LONDON (Reuters) - Pearson Plc shook up leadership of its newspapers on Monday, appointing Chief Financial Officer Rona Fairhead to run them after its flagship Financial Times struggled for four years to return to profit.
Olivier Fleurot, 54, who had been chief executive of the FT's publishing businesses, will move to the corporate parent to develop digital strategies for the group, which includes textbooks from Pearson Education and general-interest books from Penguin.
London-based Pearson, the world's biggest educational publisher, has long been under pressure from some investors to sell the pink-sheeted business newspaper, though Chief Executive Marjorie Scardino has vowed not to do so.
"They're obviously tightening up the FT to get it to perform better, or there's a slim chance they're lining it up for a sale," said Johnathan Barrett, an analyst with Williams de Broe.
"Pearson is definitely trying to shake it up and get some improved performance -- they're targeting a 15 percent mid-cycle margin and I have them at about 7-8 percent now -- and Rona will have a good eyeball for the costs and what structural things can be done to improve it," he added.
RETURN TO PROFIT
The FT was outpacing rivals through the beginning of the year with 13 percent advertising revenue growth and 4 percent circulation gains, Pearson said in April. The newspaper last year returned to profitability for the first time since 2001.
"For the past four years, everyone has worked tirelessly to return the FT to profit," Scardino said in a statement.
"Today, each part of the FT Group has a strong market position and good prospects for continued growth," she added. "In addition to sustaining that momentum and building these businesses, Rona will be looking for opportunities to make the most of the FT Group as a whole."
The group said Fairhead, 44, is to run accounts for about 15 percent of Pearson's annual sales and 20 percent of adjusting operating profit. It includes France's Les Echos, Germany's FT Deutschland and a 50 percent stake in the Economist, as well as financial information firm Interactive Data Corp.
Robin Freestone, 47, the deputy CFO, was promoted to Fairhead's role and will join Pearson's board.
The executive shuffle is the first major change for Pearson under new Chairman Glen Moreno, the former chief of investment giant Fidelity International, who joined Pearson last year.
Pearson also said John Ridding, 40, the chairman of Pearson in Asia and editor of the Financial Times in Asia, will become CEO of the Financial Times and FT.com, reporting to Fairhead.
The management and board changes are effective from June 12.
Pearson shares were down 1.5 percent at 738 pence at 2:16 p.m., compared with a 1.8 percent decline in the DJ Stoxx Media index.
(Additional reporting by Dan Lalor)
