Pre-tax profits at Reuters, the information group set for a merger with arch-rival Thomson, rose 11% to £136m (€203m) in the six months to June, as a programme aimed at the growth and simplification of its business made more money than over the whole of last year.

Revenues for Core Plus, a four-year programme launched a year ago, hit £35m in the first half, nearly 10% more than it made from the programme in the whole of last year. Core Plus has four elements: electronic transactions, high value content, enterprise solutions and new markets.