Pearson said that if advertising sales in the
Financial Times follow this upward trend then the newspaper is expected to break even this year.
Commenting on the group’s strong start to 2005 Dennis Stevenson, Pearson chairman said:”Rapid growth in US education is now under way, we are seeing early signs of the long-awaited recovery in corporate advertising and we are confident of strong growth on our financial measures. Our businesses have excellent prospects both this year and beyond.”
All of Pearson’s businesses are revealed to be trading in line with expectations and although most of its profits are generated in the second half of the year, Pearson said it continued to forecast ‘strong’ growth in 2005 and beyond (see Financial Times Expected To Break Even By Year End).
The company’s Penguin books division is also continuing to recover and is improving in trade strength, while the UK warehouse is reported to be “operating well”.
Recent press speculation reported that Pearson was facing growing pressures to sell the Financial Times, after it emerged that Terry Smith, a city broker, had held talks with trade buyers for a bid for the newspaper.
The Financial Times has also launched a free afternoon version of the paper, called FTpm. It will carry advertising but will also be used to attract readers to the website and the following day’s paper by promoting content.
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