I'm not sure if there is much interest for these on here - but I've been following them this year. They have had a rapid climb recently - is it time to take profits?

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Pearson Fundamentals (PSON)

Interim Management Statement

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
· Sales up 2% at CER to £2.0bn reflecting good growth in digital, services and emerging markets, offset as expected, by the impact of school curriculum change in the US and the UK; also, this year, seasonal changes in phasing have helped first half sales in North America and hurt those in Core markets, especially the UK.
· Adjusted operating profit, excluding Mergermarket, of £73m down from £124m last year, due to increased net restructuring charges (£43m in 2014; £29m in 2013), currency movements and the impact on margins of the phasing of revenues into the second half of 2014.
· Adjusted EPS of 4.7p (2013: 9.9p) after restructuring charges.
· Dividend raised 6% to 17p reflecting our confidence in our prospects.

2014 FULL YEAR OUTLOOK UNCHANGED
· We reiterate the guidance we gave on 28 February 2014.
· 2014 profits to reflect portfolio changes (Penguin Random House associate accounting; Mergermarket sale; Grupo Multi acquisition) and significant strengthening of Sterling against key currencies.
· Cyclical and policy-related pressures in our largest markets expected to persist, impacting revenues and margins.
· Still expect approximately £50m net restructuring to continue to reshape our publishing businesses; £50m organic investment in structural growth opportunities in digital, services and emerging markets.
· Based on 28 February 2014 exchange rates, we still expect to report adjusted earnings per share of between 62p and 67p in 2014.

2015 AND LONGER TERM
· Pearson's strategy centres on a significant and exciting long-term opportunity: the sustained and growing global demand for greater access, achievement and affordability in education.
· We can meet this demand by accelerating our shift to digital, services and to fast-growing economies, and committing to deliver measurably improved learning outcomes (efficacy).
· We are investing in learning services, inside services, direct delivery and assessments and qualifications, and in school, higher education and English language learning. We are organising around a smaller number of global products and platforms, built around a single, world-class infrastructure and common systems and processes.
· In 2013 and 2014, we are executing a significant restructuring programme designed to reduce our exposure to structural pressures and to shift resources towards these growth opportunities. Our restructuring expenditure will return to more normal levels in 2015.
· In addition, we believe cyclical pressures will begin to ease from 2015 as curriculum change is implemented in the US and UK and US college enrolments stabilise and, in due course, return to growth.
· This strategy will enable us to help more people make progress in their lives through learning. It also provides Pearson with a larger market opportunity, a sharper focus on the fastest-growing markets and stronger financial returns in 2015 and beyond.

Gone long on PSON PEARSON. Historical P/E 20, forward P/E to 2015 falls to 15.5. Divi yield 4.62%.Strong momentum.

Carrying on from yesterday PSON opened up gapping upwards. Plenty of momentum.

PSON PEARSON, had a moderate punt on a S/Bet , is positive and looks like resistance turned support.

Interim Management Statement

Chief Financial Officer to stand down in 2015 after 10 years service

PEARSON NINE-MONTH INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

· Full year guidance reiterated: Adjusted earnings per share expected to be between 62p and 67p in 2014.

· For the nine months, Sales up 1% at constant exchange rates; and level in underlying terms.

· Restructuring programme remains on track with full year net restructuring costs of approximately £50m in 2014. We still expect a return to normal levels of restructuring in 2015.

Pearson's chief executive John Fallon said: "We are reiterating our guidance for this year and, overall, we are performing well competitively through a period of change and in difficult markets. We still expect those markets to start to stabilise next year and then return to growth in future years. Our restructuring programme is on track and our momentum in digital, services and emerging market education is building, which will drive a leaner, more cash generative, faster growing business from 2015."

Interim Management Statement

JANUARY TRADING UPDATE

Pearson, the world's leading learning company, is today providing its regular January trading update.

· We expect to report 2014 results in line with the guidance we set out at the beginning of 2014 with adjusted operating profit and adjusted earnings per share expected to be approximately £720m and 66p, respectively.

