Pearson gets digital boost
Publisher Pearson expects to see a seven per cent spike in full-year earnings after a boost from its digital services division.
The company now says it is wholly focused on the education aspect of its business, with online services taking the forefront in its expansion.
Pearson’s education business, the world’s largest, saw a nine per cent increase in sales and more than doubled its operating profit as it gained market share, helped by digital learning tools especially popular amid spending cuts on books.
Chief executive Marjorie Scardino said: “All of Pearson is now about education. The 2010 finish line isn’t yet in sight, but this is as good a start to our year as I’ve seen. That boosts our confidence in the full year, enabling us to brighten our outlook and raise our guidance.”
The group said full-year adjusted earnings per share should rise to around 70p, with underlying sales growing seven per cent to £2.34bn.
The Financial Times owner, which makes the vast majority of its sales in the second half of the year, raised its interim dividend by seven per cent to 13p per share.
It has already begun reinvesting the proceeds in educational technology and announced its biggest acquisition in the field outside the US last week, with an agreement to buy part of Sistema Educacional Brasileiro.
Pearson said it remained cautious in the face of severe pressure on public-sector funding in the US and elsewhere, but said it expected to keep gaining market share in education and to sustain healthy renewal rates at the FT Group.
In the first half of the year, the FT group reported a seven per cent rise in underlying sales and more than a doubling in its operating profit as advertising revenues returned to growth.