Pearson projects healthy 2009 earnings

Posted by Uma Dixit on March 2, 2009 at 10:29 AM

Excluding potential benefits from its key education business, Pearson, owner of the Financial Times, announced it projects its 2009 earnings will be equal to or more than last year's levels, the Financial Times reported Monday.

The company said it expects U.S. President Barack Obama's stimulus package will aid its U.S. education business, but is not relying on it due to uncertainties over how much it will help.

Pearson said it was "planning for weak conditions in the U.S. school publishing market, but expect continued growth in our testing, higher education and international education businesses."

"We don't expect economic conditions to improve any time soon, but we do expect our company to remain hardy and aggressive," said Chief Executive Dame Marjorie Scardino, according to the Financial Times.

According to a statement from Pearson, growth in its digital businesses compensated for a plateau in print growth. Pearson's performance has motivated the board to increase annual dividends by 7 percent to 33.8p

Scardino said that Pearson was at an advantage considering that it derives only 25 percent of its revenues from advertising.