Pearson reports £2.6bn pre-tax loss

In the UK, Pearson has reported a pre-tax loss of £2.6bn (A$4.22bn) in 2016, attributed to challenges in the US education market, reports the Bookseller.

Pearson also reported a rise in debt from £654m (A$1.06bn) to £1092m (A$1.77bn).

Sales at the publisher fell eight percent to £4.5bn (A$7.31bn), and adjusted operating profits were down 21% to £635m (A$1.03bn). The Bookseller reports the company has been ‘struggling in its core US education market after students began renting textbooks instead of buying them’.

Pearson CEO John Fallon said the company would look ‘urgently’ at cost savings, including the possible sale of its English test preparation business Global Education (GEDU). CFO Coram Williams said it was ‘really too early’ to elaborate on its planned sale of its 47% stake in Penguin Random House (PRH), with the process expected to take ‘a number of months’.

PRH’s adjusted operating profits for Pearson’s 47% stake in the publisher were £129m (A$209m) for 2016, up 43% in headline growth from 2015, despite a decline in revenue.

Category: International news