Sector movers: Upbeat Pearson lifts media stocks

27th Jul 2009 13:31

Media stocks are having a good day after publisher Pearson upped its interim dividend following a strong performance from its textbook division.Pre-tax profits in the half year to June rose by 13% to £62m on sales of £2.4bn, up 22%. On an underlying basis, profits rose by 32% to £111m. The interim dividend rises by 3.4% to 12.2p.The Education business traded ahead of expectations in the first half, producing 5% sales growth and a substantial profit increase, Pearson said.FT Group is having to withstand difficult conditions in the financial services industry and a severe advertising downturn. Pearson does not see the advertising cycle turning any time soon. Book publisher Penguin traded well and in line with expectations.Elsewhere in media, shares in business publisher Informa are lower ahead of the company's 2009 results tomorrow but peer UBM, which delivers interim results on Monday, are among the top 10 percentage risers.Rexam is dragging the general industrial sector lower. The packaging group has confirmed that it is considering an equity raising to see it through the current difficult market conditions.Top performing sectors so far todayForestry & Paper 2,733.23 +2.73%Industrial Metals 4,286.52 +2.60%Media 2,810.32 +2.26%Mining 16,078.59 +1.38%Oil & Gas Producers 7,176.56 +0.98%Bottom performing sectors so far todayGeneral Industrials 1,754.79 -2.97%General Retailers 1,532.83 -2.13%Fixed Line Telecommunications 1,687.34 -1.99%Real Estate 1,642.36 -1.88%Food & Drug Retailers 4,226.81 -1.57%