Pearson Shares Jump on Review of U.S. Unit, Cost-Cutting Plans -- Update
May 05 2017 - 4:15AM
Dow Jones News
By Rory Gallivan
LONDON--Shares in Pearson PLC (PSON.LN) rose more than 10%
Friday after the world's largest education company said it would
launch a review of its struggling U.S. learning-products business
and announced more cost savings, the latest moves in a prolonged
bout of restructuring.
The London-listed company--a provider of textbooks, language
courses and other educational products and services--said it
expects to make extra annual savings of 300 million pounds ($387
million) by the end of 2019 through measures including cutting
administrative costs in North America.
Shares in the company were up 11% at 0722 GMT, giving it a
market capitalization of GBP6 billion.
Pearson, which used to be best known for publishing the
Financial Times newspaper until it sold it two years ago, also
announced a strategic review of its U.S. K12 business, which
publishes educational products in areas such as science and
language and has struggled with competition and other issues.
The measures are the latest in a yearslong restructuring process
Pearson has undergone involving multibillion-dollar asset sales
amid tough market conditions in the U.S.
Pearson also Friday reported an encouraging start to 2017, with
underlying sales in the usually quiet first quarter of 2017 up 6%
from last year.
Pearson said it benefited from growth in North American
higher-education products, professional certification, South
African school textbooks and U.K. student assessment.
Write to Rory Gallivan at rory.gallivan@wsj.com; Twitter:
@RoryGallivan
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 05, 2017 04:00 ET (08:00 GMT)
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