{"id":42520,"date":"2023-07-31T07:56:17","date_gmt":"2023-07-31T11:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/investing\/pearsons-profits-surge-in-first-half-2023-guidance-maintained\/"},"modified":"2023-07-31T07:56:19","modified_gmt":"2023-07-31T11:56:19","slug":"pearsons-profits-surge-in-first-half-2023-guidance-maintained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=42520","title":{"rendered":"Pearson\u2019s Profits Surge In First Half, 2023 Guidance Maintained"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Educational materials supplier and testing giant Pearson kept its full-year forecasts unchanged after it announced a surge in first-half profits.<\/p>\n<p>At 859p per share Pearson\u2019s share price was down fractionally in subdued Monday trading.<\/p>\n<p>Sales at the FTSE 100 firm rose 5% between January to June, to \u00a31.88 billion, while turnover increased 6% on an underlying basis. Adjusted operating profit soared 56% year on year to \u00a3250 million, which was 44% higher in underlying terms.<\/p>\n<p>Revenues at its core Assessments and Qualifications division rose 12%, or 7% on an underlying basis, to \u00a3796 million. Sales increased 12% at its computer-based Pearson VUE unit as test volumes leapt 22% year on year, to 12.2 million.<\/p>\n<p>Sales at the company\u2019s English Language Learning division jumped 51% (or 44% on an underlying basis), to \u00a3184 million. Test volumes rocketed 76% year on year during the six months to June.<\/p>\n<p>Pearson raised its full-year sales growth forecast for English Language Learning on the back of its strong showing. Revenues are now expected to rise by around 20% from 2022 levels, up from a prior prediction of high-single-digit percentages. The firm said it expects turnover here to normalise during the second half.<\/p>\n<p><fbs-ad position=\"inread\" progressive=\"\" ad-id=\"article-0-inread\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\"><\/fbs-ad><\/p>\n<p>Sales at the company\u2019s Virtual Learning arm, however, dropped 4% to \u00a3373 million in the first half. On an underlying basis revenue tanked 15% as a long-running contract with Arizona State University came to an end.<\/p>\n<p>Operating cash flow surged to \u00a379 million from \u00a39 million, thanks to strong trading as well as the benefits of ongoing cost reduction. But Pearson\u2019s net debt rose to \u00a3911 million from \u00a3810 million a year earlier on the back of tax payments, dividends and 2022\u2019s share buyback programme.<\/p>\n<p>The company proposed an interim dividend of 7p per share for the first half, up from 6.6p a year earlier.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"subhead-embed color-accent bg-base font-accent font-size text-align\">Forecasts Maintained<\/h2>\n<p>Chief executive Andy Bird commented that \u201cwe have continued to execute well operationally and maintained a sharp focus on delivering efficiencies whilst positioning our portfolio for long-term growth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added \u201cthe progress we are making to accelerate our digital journey, increase interconnectivity and leverage our long-standing AI capabilities will enable us to serve an ever-greater number of individuals and enterprises with our trusted, proprietary learning content.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bird said that Pearson remains on course to grow group revenues by mid-single-digits through to 2025. Margins are still tipped to rise \u201cto the upper end of mid-teens\u201d over the period.<\/p>\n<p>For this year, guidance for adjusted operating profit was maintained at \u00a3568 million. Revenues are still expected to rise by low-to-mid-single digit percentages.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"subhead-embed color-accent bg-base font-accent font-size text-align\">\u201cTicking Along Nicely\u201d<\/h2>\n<p>Adam Vettese, analyst at eToro, said that \u201cPearson is ticking along nicely, registering growth in every key financial metric despite the challenging economic environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While net debt rose in the first half, he commented that the company\u2019s balance sheet remains in \u201ca strong position.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vettese added that \u201cthe education company\u2019s digital transformation programme is clearly paying off, turning it into a more modern and relevant business offering materials fit for today\u2019s classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Read the full article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/roystonwild\/2023\/07\/31\/pearsons-profits-surge-in-first-half-2023-guidance-maintained\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Educational materials supplier and testing giant Pearson kept its full-year forecasts unchanged after it announced a surge in first-half profits. At 859p per share Pearson\u2019s share price was down fractionally in subdued Monday trading. Sales at the FTSE 100 firm rose 5% between January to June, to \u00a31.88 billion, while turnover increased 6% on an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[239],"tags":[83],"class_list":["post-42520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investing","tag-featured"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Pearson\u2019s Profits Surge In First Half, 2023 Guidance Maintained | iFintechWorld<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Educational materials supplier and testing giant Pearson kept its full-year forecasts unchanged after it announced a surge in first-half profits. 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