· Our preliminary guidance range for 2015 adjusted earnings per share is 75p to 80p.

Hmmm, don't you love brokers :-

Investec Hold 1,290.50 1,052.00 - Reiterates

Liberum Capital Sell 1,290.50 660.00 660.00 Reiterates

Westhouse Securities Sell 1,290.50 995.00 995.00 Reiterates

Pearson is testing old highs - will it flunk it?

Annual Financial Report

2014 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
· Sales up 2% at CER to £4.9bn reflecting good growth in digital and services and the acquisition of Grupo Multi partly offset, as expected, by the impact of school curriculum change in the US and the UK, our two largest markets, and a smaller school textbook adoption in South Africa.
· Deferred revenue excluding Mergermarket up 10% at CER to more than £800m as a result of further good progress in our digital and services businesses.
· Adjusted operating profit (excluding Mergermarket) up 8% at CER to £720m (2013: £710m) with lower net restructuring charges (£44m in 2014; £135m in 2013) and the contribution from Grupo Multi partly offset by increased investment levels and revenue mix.
· Adjusted EPS of 66.7p (2013: 70.1p) reflecting exchange rate movements and a higher tax rate of 17.9% (2013: 14.6%).
· Operating cash flow £649m (2013: £588m) benefiting from improved working capital from deferred revenue growth and an increased dividend from Penguin Random House, partly offset by increased investment levels.
· Dividend raised 6% to 51p, our 23rd straight year of increasing our dividend above the rate of inflation.

2015 FULL YEAR OUTLOOK
· Based on exchange rates at the time of our 21 January 2015 trading update, we expect to report adjusted earnings per share of between 75p and 80p in 2015.
· 2015 profits to reflect: stabilisation of cyclical and policy-related factors in our largest markets; currency movement impact on revenues, operating income and interest charge (with Sterling weakness against the US Dollar partly offset by strengthening against the Euro, Australian Dollar and key emerging markets currencies); the benefits of 2014 restructuring partly offset by normal levels of net restructuring of approximately £30m to continue to reshape our business; and shared services costs remaining with Pearson following withdrawal of Penguin.
· Process to explore the possible sale of PowerSchool initiated.

STRATEGIC OUTLOOK
· Pearson's strategy centres on a significant and exciting long-term opportunity: the sustained and growing global demand for greater access, achievement and affordability in education.
· We can meet this demand by accelerating our shift to digital, services and to fast-growing economies, and committing to deliver measurably improved learning outcomes (efficacy).
· We are investing in learning services, inside services, direct delivery and assessments and qualifications, and in school, higher education and English language learning. We are organising around a smaller number of global products and platforms, built around a single, world-class infrastructure and common systems and processes.
· We believe cyclical pressures will ease as curriculum change is implemented in the US and UK and US college enrolments stabilise and, in due course, return to growth.
· This strategy will enable us to empower more people to progress in their lives through learning. It also provides Pearson with a larger market opportunity, a sharper focus on the fastest-growing markets and stronger financial returns in 2016 and longer term.

John Fallon, chief executive said:

"We've completed our intense two year restructuring and reinvestment programme and performed well competitively despite some challenging market conditions. We enter 2015 better placed to have a bigger impact on student learning through the combination of new technology and best teaching practice. This will enable us to empower more people to progress in their lives through learning and grow our market opportunity."

Interim Management Statement

Directorate Change

Chart of the week: A terrific set-up for a trader
By John C Burford, author of Tramline Trading, and Editor of MoneyWeek Trader

In these weekly articles, I will highlight a share that I believe has an interesting chart pattern. I am primarily a technical trader and use the methods I have developed that I call Tramline Trading. You can read more about my methods in my book Tramline Trading, which you can inspect here.

Most traders and investors make classic errors by chasing a stock near a top and then hang on to it too long during the decline. You will vastly improve your performance by timing your entries and exits more expertly - and that is what I hope to help you with.

