Pearson Share Discussion Threads

[james dean] 19/2/2010 15:25

Regards.

DYOR

[james dean] 03/2/2010 10:14

ADVFN Newsdesk reports

Educational and financial information publisher Pearson has snapped up Medley Global Advisors, a company that provides macro intelligence to the world's leading investment banks, hedge funds and asset managers.


Regards.

DYOR

[james dean] 01/2/2010 09:14

Pearson, Nokia Form Wireless Educational Venture In China

LONDON (Dow Jones)

Publisher Pearson PLC (PSON.LN) and Nokia Corp. (NOK), the world's biggest mobile phone maker, said Monday they have set up a wireless education joint venture in China, aimed at attracting people who are studying and learning English.

The two companies hope the joint venture, Beijing Mobiledu Technologies, will accelerate the growth of mobile phone-delivered education service Mobiledu, which has been developed by Finland's Nokia.

Launched in China in 2007, Mobiledu is a mobile service which provides English-language learning materials and other educational content, from a variety of content providers, directly to mobile phones. Customers can access the content through an application preloaded on new Nokia handsets, or by visiting the service's mobile Web site and most other wireless application protocol, or WAP, portals in China.

Since its launch, Mobiledu has attracted 20 million subscribers in China, with 1.5 million people actively using the service each month. Mobiledu will continue to be delivered to customers in China through a range of channels, including Nokia's Ovi Store.

The new Beijing-based joint venture company will be headed by Angela Long, formerly head of Mobiledu at Nokia, and will commence operations immediately.

John Fallon, chief executive of Pearson's international Education business, said it is a "great opportunity to combine Pearson's English language learning and wider educational services with the mobile technology capabilities of Nokia to meet this demand and help a larger number of people achieve their aspirations."

-By Lilly Vitorovich, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-0-207 842 9290; [e-mail]

[james dean] 15/1/2010 08:11

Interesting



Regards.

DYOR

[bankroll] 09/1/2010 16:36

PSON has done its usual climb prior to year end results and has now suffered from some profit taking.

No doubt when the results are released there will be a further bounce to show confidence in this consistent performance over the last few years since focusing on its core business.

[flyingswan] 21/10/2009 09:53

Brockers Note from UK Analyst
Education and information specialist Pearson (PSON) released a nine-month interim management statement (IMS) which revealed that the company was able to maintain its strong momentum in the third quarter of the current year. In the first nine months of the year, sales increased by 20% in headline terms and operating profit increased by 19%. The FT Group and Penguin components performed in line with expectations and benefited from their investments in new digital products and emerging markets. The company also reported gains in its market share with growth in digital services and expansion into new markets and geographical areas. In addition, Pearson expects full-year adjusted earnings to be at or above 60 pence per share. On the back of this positive news, shares in the company surged ahead by 36.5p to 858.5p.

[james dean] 20/10/2009 19:36

Most encouraging.

Let's hope the market finds favour at last with the lady at the helm.

Regards.

DYOR

[flyingswan] 20/10/2009 15:26

By Lilly Vitorovich
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

LONDON (Dow Jones)--U.K.-based Pearson PLC (PSON.LN), publisher of the Financial Times newspaper, Tuesday reported strong trading for the first nine months of the year and raised its full year earnings guidance, with its education business performing ahead of expectations despite challenging conditions in U.S. school publishing.
Pearson said education, which accounts for 60% of the group's earnings and sales, is gaining "significant market share, with substantial growth in digital services and continued expansion into new market segments and geographies."
Despite the tough economic environment, Pearson sustained its strong momentum in the third quarter, with the FT Group and Penguin book division performing in line with expectations and benefiting from the group's investment in digital products and emerging markets... Click the link above for full article

[what is a login ?] 20/10/2009 14:39

Gateside, thanks for that. I often see you posting on sensible kinds of stock.
The excellent trading statement explains all. Even though PSON is in my portfolio, which I look at every day, I generally fail to take note of the share price A pleasant surprise, therefore, to see it has bounded up to over 800p :-)

[gateside] 20/10/2009 08:15

Pearson hails rapid growth in digital

Pearson, the international education and information company, say they have sustained strong momentum in the first nine months of 2009.

Adjusted earnings are now expected to be at or above 60p per share, assuming the current exchange rate of £1:$1.64 prevails in the fourth quarter.

The FT Group and Penguin are performing in line with expectations and benefiting from their investments in innovative digital products and emerging markets.

