Pearson Papers In The Pink As Stevenson Steps Down

Newspaper publisher, Pearson, has announced the departure of its chairman, Lord Dennis Stevenson, who is set to retire after nearly 20 years heading the company.

The company’s adjusted pre-tax profits fell from £410 million in 2003 to £386 million in 2004, with the company citing a decline at its book publishing arm, Penguin, as the main cause. The company stated that Penguin has suffered recently from problems with its UK distribution network and the weak dollar. The company also revealed a slowing of book sales in the US during the last 12 months.

However, the company’s newspaper business performed much better, with the Financial Times Group seeing a solid increase of 69% in profits. The group is responsible for publishing Les Echos and Spanish title, Recoletos as well as the firm’s flagship title, the Financial Times.

The figures see the Financial Times notching up a growth in revenue for the first time in four years, with a wide-ranging cost cutting drive proving its worth as losses were reduced from £32 million in 2003 to £9 million in 2004, with the newspaper making a long-awaited return to profit in the final quarter of last year to beat expectations of a break-even figure in December (see Financial Times Expected To Break Even By Year End).

The title’s sales were also revealed to have grown, adding 3%, while advertising revenues were also in ascension, climbing by 2%.

Commenting on the results Pearson’s chief executive, Marjorie Scardino, said: “This year, we continue to expect strong growth at Pearson Education and the Financial Times Group, and we are confident that our performance will be within market expectations, even while we tackle some challenges at Penguin.”

Lord Stevenson’s retirement will come as a surprise to many, although he revealed that Pearson’s board had been discussing his future for some time. The news comes ahead of the chairman’s 60th birthday this year. He said: “The board and I have naturally been discussing plans for my succession for some time, and this is a good moment to formalise the process.”

The company will now begin the process of selecting a successor to Stevenson.

Pearson: www.pearson.com

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