Pearson Plc (NYSE:PSO) Q2 2023 Results Earnings Conference Call July 31, 2023 4:30 AM ET
Company Participants
Andy Bird - Chief Executive Officer
Sally Johnson - Chief Financial Officer
Tony Prentice - Chief Product Officer and Co-President of Direct to Consumer
Joanne Russell - Senior Vice President, Investor Relations
Conference Call Participants
Matthew Walker - Credit Suisse
Nick Dempsey - Barclays Capital
Adam Berlin - UBS
Tom Singlehurst - Citigroup
James Tate - Goldman Sachs
Luke Holbrook - Morgan Stanley
Benjamin Yokyong-Zoega - Credit Suisse
Operator
Hello. Good morning. Many thanks for joining us both live here in person and online for our 2023 interims presentation. The video you've just seen highlights some of our amazing talent and innovative products that have helped drive the company to deliver excellent H1 results, with 6% revenue growth and 44% profit growth to £250 million, the highest we've seen for at least the last 10 years.
Importantly, we've also improved margins, reflecting the benefits from our cost efficiency program as we deliver on the commitment we made 12 months ago. This progress means we're confident in our group guidance for both full year 2023 and the medium term.
The products you saw in the video are all part of this growth story. The Pearson Test of English helped our English language division grow 44%. Faethm contributed to Workforce Skills revenue growth of 9%. Assessment & Qualifications led by Pearson VUE grew 7% and improvements in our higher education products grew adoption retention rates this year, and Pearson+ delivered 938,000 paid subscriptions, a threefold increase over last year, with registered users growing to 4.7 million.
This growth was supported by our proprietary IP, vast datasets and AI, but more on that later.
To touch on some of the highlights in the first half. The demand for English language learning and for the Pearson Test of English remains strong. As you know, we've recently received both migration and study recognition for PTE in Canada, which will ramp up at the end of this year and into 2024.
We also continued to gain market share with PTE in India. Furthermore, the team are working hard on the development of a number of initiatives, including MondlyWORKS, which focuses on English language proficiency for the workplace.
In Connections Academy, we're launching a new career pathways program for middle and high school students. This allows students to earn vocational certification and a college credit while they're still in high school. These initiatives will improve the competitive positioning of our virtual schools offering, driving future growth and also increase in the interconnectivity with Credly and Pearson VUE.