UK publisher Pearson, the owner of the FT Group and Penguin brand, warned today that it expects earnings to fall in 2014 after publishing its full-year results.
Suffering the effects of the deteriorating US education market, the 170-year-old media and education group downgraded its guidance twice in what was a tough 2013. The group recorded a 21% dip in its operating profit last year to £736 million on revenues of £5.28 billion (up 2%).
However, profits at the company’s FT Group, which owns the Financial Times, were up 17% to £55 million.
The paper, which has recorded losses in print, with circulations down by -15% year-on-year and dropping more than 41,000 copies, has seen solid growth in its digital operation.
Online subscribers to FT.com were up 31% year-on-year to 415,000 – which the group said “more than offset weak advertising”.
The Financial Times‘ total circulation grew 8% year-on-year to 652,000 taking in print and digital, the highest paying readership in its 126-year history.
Pearson is now restructuring as it moves from print to digital services and increases its presence in faster-growing, emerging markets.
“We are in the middle of what we believe will be a short, but difficult, transition – one that through our combined investment and restructuring programs will drive a leaner, more cash generative, faster growing business from 2015,” chief executive John Fallon said on Friday.
“We are uniquely positioned to tackle some of the biggest challenges in global education including the transforming power of technology. I am particularly excited about the significant opportunity digital education offers for Pearson and the next generation of learners.”
