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Pearson has reported a 31% increase in adjusted operating profit to £573m in its official year-end earnings report for 2023.
The education publisher posted sales of £3,674m, compared to £3,841 last year, but said underlying group sales growth was up 5% excluding the Online Program Management and strategic review businesses.
Chief executive Omar Abbosh, who took over in January, said 2023 was "another year of strong operational and financial performance”, driven by success in the Assessment & Qualifications and English Language Learning businesses.
He added: “Pearson is well positioned today, providing a stable platform for continued growth that can benefit from the inflection point we see with the development of AI. I am optimistic about the opportunities this advancement in technology brings, underpinned by our trusted brand, large high-quality data sets and strong capabilities in assessment, content and services. We have an exciting future ahead of us.”
Earlier this week Pearson announced plans to expand generative AI study tools to more Pearson+ eTextbooks. In a briefing with journalists Abbosh explained “Pearson has got this highly curated, high-quality data at a vast scale. That makes those datasets very attractive to AI developers ... so you can expect us to be talking to all the tech industry.” When questioned about licensing he said “it’s one of those options that we’re looking at [but] not necessarily the first thing that I’m jumping up to do”.
Assessment & Qualifications sales were up 7% “largely driven by a strong performance in Pearson VUE with good progress in IT and healthcare alongside the commencement of new contracts”.
Virtual Learning sales decreased 20%, “primarily due to an expected 87% decrease in the Online Program Management (OPM) business resulting from the previously announced ASU contract loss” Pearson said. Virtual Schools sales declined 2%, with enrolments for the 2023/24 academic year lower due to the previously announced loss of a larger partner school.
Higher Education sales were down 3%, in line with expectations, “driven by loss of adoptions to nonmainstream publishers in the first half of the year, as well as pricing mix”.
However Pearson+ continued to perform well and English Language Learning sales increased 30%. Workforce Skills sales grew 11% for the full year.
When asked if he was considering changing Pearson’s listing to the US from London, Abbosh said he was “open to it” as “you would expect with any strategic option” and said Pearson would “look at the pros and cons, and discuss with our shareholders, and that’s really where I’m at”.
Pearson also announced the appointment of Vishaal Gupta as the new president of Workforce Skills who succeeds Mike Howells, who will be leaving Pearson in March.