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Pearson warns on full-year profits

Last updated: 08:14 30 Oct 2013 GMT, First published: 09:14 30 Oct 2013 GMT

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Financial Times publisher Pearson (LON:PSON) topped the FTSE 100 fallers in the first hour of trading ON wEDNESDAY after it issued a full-year operating profit warning.

The group said it expects its 2013 adjusted operating profit to be lower than last year due to restructuring charges and weaker demand for college textbooks at its North American Education business.

Pearson did, however, reiterate its full-year earnings guidance after reporting nine month underlying sales up 2% due to strong demand at its professional and emerging markets divisions.

“Market conditions remain strong in digital, services and emerging markets, but are more challenging in some of our largest textbook publishing markets,” Pearson’s chief executive John Fallon said.

The publisher said underlying revenue was up 5% at its international education unit, ahead 8% for its professional education division, and flat in North American Education.

“Margin comments around NA (North American) Education are a little disappointing due to a weak college textbook publishing backdrop. No change to headline estimates on this statement, though mix may shift a little. We remain comfortable with our hold,” Numis Securities analyst Gareth Davies said in a note.

Pearson shares were down 3.5%, albeit having hit a 12-year high in the run up to the numbers.

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