My goal in these articles is to cover a share that has an interesting chart. I I developed my tramline system over several years to give me a set of rules which can provide me with trade entries at low risk. The low risk requirement was crucially important because no matter how firmly I believe in my trade, I could be wrong! And I wanted my wrong trades to hand me the smallest possible loss to my account. I figured the winners would take care of themselves.

My hope is that you glean useful ideas and employ at least some technical analysis to bolster your returns. In trading as well as investing, timing is a key factor in your eventual returns.

Pearson - an update

I covered the technical picture of Pearson (PSON) on 2 February and concluded that if a short term tramline could be broken, then odds favoured a continued decline from the current levels. This was my hourly chart:

(click to enlarge)

The key level was the wave 4 low at 1,320p. So let's see if that level was breached:

Here is the daily chart covering that January period:

(click to enlarge)

It is clear that my five up was not the end to the C wave rally - my lower tramline was not broken. And that is a lesson in waiting for a clear sell signal (broken tramline) to allow you to pull the trigger.

But with the weakening momentum, the rally high was put in late March and the market has dropped by 14% since then. My larger wave labels are proving to be correct, and rallies are likely to be good selling/shorting areas.

Carnival is cruising to a kiss

Carnival (CCL) is the world's largest cruise company and it has been in the news recently reporting that it is adding to its fleet sailing out of Shanghai, beefing up its presence in China's fast-growing leisure cruise market. That sounds bullish!

But it did report a loss last year, which is being corrected this year on the back of falling fuel costs. It does have headwinds, though. Fuel costs are "unexpectedly" rising again and the US dollar remains firm.

So how does the chart shape up? Here is the daily chart from last year:

(click to enlarge)

The market has rallied in five waves from the August low and I can draw a clear tramline pair (upper two tramlines) with the upper tramline sporting a nice Prior Pivot Point PPP) and accurate touch points in January and April.

The lower tramline, although not textbook, has the two major lows in February and May. Those two tramlines allowed me to draw in the third tramline T3, which gratifyingly passes through the major October low.

But today, the market has rallied to the underside of the centre tramline in what I call a "kiss". I have found that when a major tramline has been broken, the market usually comes back to that tramline and plants a kiss on it before moving sharply away in what I call a "scalded cat bounce".

In fact, that centre tramline, which represented support before the break, is now resistance.

Now let's look a little closer on the hourly chart:

(click to enlarge)

The green line is my centre tramline from the daily and the market has rallied off the early May low in a clear A-B-C form, which is counter-trend. Also, the market has rallied to the Fibonacci 50% level, which is a common turning point.

So today, the shares are at a major crossroads - an ideal place to enter trades.

Outlook

Either the kiss will result in a scalded cat bounce down from near current levels, or it will catch a bid and motor on through in a continuation of the C wave.

That is a terrific set-up for a trader! If you are inclined to be bearish, a very close stop can be employed, limiting risk. Remember, I am always looking for low risk trades - and this one is superb.

Statement re recent press speculation

Pearson notes recent press speculation and confirms that it is in advanced discussions regarding the potential disposal of FT Group although there is no certainty that the discussions will lead to a transaction. A further announcement will be made if and when appropriate.

Pearson to sell FT Group to Nikkei Inc.

Half Yearly Report

PEARSON 2015 INTERIM RESULTS (UNAUDITED)

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
Sales up 1% at CER to £2.2bn reflecting growth in North America, Brazil and China, and strength in digital and services, including Connections Education and Pearson On Line Services. This was partly offset by a smaller new textbook adoption market in US schools and the phasing of school textbook expenditure and lower college enrolments in South Africa.
Deferred revenue from continuing operations up 3% at CER to more than £750m as a result of further good progress in our digital and services businesses partly offset by lower deferred revenue in UK testing and in South Africa, due to lower college enrolments.
Adjusted operating profit from continuing operations down 4% at CER to £72m (2014: £73m). Sales growth, lower net restructuring charges, and growth in the contribution from Penguin Random House was offset by revenue mix, shared services costs related to the Penguin de-merger, and a contract termination charge arising from the transition of our three Saudi Arabian Colleges of Excellence to new providers.
Adjusted EPS of 4.4p (2014: 4.7p) primarily reflecting the absence of Mergermarket.
Dividend raised 6% to 18p.
On 23 July, Pearson announced its intention to sell FT Group to Nikkei Inc. for a gross consideration of £844m.