The education business is performing ahead of expectations. Significant market share has been gained and there is substantial growth in digital services and expansion in new market segments and geographies.

For the first nine months, sales were increased by 20% in headline terms (up 2% at constant exchange rates) and operating profit up by 19% (3% at CER).

At the start of 2009, Pearson's opening net debt was £1,460m, giving a net debt/EBITDA ratio of 1.7x and interest cover of 8.7x.

Net debt peaked at £1,860m in June, following the normal season build-up of working capital in the first half. At the end of September net debt was £1,865m, similar to last year's levels.

[bankroll] 01/8/2009 13:38

It's about flaming time the market realised the true value of this one - steady as a rock and increasing profits/dividends year on year.

It's ironic that when it was a rich man's plaything, holding such diverse assets from ShellMex and Lazard's Bank to Wookey Hole and Alton Towers, it was much more highly valued. Since then, they have concentrated on their core business of education publishing. I suppose the market feels it is now just plain boring.

[james dean] 27/7/2009 09:22

Nice rise.

Regards.

DYOR

[gateside] 24/6/2009 07:46

Pearson signs two deals in Indian educational market

Publishing group Pearson has announced investments totalling $30m in two of India's leading education companies, Educomp Solutions and TutorVista.

With Educomp, it has established a 50:50 joint venture to offer vocational and skills training in India. As part of the agreement, Pearson will acquire a 50% stake in Educomp's current vocational training business.

Pearson has acquired a 17.2% stake in TutorVista, making the group its largest shareholder. It plans to add TutorVista's online tutoring to its range of services for students in North America, the UK and other parts of the world.

[brain smiley] 04/6/2009 12:34

so much for a global recovery and pson being a recovery stock.

i wonder does the pson share performance foretell a market pullback?

[knockers2] 02/6/2009 11:16

caz fairly bearish

[knockers2] 01/6/2009 12:53

see ing has initiated

[gateside] 08/4/2009 14:13

Went Ex-Dividend this morning

[spob] 23/1/2009 12:58

Financial Times protest: 'This is not MFI or Woolworths'
22 January 2009

By Hannah Hudson at the Financial Times

The president of the National Union of Journalists has condemned job cuts at the Financial Times, which he said were inappropriate for a profitable publisher such as Pearson.

James Doherty was speaking at a union meeting in the FT canteen this afternoon in protest at 80 proposed redundancies - of which around 20 are expected to be journalists.

Staff are angry that parent company Pearson is proposing the cuts despite announcing this week that it expects to post a 20 per cent rise in full-year profits in March.

Doherty told about 150 assembled union members that they had "a massive fight on their hands" and that "quality journalism was at stake".

"This is not MFI, this is not Woolworths," he said. "The FT and Pearson are not businesses which are on their knees."

Veteran socialist politician Tony Benn, a lifelong NUJ member, also addressed the meeting with a speech on the looming recession and his experiences of trade unions.

He highlighted the potential dangers of "debt slavery", which makes journalists nervous of taking action for fear of losing their jobs.

"You [journalists] create the wealth for the shareholders. Therefore you are entitled to a say. Getting a voice is the beginning of progress," he told staff.

One FT staff member undergoing the redundancy process criticised management for its mixed message, and said: "There's lots of Orwellian double-speak, but no morality."

Another journalist expressed concerns that the "true voice of journalism" was being "done away with by management" who were pushing towards cheap-to-produce, online content.

A statement from the union said: "The FT's staff are the goose that lays the golden eggs. It's wrong for management to be thinking about strangling the goose."

The NUJ chapel at the daily business paper urged Pearson chief executive Marjorie Scardino that it rejected "both the philosophy and the economic basis for the latest round of compulsory redundancies".

"As publisher of the Financial Times we would have hoped that you would be aware that the big bonus culture and the short-term pursuit of shareholder value rather than long-term growth have proved catastrophic for the world economy," it said.





FT Staff Protesting Layoffs: 'We Can't Take Any More'

By Robert Andrews - Thu 22 Jan 2009 02:22 AM PST

Financial Times staff are holding a "day of action" to protest a pay freeze and a new round of 80 redundancies that is coming through print/online integration and tie-ups with recently-acquired units like Money Media. This flyer embedded below is being handed out and politician Tony Benn is making a rallying speech to workers at the Southwark Bridge HQ.

