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Sales growth of 5% at Penguin and 7% in education has led Pearson to increase sales by 7% and adjusted operating profit by 15%, in its latest interim management statement.
For the nine months to 30th September, it said demand in some markets remained subdued and the macroeconomic outlook still uncertain. At Penguin it said physical retail markets were tough offset by "strong publishing" and rapid growth in e-book sales, which had increased threefold year on year. It now has 16,500 e-books available.
In its professional education business, sales were up 17%. Pearson said: "Market conditions in our professional publishing business remain challenging but we are benefiting from good growth in digital sales."
Sales in Pearson's international education business were up 8%, which was driven by strong demand in developing markets for assessment services, as well as English language learning in China. However, Pearson said developed markets and school publishing remained soft. In North America, sales were up 5% thanks to higher education and digital.
Pearson concluded the fourth quarter was key for both the consumer and education publishing markets and both sides of the business face "tough comparables" on last year. However, Pearson added it was trading ahead of previous guidance and expected to increase earnings per share by 10%.