Train favourite Pearson down 9% on poor sales figures

Led FTSE 100 down 0.6%

Shares in publisher Pearson, a favourite with managers including Nick Train, led the FTSE 100 lower this morning, falling by 9.3% after reporting a sharp drop in underlying sales.

The group's share price fell to 755p in early trading, after it revealed underlying sales had fallen 7% in the first nine months of the year, compared with analysts' forecasts of a 5% drop. Pearson, which also owns publisher Penguin Random House, attributed the slump to upheaval in its main American markets, and lacklustre demand for vocational exams in Britain. However, the company's chief executive, John Fallon, maintained it could weather the "tough" education market, and will hit profit targets for 2016. Last October, Pearson shed 15% in one day's trading after it revealed full...