FT NUJ members are protesting what they say will be nine compulsory redundancies, resulting because only 11 out of 20 editorial staff accepted voluntary packages. They argue FT Group and parent Pearson (NYSE: PSO) are making healthy profits despite the downturn. The leaflet being distributed claims FT Publishing made the equivalent of £35,000 profit on every member of staff in 2007, while bonuses for the FT Group head and some board member rose 22 percent...

"Last year, the people in One Southwark Bridge and in FT operations around the world delivered a stellar performance, scooped a slew of newspaper awards and added readers at a time when newspaper circulation is falling – all while the cover price of the FT almost doubled. Yet the company expects us to believe that people must lose their livelihoods...

"The decision to cut editorial by 10 percent in October 2006 has meant the people left behind have had to work far harder to maintain the standards that we pride ourselves on. This is the point where we must insist we can't take any more job cuts without seriously damaging our output – and our own health."

[gateside] 20/1/2009 06:56

Pearson tops targets

Pearson says it expects to report earnings growth of around 20% for 2008, ahead of expectations.

The publishing group said, 'We will report good growth and continued progress on our financial goals for 2008, despite the worsening macroeconomic environment.'

'Trading conditions were more difficult in some of our markets in the fourth quarter, but all of our businesses achieved or exceeded our guidance for 2008. We also benefited from the strength of the US dollar against sterling and a lower tax rate,' the FT publisher added.

CEO, Marjorie Scardino, said: 'We are naturally cautious about the economic environment, but we take confidence from our performance in 2008. It provides evidence that our strategy for long-term, sustainable growth is working.

'Some of our markets will be tough this year and we are managing the company accordingly. But that strategy, our record of investment and our resilience will enable us to take full advantage of the opportunities this environment gives us to build our business and gain share.'

Results will be announced on on 2nd March.

[gateside] 15/10/2008 08:09

Pearson sales edge ahead

Pearson said today in the first nine months of 2008 sales were up 8% and operating profit up 11%.

The international education and information publisher said 2008 adjusted EPS is expected to be toward the top end of current market estimates.

Pearson said it continued to perform well in the third quarter. For the first nine months, sales are up 8% and operating profit up 11% at constant exchange rates.

Marjorie Scardino, CEO, said: 'Pearson's strong performance continues. We're naturally cautious about the global economic conditions, but we have good trading momentum, innovative products, resilient businesses and a strong balance sheet. With those advantages, we believe we are in good shape to prosper and strengthen our company, even through these turbulent times.'

Education business is trading in line with expectations, with sales up 10%.

The integration of 2007 acquisitions is progressing well and margin guidance is unchanged with 2008 margins expected to be similar to the 2007 levels, even after significant expensed integration costs, with margin improvements in 2009 and beyond.

In North American Education, sales are up 11%. The fourth quarter is an important selling season in higher education, but we expect our full-year sales to grow by around 10% (or by 2-4% in underlying terms).

In International Education, sales are up 10%, with full-year sales growth of around 10% (or in the low single digits in underlying terms) expected.

Professional Education business is trading in line with expectations, with sales 1% lower after nine months, but expected to increase in the low single digits for the year as a whole.

At the FT Group, sales are up 11%. At FT Publishing, sales are up 14% with advertising revenues 1% ahead of 2007. The Financial Times and Mergermarket are continuing to increase their content revenues and build their audiences through the volatility in global financial markets. Mergermarket is achieving good sales growth and strong renewal rates. Operating profits continue to show good growth, as expected, and for the full year we expect FT Publishing to increase profits even if there is no growth in advertising revenues. At Interactive Data, sales are up 8%, benefiting from continued new business wins.

At Penguin, sales are up 3% with a strong publishing performance from both new and established authors including Eckhart Tolle (A New Earth), Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love), Jamie Oliver (Jamie at Home) and Jane Green (Second Chance). The fourth quarter is an important selling season in consumer publishing and Penguin remains on track to reach its goal of a double-digit margin for the full year with a strong line-up of bestselling authors including Jamie Oliver (Jamie's Ministry of Food), Jeremy Clarkson (For Crying Out Loud), Patricia Cornwell (Scarpetta) and Nora Roberts (The Pagan Stone).

Pearson generates around 60% of its sales in the US, and each five cent change in the average £:$ exchange rate for the full year (which in 2007 was £1:$2.00) has a translation impact of approximately 1p on adjusted earnings per share. The average rate during the first nine months of 2008 was £1:$1.95 (compared to £1:$1.99 in the first nine months of 2007) and the closing rate at the end of September was £1:$1.83).