Q1 revenues are up seven percent on last year to £1.08 billion ($1.65 billion) at Marjorie Scardino’s Pearson (NYSE: PSO), in line with the publisher’s full-year expectations.
In its FT Publishing, the group reports “strong demand for subscriptions to the Financial Times in print and online, an increase in new sales at Mergermarket and a return to growth in advertising revenues. We recently learned FT.com has 126,000 paying subscribers and 2.2 million registered users.
“We are encouraged by a more positive environment for corporate and financial advertising, but bookings remain volatile and visibility remains poor. As previously announced, the board of Interactive Data is currently reviewing strategic alternatives for the company.”
We’ve already seen how Penguin is excitedly planning iPad and tablet books. Pearson said for its book publishing: “Growth in demand for eBooks remains very strong.” And the group reports growth in its education business, too.