Pearson CFO halves his stake ahead of exit

The chief financial officer (CFO) of Pearson sold more than half of his stake on Thursday ahead of his exit from the publishing company later this year.

Robin Freestone sold 130,000 of his shares and 130,000 indirectly - sold by Mirima Helen Freestone - at an individual price of 1,423.7p, pocketing a total of £3.7m.

Following the transaction, Freestone holds 244,283 shares in the group.

Pearson revealed last October that Freestone would step down in 2015 after 10 years as CFO "to explore a range of other interests".

The company said last week that he would be succeeded by Coram Williams, currently the CFO Penguin Random House. Williams will join as CFO designate on 1 July and replace Freestone on 1 August.

Pearson also released flat underlying sales for 2014 at £4.9bn, or down 4% at the headline level, with adjusted operating profit of £720m, up 5% at the underlying level or just 1% on a statutory basis.

The results were in line with expectations and the company said to be confident about returning to earnings growth in 2015 as its markets stabilise.

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Lamprell (LAM)
Director name: Mr John Kennedy
Amount purchased: 66,594 @ 105.90p
Value: £70,523

Scapa Group (SCPA)
Director name: Mr Martin Sawkins
Amount purchased: 30,000 @ 145.50p
Value: £43,650

Hansard Global (HSD)
Director name: Mr Vincent Paul Watkins
Amount purchased: 28,170 @ 88.75p
Value: £25,001

El Oro Ltd (ELX)
Director name: Mr C. Robin W. Parish
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Murray International Trust (MYI)
Director name: Mr David Hardie
Amount purchased: 1,444 @ 1,033.30p
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Top Director Sells

Pearson (PSON)
Director name: Mr Robin Freestone
Amount sold: 260,000 @ 1,423.70p
Value: £3,701,620

Cohort (CHRT)
Director name: Mr Albert Edward Stanley Carter
Amount sold: 1,560,000 @ 236.00p
Value: £3,681,600

Jupiter Fund Management (JUP)
Director name: Mr Philip Johnson
Amount sold: 5,500 @ 419.01p
Value: £23,046