Reuters searches for next chairman

A search to fill one of the most prestigious jobs in the British media will begin in earnest this week when Reuters, the news and information group, tells its annual meeting that it is looking for a replacement for Sir Christopher Hogg.

Sir Christopher, who is 66 and has been chairman for 18 years, will not give a date on which he will retire, but will confirm that "a process has begun" to find a successor.

Niall FitzGerald, joint chairman of Unilever and a non-executive director, is favoured by some shareholders but the company will also consider outside candidates. Last year Sir Christopher earned £277,000 and he has amassed a pension pot with Reuters worth £1.8m. He is also chairman of GlaxoSmithKline.

His successor will face a huge task in turning round a company which was once the country's biggest media group.

Reuters was founded as a news service during the Crimean War and has a high reputation for accurate reporting, but its main business now is providing trading terminals for investment banks. This has suffered heavily from the bursting of the dotcom bubble. On Friday the shares closed at 107p, more than 90pc off their peak.

The company also invested too much in new technology during the dotcom euphoria and is now lossmaking. It has fired 2,000 people in an urgent move to cut costs. At its annual meeting on Thursday, it is expected to say revenues in the first quarter were down another 10pc.

Sir Christopher approved the technology strategy, which has since been toned down. A source close to the company said: "Reuters needs someone who is a safe pair of hands and very popular with shareholders, as Sir Christopher is. The new chairman needs to be down-to-earth and not away with the fairies on technology. Those days are over."

Reuters insiders say the company is determined to stick to its current strategy which is serving its investment banking customers, despite their difficulties. On Thursday, Sir Christopher will reveal figures showing it has increased its market share, from 37pc to over 38pc.

The company is in a vicious price war with its arch-rival Bloomberg and the two are squeezing out smaller players. In June, Reuters' new Knowledge terminal will be launched. "It's fair to say a lot rides on it," said one executive.

Chief executive Tom Glocer has been criticised by the National Association of Pension Funds for his contract which gives him two years' pay-off, or over £2m, if he loses his job or the company is taken over.

But Mr Glocer will defy the NAPF, which is recommending shareholders to abstain in the vote to approve the executive remuneration report.

Mr Glocer's existing contract gradually cuts his notice period to one year by 2005 and he believes this has satisfied most institutional shareholders.