Pearson Names Moreno As New Chairman

Pearson Publishing, owners of the Financial Times and the Penguin books, has announced the appointment of Glen Moreno as its new chairman, with the new boss due to take up his post on 1st October.

Moreno will succeed Pearson’s current chairman, Dennis Stevenson, who is retiring.

The new chairman is currently the senior independent director of Man Group PLC and was previously chief executive of Fidelity International, holding the position from 1987 to 1991.

Earlier this week Pearson announced upbeat predictions for its performance throughout 2005, stating that pre-tax loss for the first half of the year was lower than expected, leading to confidence in the company achieving “strong growth” in 2005 as a whole.

The company’s flagship newspaper, the Financial Times, saw particular success, as advertising revenues increased by 5% year on year, leading the publisher to expect a break even figure for the title in the year as a whole (see Pearson Delivers Confident Predictions For 2005).

Outgoing chairman Stevenson moved to quash rumours of a sell off for the paper earlier this year, stating that the company is “always looking at its options,” but confirming “we are not considering selling the FT” (see Pearson Will Not Sell Financial Times).

Rumours that the loss-making title could be sold off have circulated for many months, heightened by drastic cost-cutting measures at the FT last year (see Financial Times Could Close Creative Business).

Pearson: 01223 350555 www.pearson.co.uk