Pearson PLC (LON:PSON) reported a further sales improvement in the third quarter although growth remains negative compared to last year for everything apart from online learning.
Revenue for the first nine months of 2020 fell 14% from where it was a year ago, the educational publisher and assessment group said in a statement on Wednesday.
Third-quarter sales were down 10% year-on-year, which was an improvement on the 28% decline in the second quarter as online learning sales rose 32% but the other parts of the business continued to drag.
Chief executive John Fallon, who will be replaced in the role by media veteran Andy Bird next week, said the company expects the full-year result to be in line with market expectations. Analysts on average have forecast an adjusted operating profit of just over £330mln, but with the pound having strengthened slightly this will be nearer £300mln.
“Our digital performance is very strong,” Fallon said, after what he called “a challenging transformation… but we are starting to see the benefit of all our work to ensure Pearson becomes the winner in digital learning.”
However, the Global Assessment arm saw sales down 19% due to the impact of test centre closures, cancellation of spring testing in US and school closures, while the North American Courseware division declined 14% for similar reasons.
Pearson said it had plenty of financial headroom, with immediately available liquidity of roughly £1.6bn.