The action of the publishing group jumped nearly 8% on the London Stock Exchange, benefiting from the publication of solid half-year results and an increase in the interim dividend.
Pearson biggest rise in the Stoxx 600 after its semiannuals | photo credits: shutterstock
This is the largest increase on Monday on European stock markets. Best performance of the Stoxx 600 index, the action of the publishing group created almost 200 years ago and specialized in the field of education Pearson climbed almost 8% at the height of this session to London, driven by a jump in its half-year results, which allows it to raise the level of its dividend.
At the end of June, the group generated 179 million pounds sterling profit before tax, multiplied by four in the space of a year. While operating expenses fell by more than 7% and the company did not have to incur new restructuring charges (85 million pounds in the first half of 2021), turnover increased by 12%, driven by assessment testing (+16%) and English learning (+22%) activities, to 1.79 billion, which allowed adjusted operating profit to grow by 26%, to 160 million pounds. The interim dividend is thus raised by 4.8%, to 6.60 pence per share.
For the full year, the objectives are logically confirmed, whether in terms of invoicing or adjusted operating profit.
DL