2015 FULL YEAR OUTLOOK
At our preliminary results on 27 February 2015 we stated that we expect to report adjusted earnings per share of between 75p and 80p in 2015, on the basis of ownership of PowerSchool for all of 2015 and based on exchange rates as at 21 January 2015. This guidance remains unchanged.
On 17 June 2015 we announced the sale of PowerSchool to Vista Equity Partners for $350m, which will reduce expected earnings per share by approximately 1p. If current exchange rates persist until the end of 2015 it would reduce earnings per share by approximately 2p.

STRATEGIC OUTLOOK
Pearson's strategy centres on a significant and exciting long-term opportunity: the sustained and growing global demand for greater access, achievement and affordability in education.
We can meet this demand by accelerating our shift to digital, services and to fast-growing economies, and committing to deliver measurably improved learning outcomes (efficacy).
We are investing in courseware, assessment and qualifications, managed services, and schools and colleges. We are organising around a smaller number of global products and platforms, built around a single, world-class infrastructure and common systems and processes.
We believe cyclical pressures will ease as curriculum change is implemented in the US and UK and US college enrolments stabilise and, in due course, return to growth. While UK policy pressures are easing as expected, the US policy environment remains uncertain.
This strategy will enable us to empower more people to progress in their lives through learning. It also provides Pearson with a larger market opportunity, a sharper focus on the fastest-growing markets and stronger financial returns in 2016 and longer term.

John Fallon, chief executive said:

"Overall, we're competing well, enabling us to reaffirm our full year guidance and increase the interim dividend. The new education products and services we're developing which will enable far more people of all ages to discover the joy of learning and progress in their careers. We believe the returns on the significant investments we are making to achieve this goal will be substantial for students, society and our shareholders."

Interim Management Statement

· Our competitive performance remained strong in the first nine months of the year with share gains across our major markets including US higher education courseware, US school courseware and UK qualifications.

· Cyclical and policy related factors made some of our largest markets weaker than we expected with, in particular, lower Community College enrolments and higher returns affecting the US higher education market; and lower purchasing in certain provinces affecting the school textbook market in South Africa.

· For the third quarter, sales were down 2% in headline terms, down 5% at constant exchange rates (CER) and down 4% in underlying terms. For the nine months, sales were up 2% in headline terms and down 2% at CER and in underlying terms.

· At our preliminary results on 27 February 2015 we stated that we expected to report adjusted earnings per share of between 75p and 80p in 2015, on the basis of no changes in portfolio for all of 2015 and based on exchange rates as at 21 January 2015. The disposal of PowerSchool, FT Group and The Economist Group, as well as movements in exchange rates, reduces this range by approximately 5p to 70p to 75p. Given a strong competitive performance but continued challenging market conditions, we expect our adjusted earnings per share to be around the bottom end of this range. This guidance is struck assuming: current exchange rates continue to the end of the year, no further acquisitions or disposals, a tax rate of approximately 15% and an interest charge of approximately £70m.

Pearson's chief executive John Fallon said:
"The key cyclical and policy-related factors which have been hurting our markets for some years have yet to improve. We are performing well competitively and gaining share across many areas of our business. We continue to manage our costs tightly while investing in new products and services to inspire the next generation of students."

Interim Management Statement

Pearson January trading update
Pearson is today providing its regular January trading update. In addition, we have undertaken a rigorous, bottom-up review of our markets, our operations and our financial plans. As a result, we are taking further action to simplify our business, reduce our costs and position ourselves for growth in our major markets. To quantify how this will drive Pearson's financial performance, we are providing earnings guidance for 2016 and setting out where we would expect to be by the end of 2018.

• 2015 results: we expect to report adjusted operating profit of approximately £720m and earnings per share of between 69p and 70p. We also intend to propose an unchanged final dividend of 34p per share giving a total dividend for 2015 of 52p per share, up 2% on 2014.
• Simplification and growth: we are taking further action to simplify our business, reduce our costs and position ourselves for growth in our major markets. We will complete the majority of these actions by mid-year and incur implementation costs of approximately £320m in 2016 and expect to generate annualised savings of approximately £350m, with approximately £250m of these savings in 2016 and a further £100m of these savings in 2017.
• 2018 goals: with the full benefits of our restructuring programme, the launch of new products, and stability returning to US college enrolments and the UK qualifications market by the end of 2017, we expect adjusted operating profit to be at or above £800m in 2018.
• Sustaining the dividend: Pearson plans to hold its dividend at the 2015 level while it rebuilds cover, reflecting the Board's confidence in the medium term outlook.
• 2016 outlook: In 2016, we expect to report operating profit and adjusted earnings per share before the costs of restructuring of between £580m and £620m and between 50p and 55p, respectively, with the in-year benefits from restructuring offset by the loss of operating profit from disposals made in 2015, ongoing challenging conditions in our largest markets, the reinstatement of the employee incentive pool and other operational factors. We are excluding the one-off cost of this major restructuring to better reflect the underlying earnings potential of the business. Operating profit after restructuring charges is expected to be in the £260m to £300m range.
• We will hold a conference call at 7.30am on Thursday, 21 January to present our headline plans. We will provide further detail on our strategy and our key financial assumptions at our preliminary results presentation in February.

Pearson's chief executive John Fallon said:

"Our competitive performance during the last three years has been strong, but the cyclical and policy related challenges in our biggest markets have been more pronounced and persisted for longer than anticipated.

"Faced with these challenges, we are today announcing decisive plans to further integrate the business and reduce the cost base, rationalise our product development and focus on fewer, bigger opportunities."

Pearson's chairman Sidney Taurel said:

"Pearson is a company with strong market positions, real competitive advantage and a significant medium-term market opportunity. The Board believes that the restructuring that we're announcing today will help build on these strengths and position Pearson to take advantage of its market opportunities, enjoying sustained growth. I look forward to working with John and the executive team to deliver this agenda."

Investec Add 772.25 748.00 - Reiterates

Liberum Capital Sell 772.25 540.00 540.00 Reiterates

Pearson January trading update

We expect to deliver operating profit in line with guidance for 2016, despite a further unprecedented decline in Q4 2016 in our North American higher education courseware business. Our 2016 restructuring program has been delivered in full and the financial benefits are a little higher than planned.

We are today announcing actions to accelerate our digital transition in higher education, to manage the print decline, and to reshape our portfolio. Our guidance for 2017 reflects continued challenges and uncertainty in the North American higher education courseware market and we no longer expect to reach our prior operating profit goal for 2018. The Board intends to recommend a final dividend of 34p for an overall 2016 dividend of 52p in line with our guidance, but as a result of the factors above we intend to rebase our dividend from 2017 onwards.

2016 results: we expect to report adjusted operating profit and adjusted earnings per share of approximately £630m and 57p, respectively, with revenues down approximately 8% in underlying terms primarily due to weakness in North American higher education courseware. We have continued to manage discretionary cost tightly and are accruing around £55m less than originally planned for our 2016 staff incentive programme, enabling us to report within the guidance range we had previously set.

Other than North American higher education courseware, our businesses have in aggregate performed in line with expectations. Online Program Management, virtual schools and professional certification all continued to grow. As expected US school courseware was impacted by a smaller market and lower participation rate, but benefited from share gains in Open Territories. North American student assessment profits rose slightly despite significant declines in revenue as we offset the impact of contract losses with cost reductions and the benefits of a higher weighting to digital services. In Core, our UK qualifications business is seeing a stabilisation in exam registrations as expected, and our Growth markets have returned to profitability.

The North American higher education courseware market was much weaker than expected. Our net revenues fell 30% during the final quarter resulting in an unprecedented 18% decline for the full year. We estimate 2% of this decline was driven by lower enrolment, particularly in Community College and amongst older students; 3-4% by an accelerated impact from rental in the secondary market; and approximately 12% due to an inventory correction in the channel reflecting the cumulative impact of these factors in prior years.

2017 actions: Whereas we had previously anticipated a broadly stable North American higher education courseware market in 2017, we now assume that many of these downward pressures will continue. We are the market leader in US Higher Education and will use that leadership to accelerate our shift to digital and maximise the value of our stand-alone text offerings with the following actions:

1. We are accelerating work to simplify our product technology platform and enhancing our courseware service capabilities with £50m of additional investment, which will remove barriers to faster product innovation, accelerate our product roadmap by two years and drive faster adoption of institution-wide Digital Direct Access for Pearson courseware.
2. We are increasing our participation in the courseware rental market, by:
a. reducing eBook rental prices by up to 50% across 2,000 titles - making digital rental the best option for price-conscious students.
b. launching our own print rental program, piloting with an initial group of 50 titles made available through Pearson's approved rental partners, ensuring Pearson is paid more often for the usage of our courseware. If successful we will scale this program rapidly.

Reshaping our portfolio: we are additionally announcing the following actions to reshape our portfolio and capital structure:

1. With the integration of Penguin Random House complete, and with greater industry-wide stability on digital terms, we intend to issue an exit notice regarding our 47% stake in Penguin Random House to our JV partner Bertelsmann in the contractual window, with a view to selling our stake or recapitalising the business and extracting a dividend.
2. We will use proceeds from this action to maintain a strong balance sheet; invest in our business; and return excess capital to shareholders whilst retaining an investment grade credit rating.
3. We will propose a final dividend of 34p for an overall 2016 dividend of 52p in line with 2015 and our guidance. For 2017 we intend to rebase our dividend to reflect portfolio changes, increased investment, and our 2017 earnings guidance.
4. We will continue to reduce our exposure to large scale direct delivery services and focus on more scalable online, virtual, and blended services, across our portfolio.

Outlook: The challenges we have faced during 2016 mean we begin 2017 with a base level of underlying profitability that is around £180m lower than we had expected in early 2016. Our preliminary guidance range is for operating profit in 2017 of £570m to £630m, driving adjusted earnings per share of 48.5p to 55.5p. This is based on our existing portfolio, a 2017 net interest charge of £74m, a tax rate of 20% and exchange rates on 31 December 2016.

This guidance is based on assumptions incorporating further declines in enrolment and other pressures in the North American higher education courseware market in 2017. The top of the range implies that this is offset as the impact of the 2016 inventory correction at key channel partners partially unwinds resulting in net revenue growth in our North American higher education courseware business of approximately 1%. The bottom of our guidance range assumes that inventory levels continue to fall resulting in a 7% net revenue decline. The rest of business is expected to perform broadly in line with trends seen in 2016.

We are withdrawing our operating profit goal for 2018 reflecting portfolio changes and challenging and uncertain markets.

Conference call: We will hold a conference call for analysts at 8.30am on Wednesday, 18 January to present our headline plans. We will provide further detail on our strategy and our key financial assumptions at our preliminary results presentation in February.

Full Year results: Pearson will report its preliminary results on 24 February 2017.

Pearson's chief executive John Fallon said:

"The education sector is going through an unprecedented period of change and volatility. We have already taken significant steps on restructuring, reducing our cost base by £375m last year.

"However our higher education business declined further and faster than expected in 2016.

"So we are taking more radical action to accelerate our shift to digital models, and to keep reshaping our business."

Pearson's chairman Sidney Taurel said:

"We are facing difficult trading conditions in our largest business as we transition to digital, but as a Board, we are confident that the plan announced today will allow the company to navigate these conditions and build on its leading position in higher education."

Liberum Capital Sell 633.75 470.00 470.00 Reiterates

At the risk of plagiarism.......'Plop'.

What a load of rubbish this is.