Pearson reports profits rise

Pearson, the owner of the Financial Times, has reported positive results for 2007 driven by growth in its digital and subscription revenue at the FT. It has exceeded analysts’ expectations by announcing a 9% increase in pre-tax profits to £549 for the year.

The publisher says that every part of the business, which also includes an educational publisher, returned sales leading to a 4% increase in revenue to £4.218bn and a 14% rise in group operating profits to £634m.

It says that it expects the FT Group, which includes its data arm, Interactive Data, to continue its profit growth, with sales up 12% and profits up 85% in 2007. The division has reduced its reliance on advertising revenue due to an increase in digital and subscription trends. It has seen revenue from digital services grow from 28% of its group revenue to 63% last year. Revenue from advertising has fallen to 30% from 52% over the same period.

While the company expects ad revenue will continue to grow for FT Publishing at the beginning of this year, it says the rest of the year remains difficult to predict.