Pearson's Education Business Is on Solid Footing

Pearson's first-half results demonstrate solid competitive advantage and capability of generating decent growth in the publisher's education enterprises

Michael Corty, CFA 1 August, 2011 | 1:11PM
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Pearson's (PSON) first-half results demonstrate that the publisher has a solid competitive advantage and is capable of generating decent growth in its various education enterprises. We're sticking with our fair value estimate and view the shares as fairly valued at the current price. For the full year, we continue to expect mid-single-digit revenue growth and slight EBITDA margin expansion from 2010.

Overall sales increased 3%, with organic sales and adjusted operating profit about flat with the first-half of 2010. North American education sales (40% of overall revenue) declined 4%. International education revenue (25% of sales) was 6% higher year over year, as Pearson continues to push forward with internal investment, especially with digital textbooks and assessment tools. The firm's consumer book division, Penguin, (20% of sales) only posted flat sales, but was lapping a 7% comparison in the year-ago period.

From a comprehensive business perspective, during the earnings call, management indicated that digital now represents more than one third of total sales, which is pacing somewhat higher than we anticipated. This is a positive, in our view.

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Securities Mentioned in Article

Security NamePriceChange (%)Morningstar
Rating
Pearson PLC1,227.50 GBX2.21

About Author

Michael Corty, CFA  Michael Corty, CFA, is an equity analyst with Morningstar.

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