Publisher Pearson expects its fast-growing school and college testing business to help it build on last year's stronger than expected earnings, its chief executive Marjorie Scardino said today.
Pearson, which owns the world's largest education technology and publishing business as well as the Financial Times and Penguin books, reported an 18% rise in adjusted earnings per share of 77.5 pence on 8% higher sales of £5.66 billion sterling.
Scardino said she expected sales and adjusted earnings per share growth in 2011, although trading conditions in some of its markets would remain tough.
US states have cut school textbook spending, but Scardino said this would be more than offset by growth in testing, where Pearson is making a big push into electronic formats, and higher education.
Pearson has grown its education business in emerging markets such as China, India, Brazil and South Africa, and Scardino said she would be looking for similar bolt-on deals in 2011.
Pearson said The Financial Times, where sales rose 12%, benefited from a recovery in advertising from the dismal market of 2009, although visibility remained poor. The division was also boosted by subscriptions for digital delivery of its content.
Sales at Penguin, up 5%, were helped by Jamie Oliver's '30 Minute Meals', Stephen Fry's 'The Fry Chronicles' and bestsellers from Tom Clancy and Patricia Cornwell.
Digital book revenue, for devices like Amazon's Kindle, rose 182% and accounted for 6% of Penguin's revenue worldwide, the company said.
About 3% of Pearson's shares are owned by the Libyan Investment Authority, a stake subject to a UK government freeze on the country's leader Muammar Gaddafi's assets on Sunday.
'It's abhorrent to us what is happening in Libya and we have made it pretty clear we are uncomfortable about the holding,' Scardino said.
'But we work in a public market company and we don't choose our shareholders; our shareholders choose the company, so there is not a lot we can do, but we are watching the UK's freezing action from last night to see what that will do,' she added.
