February 28, 2011

FT Group operating profit rises 54 per cent

The FT Group, publisher of the Financial Times, recorded a 12 per cent year-on-year revenue increase last year, according to its parent company.

Pearson said this morning that FT Group drew £403m in revenue in 2010, with underlying growthof nine per cent, and operating profit increased 54 per cent to £54m.

The company said that digital paid circulation of the FT was up over 50 per cent year on year to 207,000 last year and now accounted for approximately a third of total global paid circulation of the FT.

In 2010, digital and services accounted for 40 per cent of FT Group revenues, Pearson said today as it published preliminary results for the year. This was up from 14 per cent in 2006.

The number of registered users of FT.com rose 79 per cent to more than 3 million in the period, Pearson said, with the site benefiting from more than 900,000 downloads of apps on mobile phones and tablet devices.

The FT‘s combined paid print and digital circulation reached 597,000 in the fourth quarter of 2010, Pearson said.

Overall, Pearson said its pre-tax profit increased 28 per cent year on year to £670m on revenue up 10 per cent to £5.7bn in the period.

Adjusted operating profit at Pearson was up 15 per cent to £857m with growth of 13 per cent in its education business to £691m and a 10 per cent rise at book publisher Penguin to £106m.

Marjorie Scardino, Pearson chief executive, said: “These numbers add up to another excellent year for Pearson.

“More important than that, they indicate the changing shape and nature of our company: more digital, more efficient, and more exposed to fast-growing economies, more focussed on all kinds of learning.

“Our markets will be tough again this year, but we have a proven formula built on investment, innovation and efficiency which we are using to accelerate change in our company and in our markets.”

In addition to revenue generated by FT Group, Pearson’s North American Education drew revenue of £2.6bn, International Education generated revenue of £1.2bn, Penguin’s revenue was £1.1bn, while professional services generated £333m in revenue.