Reuters, the global information and technology group, has embarked on a radical transformation programme in order to further reduce costs and streamline product lines, after the group's full-year results revealed the full damage done by a difficult 2002.

Pre-tax profit figures at Reuters fell from £304m (€451.8m) in 2001 to £89m after £208m of restructuring costs. The group revenues for Reuters and Instinet, its global electronic agency brokerage, totalled £3.57bn, an 8% drop from 2001.