The company logo is displayed outside the offices of Pearson in London, Britain August 4, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall

LONDON, Jan 19 (Reuters) – Global education group Pearson raised its full-year adjusted operating profit forecast on Wednesday to boost management’s efforts to restructure the business and counter fluctuating fortunes of its US higher education division.

British society has endured a turbulent pandemic, at times lifted by demand for e-learning courses and stalled in October when a surge of the Omicron variant and a tight US labor market deterred students from enrolling in community colleges.

Under former Disney executive Andy Bird, it has sought to broaden its approach beyond traditional education outlets, selling direct to consumers through its Pearson+ app and to businesses looking to train workers.

The group said this approach helped it enjoy a strong year-end, with full-year adjusted operating profit now expected to reach £385m, with organic growth in revenue of 8%, against expectations of 375 million pounds ($510). million) and growth of 6.7%.

The news is expected to give the UK group’s shares a boost after being hit hard in October when it revealed the impact COVID-19 had had on US community college enrolments.

That pressure meant revenue for the U.S. Higher Education Courseware division, often the source of Pearson’s earnings downgrades in the past, was down 9% after nine months, down from a 2% decline. in the first semester.

On Wednesday, he announced that the figure for the full year would be down 6%.

Pearson said it enjoyed a strong final quarter overall, with sales for its assessment and qualification division up 18% for the year.

Its new Pearson+ app, at the heart of a new consumer-centric strategy, has 2.75 million registered users and 133,000 paid subscriptions.

Citi analysts, with a buy rating on the stock, said the improving trading has played out in the business.

“The overall impact on consensus earnings is likely to be quite small (around 2%-3%) but the impact on the multiple could be larger, especially given conservative earnings positioning,” they said. declared. “We believe the update will be well received.”

($1 = 0.7352 pounds)

Reporting by Kate Holton; edited by James Davey and Carmel Crimmins

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