Investment bank UBS Warburg cut its valuation estimate of Reuters, the world's largest provider of news and data to financial markets, to 115 pence per share today, after cutting profit forecasts for the firm.
One of the bank's analysts said it had cut pre-tax earnings estimates for Reuters by 73 per cent to £41 million sterling for 2003 and 25 per cent to £162 million for 2004.
Media analysts began cutting revenue and earnings forecasts for Reuters yesterday after it reported a record loss for 2002, announced 3,000 more job cuts and warned of a sharper slide in core revenues in the first half of this year.
The stock closed yesterday at 135-1/2p. UBS had previously set a price target of 135p.