Ad recovery sees Pearson in the pink

THE Financial Times could finally break even this year after a troubled three years in which it has racked up £64m of operating losses.

Pearson, parent of the Pink 'Un, today said advertising revenues so far this year were up 3% with strong growth in the recruitment and luxury goods segments and online.

Speaking at the annual meeting, chairman Lord Stevenson said: 'We are seeing early signs of the long-awaited recovery in corporate advertising.

'If advertising revenues continue to grow at this rate, we expect the Financial Times to be around breakeven this year and to improve profits further in 2006.'

The FT had profits of £80m at the height of the stock market boom in 2000. But slumps in advertising and readership coincided with losses of millions of pounds as it invested heavily in the internet and was then forced to slash staff numbers.

A recovery at the FT could finally persuade Pearson to sell a business some analysts believe distracts from strong core operations in the US education market - although chief executive Dame Marjorie Scardino has famously said the Pink 'Un would go only over her dead body.

Pearson expects 'a very strong year' from the US education business. After a poor 2004, its Penguin publishing group is 'trading in line with our expectations'.

Broker Chevreux said: 'It's steady as she goes but there's no sign of any acceleration in revenues at the FT.'