British publisher Pearson H1 profit drops by 45%

Pearson Plc, the publisher of the Financial Times, Friday announced that the group's adjusted operating profit for the first half of 2014 was 75 million pounds, around 45 percent lower than the 137 million pounds of the same period a year earlier.
In the fist six months this year, Pearson reported sales of 2,047 million pounds, which was seven percent lower than the 2,190 million pounds a year earlier, data showed.
Adjusted earnings per share was 4.7 pence, or 0.047 pounds, for the first half, less than a half of the 9.9 pence in the first half of 2013, figures showed.
The London-based publisher also said it will have cut a total of around 4,000 jobs in the two years through 2014. Around 3,300 of that were removed in 2013. However, the job cuts will be partly offset by the creation of 1,800 jobs in the two years period as the group expands digital and emerging-market operations.
"We are continuing the major restructuring and product investment programme, initiated in 2013, designed to accelerate Pearson's shift towards significant growth opportunities in digital, services and fast-growing economies," said Pearson in a statement.
John Fallon, CEO of Pearson, noted that Pearson positions it as "a global learning services company", and it is "making better learning outcomes more accessible for far more people around the world. This will drive a leaner, more cash generative, faster growing business from 2015." (1 pound = 1.70 U.S. dollars)