PEARSON UPBEAT ON TRADINGPearson me

PEARSON UPBEAT ON TRADING
Pearson met or exceeded its previous guidance for 2008 in all its businesses, the publisher said this week. This was in marked contrast to a number of 'bearish' announcements from rival educational , book and newspaper companies. The owner ofthe Financial Times said, in a trading update, that it expected full-year earnings growth of around 20 per cent, indicating that adjusted earnings per share could advance from 46.7p to about 56p, ahead of consensus forecasts of 51p. B 'We are naturally cautious about the economic environment, but we take confidence from our performance in 2008,' said Dame Marjorie Scardino, ChiefExecutive. 'Some ofour markets will be tough this year, and we are managing the company accordingly,' she added. However, Pearson 's strategy,past investments and resilience would enable it 'to take full advantage of the opportunities this environment gives us to build our business and gain [market] share' . C Pearson's shares closed up 27p at 625p. Pearson's statement stood in clear contrast to recent comments by some rivals. McGraw-Hill , the US educational publisher, cautioned in January that spending by states on elementary- to high-school materials had slumped since August and might fall by 10-15 percent this year. This statement marks the second time in three months that Pearson has indicated that its earnings would be above consensus levels. It noted that earnings had benefited from the strength of the dollar and a tax rate towards the lower end of a previous 27-29-per-cent guidance range. Analysts had also been prepared for poor Christmas sales from consumer book publishers, since Borders, the US book retailer, said its holiday sales had fallen by 11 per cent. Analysts were also worried about the impact 50 of a weak advertising market on the FfGroup. F Simon Baker of Credit Suisse commented, 'It is good news, but there are some question marks. Pearson is a late-cycle company, and if the good news now is coming from market share increases, from the tax charge and the strong dollar, people are generally going to be cautious about as- smning all that will continue.' Alex de Groote, analyst at Panmure Gordon, stated 'There are certainly no new horror stories, but I remain concerned about exposure to the education market in the US.' G Pearson's statement highlighted the strength in its historically countercyclical US higher-education business. This has benefited from a contracting job market, which has encouraged more people to invest in continuing education rather than looking for employment. Growth in the international education business helped offset ' some weakness' in the US school publishing market, which accounts for approximately one-fifth of Pearson Education, and slightly more than 10 per cent of group revenues. H Ff Publishing, which includes the FT, business magazines and online brands such as Mergermarket, saw an advertising slowdown in the fourth quarter, but produced 'good sales and 85 profit growth' for the full year. I Penguin Group UK (which incorporates famous brands such as the Rough Guides to travel, Penguin Classics and the Puffin and Ladybird children's 'Xl books) performed ' in line with expectations', Pearson said.

Kết quả (Việt) 1:

PEARSON LẠC QUAN VỀ KINH DOANHPearson met or exceeded its previous guidance for 2008 in all its businesses, the publisher said this week. This was in marked contrast to a number of 'bearish' announcements from rival educational , book and newspaper companies. The owner ofthe Financial Times said, in a trading update, that it expected full-year earnings growth of around 20 per cent, indicating that adjusted earnings per share could advance from 46.7p to about 56p, ahead of consensus forecasts of 51p. B 'We are naturally cautious about the economic environment, but we take confidence from our performance in 2008,' said Dame Marjorie Scardino, ChiefExecutive. 'Some ofour markets will be tough this year, and we are managing the company accordingly,' she added. However, Pearson 's strategy,past investments and resilience would enable it 'to take full advantage of the opportunities this environment gives us to build our business and gain [market] share' . C Pearson's shares closed up 27p at 625p. Pearson's statement stood in clear contrast to recent comments by some rivals. McGraw-Hill , the US educational publisher, cautioned in January that spending by states on elementary- to high-school materials had slumped since August and might fall by 10-15 percent this year. This statement marks the second time in three months that Pearson has indicated that its earnings would be above consensus levels. It noted that earnings had benefited from the strength of the dollar and a tax rate towards the lower end of a previous 27-29-per-cent guidance range. Analysts had also been prepared for poor Christmas sales from consumer book publishers, since Borders, the US book retailer, said its holiday sales had fallen by 11 per cent. Analysts were also worried about the impact 50 of a weak advertising market on the FfGroup. F Simon Baker of Credit Suisse commented, 'It is good news, but there are some question marks. Pearson is a late-cycle company, and if the good news now is coming from market share increases, from the tax charge and the strong dollar, people are generally going to be cautious about as- smning all that will continue.' Alex de Groote, analyst at Panmure Gordon, stated 'There are certainly no new horror stories, but I remain concerned about exposure to the education market in the US.' G Pearson's statement highlighted the strength in its historically countercyclical US higher-education business. This has benefited from a contracting job market, which has encouraged more people to invest in continuing education rather than looking for employment. Growth in the international education business helped offset ' some weakness' in the US school publishing market, which accounts for approximately one-fifth of Pearson Education, and slightly more than 10 per cent of group revenues. H Ff Publishing, which includes the FT, business magazines and online brands such as Mergermarket, saw an advertising slowdown in the fourth quarter, but produced 'good sales and 85 profit growth' for the full year. I Penguin Group UK (which incorporates famous brands such as the Rough Guides to travel, Penguin Classics and the Puffin and Ladybird children's 'Xl books) performed ' in line with expectations', Pearson said.