Activist investor Cevian amps up pressure on Pearson, one year in to new CEO’s overhaul October 31, 2021 Activist investor Cevian Capital has built up its stake in the world’s largest education company Pearson, a year after new chief executive Andy Bird joined with a promise of a “new era” for the beleaguered group. The Swedish investor is now Pearson’s second largest shareholder, indicating it plans to heat up pressure on the publisher [...]
The Analyst: Pearsona non grata after third quarter update October 30, 2021 Ian Whittaker has been a City analyst for more than two decades, and what he doesn’t know about media, advertising and the creative services industry isn’t worth knowing. Here’s the next instalment of his monthly column for City A.M. Pearson’s shares fell nearly 15 per cent after its third quarter trading update. While the headline [...]
Pearson on track to hit £377m profit despite drop in US university students October 15, 2021 Publisher Pearson said it is on track to hit expectations this year, despite a drop-off in US university students. The business said revenue from its US higher education segment had decreased 9%, pushing down its overall higher education portfolio. But it is still on track to reach an operating profit of around £377m in the [...]
Screenshot: Can the City harness the power of the Netflix model? August 13, 2021 This week **Media Moment of the Week: Victoria Derbyshire’s heels hiccup **Can the City harness the power of the Netflix model? **The CMA goes for GIFs Media Moment of the Week: Victoria Derbyshire’s heels hiccup Late on Wednesday evening prolific BBC presenter Victoria Derbyshire tweeted to say she’d be on air three times in a [...]
Pearson hikes dividend as it swings back to profit July 30, 2021 Education giant Pearson has hiked its dividend for the first half of the year as it swung back to a profit following a torrid pandemic year. The FTSE 100 firm today reported an adjusted operating profit of £127m for the six months to the end of June, compared to a loss of £23m in the [...]
Exclusive: Online education booms during pandemic as MyTutor’s userbase grows by 170 per cent April 28, 2021 Pearson, the world’s biggest educational publisher, reported an increase of 5 per cent in revenue in the first quarter. This jump follows a shift towards digital, due to the boom in online learning that the pandemic caused. As businesses recover from the initial disruption from Covid-19, many have moved aspects of their offering online in [...]
Pearson sales jump as demand for online learning soars April 26, 2021 Global education firm Pearson said strong demand for online learning courses helped the group post a five per cent rise in underlying revenue growth in the first three months of the year. Shares in the education group rose more than 2.5 per cent on the update to 822p this morning Delivering a quarterly trading update, [...]
Pearson chair to depart after £7.2m CEO pay spat with shareholders April 22, 2021 Sidney Taurel will step down from chair of Pearson, after rowing with shareholders over handing new chief executive Andy Bird a £7.2m sign on bonus. The education publisher said Taurel will retire no later than the 2022 annual meeting. Taurel’s decision came after a third of Pearon’s investors voted against a £7.2m pay award for [...]
Pearson maintains dividend as it unveils plans to slash office space March 8, 2021 Education giant Pearson today said it will maintain its dividend for the full year as the firm unveiled plans to “significantly” reduce its office space. The publisher proposed a final dividend of 13.5p, bringing its full-year payout to 19.5p — in line with 2019. It came as Pearson announced plans to slim down its property [...]
Reddit Rally: GameStop turmoil triggers margin call selloff January 28, 2021 Last night’s Federal Reserve rate decision was somewhat overshadowed by the big surges in the so-called Reddit stocks. In short, pun intended, large hedge fund short positions were getting liquidated, prompting margin calls, and the cashing out of more profitable positions to fund the losses being caused by the Reddit surge in the likes of [...]