By Jessica Hodgson
LONDON--Pearson PLC (PSO), publisher of the Financial Times and
educational books and materials, said Wednesday that Chief
Executive Marjorie Scardino will step down after almost 16 years at
the helm of company, raising questions about the future of the
flagship newspaper as the publisher continues to transform
itself.
Ms. Scardino, 65, the first female chief executive of a FTSE 100
company, will step down at the end of the year and be replaced by
50-year-old John Fallon, head of Pearson's international education
unit. The move highlights the growing importance to Pearson of
selling educational services to emerging-market customers.
"Under Marjorie's leadership, Pearson has fundamentally shifted
its business portfolio towards all kinds of learning, its
geographic exposure towards fast-growing economies and its product
mix towards digital and services. It has been a radical and highly
successful transformation," Chairman Glen Moreno said in a
statement.
Under Ms. Scardino's tenure, sales tripled to nearly 6 billion
pounds ($9.68 billion) and profit has grown more than three times
to a record high of GBP942 million in 2011, Mr. Moreno added.
The U.K.-based company has extensive educational publishing
operations, including business and finance publisher FT, Prentice
Hall, Longman and York Notes, and publishes Penguin books. Under
Ms. Scardino's leadership the company has changed from a media
conglomerate with diverse entertainment and TV interests, including
Madame Tussauds museums, to a company more tightly focused on
digital education and information technology.
Pearson's North American education unit is its largest business,
but the group is looking to emerging markets such as Brazil and
India for growth. The company has made several bolt-on acquisitions
following the sale of its 61% stake in financial market data
provider Interactive Data Corp. in May 2010 for $2 billion before
tax.
Ms. Scardino has long championed the Financial Times as a
cornerstone of the company, and Mr. Moreno said Mr. Fallon's
appointment didn't signal a shift in strategy for the company. Mr.
Fallon said the newspaper was a "valued and valuable" part of the
business.
Following Ms. Scardino's departure, the only remaining female
FTSE 100 CEOs will be Burberry Group PLC's (BRBY.LN) Angela
Ahrendts, Anglo American PLC's (AAL.LN) Cynthia Carroll and
Imperial Tobacco Group PLC's (IMT.LN) Alison Cooper.
-Write to jessica.hodgson@dowjones.com
Lilly Vitorovich in London contributed to this article.
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