LONDON (ShareCast) - Pearson's shares dropped on Friday morning, with Jefferies saying that the publishing group's first-half results statement 'doesn't really tell us very much'.
"Pearson deliver less than 20% of full year adjusted EPS [earnings per share] in H1, so the numbers are not that insightful," the broker said in a research note.
"Reasonable sales performance, though trend operating profit and EPS growth rates appear to be stepping down - comparison to MHP [McGraw-Hill] and REL [Reed Elsevier] looks weaker."
Meanwhile, Jefferies highlights that the group has failed to quantify an EPS target for the full year, as they have done historically.
"Singular financial reports rarely shift the investment thesis on a slow moving global publisher. For Pearson, consensus EPS forecasts of 16p for H1 2012, compare to 86p for FY 2012 - in reality the H1 numbers say little.
"Whilst clearly a high quality name, profitability is looking challenged, together with a fullish valuation drives our 'hold' recommendation, price target of 1,265p."
By 11:06, shares were down 3.26% at 1,251.85p.
BC