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 [...]
Pearson and Cineworld shares jump amid ‘manic’ Reddit short-selling feud January 27, 2021 Shares in Pearson and Cineworld had remained buoyed by London close today, having sparked speculation of a major short squeeze fuelled by Reddit day traders. Education giant Pearson led the FTSE 100 risers, with shares up almost 12 per cent, while Cineworld was trading 12.5 per cent higher. By the close Pearson was up nearly [...]
Teacher’s pet: Pearson shares lead the FTSE gainers after return to sales growth January 20, 2021 Teacher's pet: Pearson shares lead the FTSE gainers after return to sales growth
Pearson taps former British diplomat for new consumer push December 2, 2020 Pearson today said it has hired a former British diplomat as its chief strategy officer as the education group pushes ahead with a new strategy of targeting consumers directly. The FTSE 100 firm said Mike Howells will be tasked with strengthening its relationships with learning institutions. The appointment is the latest move by new boss [...]
Screenshot: How books became the new media battleground November 20, 2020 A weekly column from City A.M. bringing you all the biggest stories and trends in technology, media and telecoms This week **Media Moment of the Week: French radio kills the Queen **Publish and be damned: How books became the new media battleground **Could Pearson become the Netflix of education? Media Moment of the Week If [...]
Pearson launches new consumer division in bid to harness Netflix model November 18, 2020 Pearson has unveiled a new division that will deliver products directly to consumers as it looks to harness the power of streaming models used by companies such as Netflix. The FTSE 100 education giant said its new direct-to-consumer unit will help to accelerate its shift to digital services and allow it to “meet consumers where [...]
Learning the hard way: Why do things keep going wrong for Pearson? October 14, 2020 John Fallon, longstanding chief executive of Pearson, will step down next week after nearly eight years at the helm. The education boss today signed off with a mixed set of results for the first nine months of the year, as a surge in demand for online learning helped to offset sliding sales. The figures summed [...]
Pearson sales slump amid Covid-19 closures of schools and test centres October 14, 2020 Educational publisher Pearson (PSON) has suffered a drop in sales since the beginning of the year after the coronavirus pandemic forced test centres and schools to close. Group sales in the nine months to 30 September fell 14 per cent, reflecting the continued impact of the Covid-19 crisis. The company said its online learning sales [...]