Pearson today suffered a double blow as chief financial officer Robin Freestone said he will leave after eight years in the job and the education and media giant reported yet another quarter with no growth.
The worst performer was core education, which includes the UK and Australia, where sales have tumbled 6% over the nine months to September.
Emerging markets such as Brazil and China went from 7% growth in the first six months to zero over the nine-month period, but North America rose 2%.
The Financial Times suffered a “slight decline” as 23% annual growth in digital subscriptions failed to offset weakness in print.
Freestone, 55, will quit by the end of 2015 as “eight years as CFO is long enough”. Pearson said it was too early to say if Freestone, who earned £1.2 million last year, will receive a pay-off.
One third of shareholders rejected this year’s remuneration report after former director Rona Fairhead, now BBC Trust chairman, got a year’s pay and shares worth more than £3 million when she left.
Numis Securities said Freestone’s exit will be “a loss” as Pearson chief executive John Fallon continues with a long restructuring which resulted in a profit warning this year.
Fallon now expects the business to “start to stabilise next year and then return to growth in future years”.
Liberum Capital was unimpressed and fears Fallon may be “priming the market” for a “downgrade” next year. The shares fell 2%.
