Pearson plc

LSE:PSON Stock Report

Market Cap: UK£6.8b

Pearson Balance Sheet Health

Financial Health criteria checks 5/6

Pearson has a total shareholder equity of £4.1B and total debt of £1.0B, which brings its debt-to-equity ratio to 25%. Its total assets and total liabilities are £6.9B and £2.8B respectively. Pearson's EBIT is £565.0M making its interest coverage ratio 12.6. It has cash and short-term investments of £543.0M.

Key information

24.99%

Debt to equity ratio

UK£1.01b

Debt

Interest coverage ratio12.6x
CashUK£543.00m
EquityUK£4.05b
Total liabilitiesUK£2.84b
Total assetsUK£6.89b

Recent financial health updates

Is Pearson (LON:PSON) A Risky Investment?

Apr 14
Is Pearson (LON:PSON) A Risky Investment?

Is Pearson (LON:PSON) Using Too Much Debt?

Dec 27
Is Pearson (LON:PSON) Using Too Much Debt?

Pearson (LON:PSON) Seems To Use Debt Quite Sensibly

Sep 02
Pearson (LON:PSON) Seems To Use Debt Quite Sensibly

Recent updates

Is Now The Time To Put Pearson (LON:PSON) On Your Watchlist?

Jun 27
Is Now The Time To Put Pearson (LON:PSON) On Your Watchlist?

A Look At The Fair Value Of Pearson plc (LON:PSON)

Jun 12
A Look At The Fair Value Of Pearson plc (LON:PSON)

Pearson (LON:PSON) Is Experiencing Growth In Returns On Capital

May 28
Pearson (LON:PSON) Is Experiencing Growth In Returns On Capital

Getting In Cheap On Pearson plc (LON:PSON) Is Unlikely

Apr 28
Getting In Cheap On Pearson plc (LON:PSON) Is Unlikely

Is Pearson (LON:PSON) A Risky Investment?

Apr 14
Is Pearson (LON:PSON) A Risky Investment?

Pearson (LON:PSON) Is Paying Out A Larger Dividend Than Last Year

Mar 17
Pearson (LON:PSON) Is Paying Out A Larger Dividend Than Last Year

Pearson's (LON:PSON) Shareholders Will Receive A Bigger Dividend Than Last Year

Mar 03
Pearson's (LON:PSON) Shareholders Will Receive A Bigger Dividend Than Last Year
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AI Integration And AWS Partnership Will Transform Future Of Education

Partnership with AWS and AI integration will enhance learning experiences, operational efficiency, and support revenue and margin growth.

Pearson (LON:PSON) Is Doing The Right Things To Multiply Its Share Price

Feb 26
Pearson (LON:PSON) Is Doing The Right Things To Multiply Its Share Price

Is There An Opportunity With Pearson plc's (LON:PSON) 20% Undervaluation?

Jan 14
Is There An Opportunity With Pearson plc's (LON:PSON) 20% Undervaluation?

Is Pearson (LON:PSON) Using Too Much Debt?

Dec 27
Is Pearson (LON:PSON) Using Too Much Debt?

Returns On Capital Are Showing Encouraging Signs At Pearson (LON:PSON)

Nov 11
Returns On Capital Are Showing Encouraging Signs At Pearson (LON:PSON)

Risks To Shareholder Returns Are Elevated At These Prices For Pearson plc (LON:PSON)

Oct 28
Risks To Shareholder Returns Are Elevated At These Prices For Pearson plc (LON:PSON)

Do Pearson's (LON:PSON) Earnings Warrant Your Attention?

Oct 01
Do Pearson's (LON:PSON) Earnings Warrant Your Attention?

Is There An Opportunity With Pearson plc's (LON:PSON) 34% Undervaluation?

Sep 16
Is There An Opportunity With Pearson plc's (LON:PSON) 34% Undervaluation?

Pearson (LON:PSON) Seems To Use Debt Quite Sensibly

Sep 02
Pearson (LON:PSON) Seems To Use Debt Quite Sensibly

Pearson's (LON:PSON) Dividend Will Be £0.074

Aug 01
Pearson's (LON:PSON) Dividend Will Be £0.074

Subdued Growth No Barrier To Pearson plc's (LON:PSON) Price

Jul 27
Subdued Growth No Barrier To Pearson plc's (LON:PSON) Price

Financial Position Analysis

Short Term Liabilities: PSON's short term assets (£2.7B) exceed its short term liabilities (£1.5B).

Long Term Liabilities: PSON's short term assets (£2.7B) exceed its long term liabilities (£1.4B).

Debt to Equity History and Analysis

Debt Level: PSON's net debt to equity ratio (11.6%) is considered satisfactory.

Reducing Debt: PSON's debt to equity ratio has increased from 20% to 25% over the past 5 years.

Debt Coverage: PSON's debt is well covered by operating cash flow (61.9%).

Interest Coverage: PSON's interest payments on its debt are well covered by EBIT (12.6x coverage).

Balance Sheet

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Company Analysis and Financial Data Status

DataLast Updated (UTC time)
Company Analysis2025/07/20 01:40
End of Day Share Price 2025/07/18 00:00
Earnings2024/12/31
Annual Earnings2024/12/31

Data Sources

The data used in our company analysis is from S&P Global Market Intelligence LLC. The following data is used in our analysis model to generate this report. Data is normalised which can introduce a delay from the source being available.

PackageDataTimeframeExample US Source *
Company Financials10 years
  • Income statement
  • Cash flow statement
  • Balance sheet
Analyst Consensus Estimates+3 years
  • Forecast financials
  • Analyst price targets
Market Prices30 years
  • Stock prices
  • Dividends, Splits and Actions
Ownership10 years
  • Top shareholders
  • Insider trading
Management10 years
  • Leadership team
  • Board of directors
Key Developments10 years
  • Company announcements

* Example for US securities, for non-US equivalent regulatory forms and sources are used.

Unless specified all financial data is based on a yearly period but updated quarterly. This is known as Trailing Twelve Month (TTM) or Last Twelve Month (LTM) Data. Learn more.

Analysis Model and Snowflake

Details of the analysis model used to generate this report is available on our Github page, we also have guides on how to use our reports and tutorials on Youtube.

Learn about the world class team who designed and built the Simply Wall St analysis model.

Industry and Sector Metrics

Our industry and section metrics are calculated every 6 hours by Simply Wall St, details of our process are available on Github.

Analyst Sources

Pearson plc is covered by 37 analysts. 7 of those analysts submitted the estimates of revenue or earnings used as inputs to our report. Analysts submissions are updated throughout the day.

AnalystInstitution
Véronique Cabioc'h Le BrunAlphaValue
Nicholas Michael DempseyBarclays
JULIEN ROCHBarclays