REUTERS GROUP PLC ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 1999

From the Chairman.Theus now is Internet-dominable to get to grips withhaving plotted our courseManagement’s primary responsibility isfor a company’s results; only indirectlycan it be held responsible for the shareprice. Share prices, however, are a vitalsignal from markets to managementswith regard to value; which is why wewere pioneers in 1993 in using the shareprice as the basis for our long-termincentive remuneration. It is incumbenton managements to read these marketsignals and to ensure that shareholdersare given as clear a picture as possible,not just of results for past periods butalso of future potential to which valuemay be ascribed. This is especially thecase with Reuters now, given thecompany’s deep and long-standingimmersion in the business of electroniccommunication and its links with theInternet. So this particular Annual Reportfocuses more than usual on our courseas we see it looking forward, as well aslooking back to the financial outcomesfor 1999.The world has now crossed thewatershed between the two centuries, sofar without great computer mishap. To aprofoundly computer-based business likeReuters, this is even more of a milestonethan the smoothness of the transition toEuropean Monetary Union on 1 January1999. The view opening in front of usnow is Internet-dominated and it is goodto be able to get to grips with it as atotal priority, having plotted our coursetowards it for many years. For we see theInternet as a great and enablingopportunity to capitalise on ourstrengths. Since the Reuters MonitorDealing Service was introduced in 1981,we have been using electronics andtelecommunications to promotebusiness-to-business e-commerce and tobuild communities. ‘Embracing the Net’,was the slogan on the cover of our 1996Annual Report. As the availabletechnology has evolved, we havemonitored its leading edge and gaugedour strategy accordingly, always with aneye to helping professionals and marketswork better. We can now really begin tosee how big a difference our embrace ofthe Internet and its technology will makewhen backed by the Reuters brand andby the company’s skills, experience,market positions and global reach.Of course this means profound changesof a kind which shake all companieswhen they have to maintain competitiveedge in a fast-changing environment.The hiving off of our network is one such4 Reuters Group PLC Annual Report 1999