Pearson Shares Rise After Education Firm Backs Annual Guidance

By Scott Kanowsky 

Investing.com -- London-listed shares in Pearson PLC (LON:PSON) jumped in early European trading on Monday, after the British education products group backed its full-year profit guidance and said its planned digital transformation is making progress.

The company, which is aiming to refocus the business on bringing educational offerings direct to consumers, said its annual revenue and adjusted operating profit estimates are unchanged.

Pearson added that its margin expectation for 2023-2025 has improved, thanks in part to £100M in cost reductions as it revamps the business.

"[T]he more integrated platform we are building across the company is creating efficiencies, underpinning our new guidance for accelerated margin improvement," Pearson said.

Meanwhile, the firm posted a 22% rise in first-half adjusted operating profit to £160M on sales growth of 6% to nearly £1.79B.

Boosting the results was a normalization of exam timetables following COVID disruptions, as well as stronger performance at its health-centered clinical assessment division. These trends helped offset price inflation, portfolio investments, and the phasing-out of costs from last year.

The earnings come after Pearson rebuffed several takeover attempts from buyout group Apollo, saying the offers "significantly undervalued the company and its future prospects."

In March, Pearson said it remained "confident" that its digital strategy will lead to sustainable long-term returns for its shareholders.