Pension Funds Threaten to Pull the Plug on Pearson (Mis)Education
Pearson (Mis)Education, the British-based global "education" publishers reported a net profit increased in 2015, but that was because it sold off assets including of the Financial Times and The Economist. It was also forced to eliminate 4,000 jobs, about ten per cent of the company's workforce.
A closer look at Pearson's bottom line shows a decline in revenue of about 2% in its core business, selling textbooks, texts, and online classes in the United States and Third World countries. Without the sell-off and some tax breaks, Pearson's balance sheet would have been in the red. Pearson CEO John Fallon admitted 2015 was a "tough year" for Pearson, but he blamed "cyclical and policy challenges." Shares in Pearson stock on the London Exchange climbed recently, but they are worth about half what they were a year ago. One major British market analyst concluded the report issued by Pearson undermines its "management's stated claims of confidence in the longer-term business."
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A closer look at Pearson's bottom line shows a decline in revenue of about 2% in its core business, selling textbooks, texts, and online classes in the United States and Third World countries. Without the sell-off and some tax breaks, Pearson's balance sheet would have been in the red. Pearson CEO John Fallon admitted 2015 was a "tough year" for Pearson, but he blamed "cyclical and policy challenges." Shares in Pearson stock on the London Exchange climbed recently, but they are worth about half what they were a year ago. One major British market analyst concluded the report issued by Pearson undermines its "management's stated claims of confidence in the longer-term business."
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