FT Group revenue up 6%

Pearson has reported a 6% year-on-year revenue increase at FT Group, the division that publishes the Financial Times, announcing that ebook sales at Penguin have more than doubled in the first nine months. Pearson, which owns an extensive educational publishing operation as well as Penguin, said that paid-for digital subscriptions at the FT have increased 30% year on year to almost 250,000. By the end of September the company said it had seen 790,000 users of the FT's new web app, with mobile devices now accounting for 20% of all traffic to FT.com. About 15% of new subscriptions come from mobile devices. Pearson said that advertising had become tougher in the third quarter but that across the first nine months of the year ad revenues were broadly level. At book publisher Penguin, revenues were flat year on year for the first nine months. Pearson said the rise of eBook sales, which more than doubled in the first nine months of the year, helped offset the decline in physical sales of titles. Publishing highlights in the third quarter included Kathyrn Stockett's The Help in the US, a film version of which is currently in UK cinemas, and in the UK authors including Jamie Oliver and Dawn French. Overall Pearson reported underlying revenue growth of 1% year on year in the first nine months, with operating profit climbing 13%. The company, which said all divisions are trading in line with expectations, reported a sales increase of 6% year on year when taken on a constant currency basis. "The world economy is neither simple nor helpful this year, but we are producing another good year for Pearson," said Marjorie Scardino, chief executive of Pearson. "We can't count on the trading environment to get any easier any time soon, but we do expect our durability and our innovation to continue to help us succeed." Pearson raised full-year guidance for earnings per share from 80p to 83p, as a result of lower than expected interest and tax charges. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email [email protected] or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook .