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Pearson PLC on Friday posted lower annual profit, but nonetheless raised its dividend and reaffirmed confidence in future growth. The London-based education materials publisher booked pretax profit of £457 million in 2025, down 10% from £510 million the year prior. Operating expenses were partly to blame for the weaker bottom line, coming in 6.8% higher than the previous year at £1.35 billion. However, sales crept up 0.7% to £3.58 billion from £3.55 billion, helping to lift adjusted operating profit by 2.3% on-year to £614 million from £600 million, broadly in line with consensus of £612 million. In 2026, Pearson sees adjusted operating profit ranging from £640 million to £685 million, with a consensus estimate of £658 million. The firm eyes an underlying sales growth rate in the mid single digits. It has hiked its final dividend by 4.8% to 17.4 pence from 16.6p. This brings 2025’s total dividend to 25.2p, which is up 5.0% on-year from 24.0p. Pearson shares were down 0.7% to 954.00 pence on Friday morning in London, and are down 29% over the past year. The firm ended 2025 with £1.07 billion in net debt, expanded from £853 million a year earlier. Free cash flow increased to £527 million from £490 million, offset by share buybacks, dividends and the acquisition of US digital education provider eDynamic Holdings LP back in July. Pearson last month launched a fresh round of buybacks, worth up to £350 million. The company retained a ‘confident’ outlook, noting the past year’s progress in artificial intelligence adoption and new partnerships, including a tie-up with Salesforce.com Inc, providing ‘continued momentum’ into the new year. ‘The partnerships we secured with leading technology companies are a recognition of Pearson’s unique role at the intersection of education, skills and workforce development, underpinned by our unrivalled strength in assessments which positions us to deliver meaningful shareholder value over the medium term,’ commented Pearson Chief Executive Omar Abbosh. The CEO added: ‘We delivered on our goals in 2025, making significant progress in scaling AI across our products and services and building tangible momentum in our enterprise offering.’ Also on Friday, Pearson named Simon Robson as its next finance chief. He will replace Sally Johnson, who is moving on to become chief financial officer of a ‘large privately owned business’, Pearson said. Robson is currently CFO at Sky and will join Pearson on March 30, before taking over the CFO role on May 8. Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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