Pearson sales suffer as schools are shut

Education publisher Pearson on Friday said it is benefiting from demand for online studying, but showed school closures have hurt revenues.

The firm, which awards GCSE and A-level qualifications, as well as testing applicants for driving licences, last month warned lockdown meant most of its test centres had closed.

In the US, Pearson has been hit by the closure of campus-based book stores.

The company today said sales in the first quarter to March 31 fell 5%.

The shares dropped 9.2p to 442.2p.

Pearson did point to some positives today, such as a “significant uplift” in use of its digital products. “In time, we expect this growing interest to accelerate our digital growth,” it said.

In the pandemic the firm has made online resources free. It plans to launch free digital skills-based courses to help employees affected by Covid-19.

Pearson will pay a final dividend of 13.5p, paying out around £100 million.