Deutsche Bank stays at 'buy' on Pearson after reassuring 1H numbers

Analysts at Deutsche Bank reiterated their 'buy' recommendation for shares of Pearson, labelling the publishing and education outfit's latest interim numbers "reassuring".

In particular, they noted the company's "solid" operational performance, targets for efficiency improvements and confirmation of its full-year guidance.

They also said that growth in Pearson+ users, new feature additions and early progress in building out its Workforce Skills offering were "also encouraging".

Despite Pearson's growth and tangible strategic progress, on an estimated 18 times' 2022 consensus estimates for its price-to-earnings multiples, the shares were trading in line with their two-year average, although at a discount to the average peer multiple of 24.

The analysts stood by their 900.0p target price and buy recommendation.