Hyperproject
05 May 2017
Re: Latest statement MINT !
Akis1999
05 May 2017
Re: Latest statement The markets are ... irrational and there is no way any one can guess the direction. For example you could be taking money out of one-legged PSON to invest onto some other better performing stock, only to find it going down today, while your now abandoned PSON is 12% up on the day and a 5% dividend to boot !!Fundamentals are great but it's a casino anyway.
numberbiter
05 May 2017
Latest statement If you read the latest statement issued today, you will realise that there is no justification for today's price hike to 745p. Despite a good first quarter and improved working capital control (something you cannot keep on doing!) net debt remained solid at £1.1 billion. The statement then reads that quarter 2 will not be good, although this is balanced by the comment that the best quarter is always the 3rd quarter, being the start of the new academic year, But sales in the second half are based on hope rather than knowledge.The biggest worry for this share is the huge amount of debt and how it stubbornly refuses to come down. Today's price hike offers an amazing selling opportunity.
II Editor
05 May 2017
NEW ARTICLE: Wow! What just happened to bombed-out Pearson? "Troubled education company LSE
SONearson is on a diet, aiming to become "leaner" and more focused. The former publisher of the Financial Times has had a dreadful couple of years, slipping from a peak of over £15 in March 2015 to 550p last ..."[link]
numberbiter
24 Apr 2017
Re: Decided to sell I first recommended selling these shares in December 2016 when the price was 788p. Today they are 624p, so even with the dividend it was not worth holding. Unfortunately, it can only get worse. All the decent businesses have been sold off and all the money has been poured the failing US education business Expect more profit warnings and the banks getting nervous. I don't expect this company will be in existence in 2020.
nk1999
06 Apr 2017
Exane BNP Paribas From ADVFN:"Pearson shares were downgraded by Exane BNP Paribas after an "unwarranted" rebound in the face of fresh concerns over the group's ability to return to growth in North America this decade.Exane, which downgraded Pearson to 'underperform' and cut its target to 550p from 600p, said it was increasingly sceptical about North America in light of new concerns about the sustainability of double-digit growth in the US virtual schools business, the London-listed group's fastest growing segment in the continent, accounting for roughly 6% of group revenues.The bank's analysis of the penetration of Open Educational Resources in US schools free online learning materials that have put a big dent in its business suggested a "rising risk" to US school courseware revenues, which are about 9% of group sales, with more than one million K12 students now in schools which are in the process of implementing an OER policy.Moroever, online language learning platforms "are gaining share against traditional language schools and English courseware businesses, which does not bode well for Pearson's English revenue growth".Exane analysts Sami Kassab and William Packer cut their 2018 estimates for adjusted earnings per share by 5% to 45.7p and 2019 EPS by 7% to 45.6p, so they now stand at the low end of guidance for the current year and 5% below consensus EPS for 2018.Pearson shares, which also went ex-dividend on Thursday, fell 4% to 622p by 1100 BST."
nk1999
06 Apr 2017
Re: why is it falling today, ex-div is tomor... Ex-dividend today for 34p.Share falls 45.5p (to 637p).Future dividends uncertain..... ot sure what will happen to SP when the cut is actually announced. My guess 550-560p or thereabouts?nk
gamesinvestor
06 Apr 2017
Re: why is it falling today, ex-div is tomor... Apostrophe -- """"the company's net debt has spiralled from £0.5 billion, to a staggering £1.027 billion."""""""The US education market has cottoned on that there is a strong movement to open source education material and it's being standardised and aproved by the US education system. For open source, read virtually free"""""" Fallon is still the CEO and the corrupt compensation committee have given him a 44% pay rise"""""" The fools have sold the better parts of their business that were highly prestigious and despite the huge sale values, are still growing debt faster than you can count the derivatives of pi.""" Oh and then there is this today :-[link] sure any other reasons are needed -- This company needs new management.Games
Apostrophe
05 Apr 2017
Decided to sell I made a very high risk buy, on january 18th after the plunge, and so I only invested a relatively small amount, but sold just now at 683 with a 15% profit.GLA who have decided to hold and take the dividend - tomorrow we will know more, but I agree that it doesn't seem to be a well-run company so I didn't want to stay for the medium term.
Apostrophe
05 Apr 2017
why is it falling today, ex-div is tomorrow? I don't understand!!!Any insight?
Akis1999
05 Apr 2017
Re: Incentives for Directors LKH,"Thank goodness I sold this munter when I did."It's paying over 5% tomorrow. With a stable/rising market it will soon recover after tomorrow's fall. With a falling market well all bets are off
LK Hyman
29 Mar 2017
Re: Incentives for Directors Number,"the company's net debt has spiralled from �0.5 billion, to a staggering �1.027 billion."Particularly staggering when one remembers that the muppeteers sold the FT and The Economist during the year in question.Fallon! Fallon! Fallon! Out! Out! Out!Thank goodness I sold this munter when I did.LKH on the flybridge
numberbiter
29 Mar 2017
Funny symbols In the fifth paragraph of my last post funny symbols have appeared. What you should see is:£.
numberbiter
29 Mar 2017
Incentives for Directors Pearson have just published their 2017 Annual Report, the main features of which are
ebtor days increased from 114 days to 117 days. In other words it takes the company 4 months to get paid. Hardly a sparkling financial performsnce!Inventory days increased from 39 days to 41 days. Why does the company selling education products hold more than one month's stock?Huge losses shown in the Income Statement due to a massive write-down of Intangible Assets. But this means the company have paid far too much for acquisitions in the past.Far from generating cash (cash generated from operations less cash needed for capital expenditure etc) the company's net debt has spiralled from �0.5 billion, to a staggering �1.027 billion.The only way you could describe this performance is that it is staggeringly poor, which is why the share price has crashed over twelve months and will fall again once the share goes ex dividend. I strongly believe that directors should be paid well for a good performance, defined by: company makes a profit, generates cash and share price increases. When a company badly fails on all counts, as Pearson has done, then directors should not receive a penny in bonus. Yet the proposal to be put before the AGM is that as a reward for poor performance, the CEO should receive a bonus of 44% of his basic salary and the Finance Director should receive a bonus of 37% of his basic salary. Now, these unjustified bonuses have to be supported by shareholders if they are to be paid. Shareholders should reject the remuneration report at the AGM, Private shareholders should canvass the large institutional shareholders to get them to reject the remuneration report as well. Another issue is that it is proposed some non executive directors should receive a 30% increase, which is not acceptable for a failing company,
gamesinvestor
28 Mar 2017
""A good place to start"" This is the conclusion at the end of this article, that clearing out failed management at Pearson would be a good place to start.[link] pay rise is offensive and must prompt Pearson’s largest shareholders into action."""It seems to me that the clear out should first start at the pay committees that concoct these strange and rather stupid formula to offer pay rises and bonuses in the face of a company undergoing utter devastation.Games
