60% of its recurring revenue base. While still lagging second to Bloomberg at the top-of-the-range end of the market where users have terminals with real-time dealing and indepth research capabilities, Reuters claimed that 34% of the premium market is now using its terminals, giving it 28% of the revenues in the £2.2bn high-end market.

Chief executive Tom Glocer said: 'The drop in overall market share is not unexpected and I am confident the strength of our new products in the mid-tier and investment in service are the basis for strengthening our position.'

Earlier this year, Glocer famously talked of an 'inflection' in Reuters' dire performance over the past couple of years, reporting that the rate of decline was slowing.