Pearson on course but thousands of jobs to go

Pearson is to slash 3,000 jobs as the education publisher presses ahead with a painful restructuring.

The group said the cuts would be made across “managerial positions, centralisation of procurement and the reduction of office locations”.

It comes after Pearson, the former owner of the Financial Times, reported a record £2.6 billion loss last year, which was preceded by a string of profit warnings.

The company is in the midst of a £300 million cost efficiency programme and it anticipates cost savings of £70m in 2018, an incremental £130m in 2019 and £100m in 2020.

The jobs cull was announced alongside its firsthalf results yesterday, which saw a 1 per cent rise in revenue to £1bn, with statutory operating profit coming in at £16m versus a loss in the same period last year.

Chief executive John Fallon said: “Pearson has had a solid first half… Our guidance for 2017 remains unchanged.”