THOMSON AD REVENUE UP
By Adnews Staff
Thomson Corp.'s newspaper advertising revenue rose 5.4% last year. Total revenue for the newspaper division was $1.25 billion, up .5% from $1.19 billion in 1994. Operating profit increased 11% to $216 million from $195 million. The information publishing group's operating earnings before amortization jumped 30% to $633 million on revenue that improved almost 20% to $3.6 billion. Overall, Toronto-based Thomson's profit jumped 85% to $789 million, mainly from the sale of its British newspapers. Excluding this extraordinary gain, overall profit increased 10% to $469 million. Thomson sold dozens of newspapers in North America and Britain last year and has agreed to buy Minnesota-based legal publisher West Publishing for $3.4 billion(US). The deal still has to be approved by U.S. federal authorities and other parties. Thomson has been restructuring to focus on electronic publishing. The company may sell its British-based travel business some time in the future, according to a story in The Financial Post. Analysts think this is a good idea because the travel business is not a strategic fit with electronic publishing. The travel operations include the Britannia Airways charter airline, the Lunn Poly travel agency and Thomson Tour Operations.