Shares in Pearson on Monday gained 44 pence to close at 956 pence-a-share as the British publisher reported better-than-expected headline pretax profits for 2009.

The London-based Pearson saw an increase of 13 per cent headline pretax profits to £761 million, up from market forecasts of £741 million.

Group’s sales surged 17 per cent to settle at £5.6 billion as compared with analysts’ projection of £5.44 billion, while adjusted operating profit climbed to £858 million, beating market forecasts of £808.7 million.

Earnings per share were reported at 65.4 pence as compared with market forecasts of 63.7 pence. The group has announced a rise of 5 per cent in dividend to 35.5 pence per share.

However, profit at the FT Group and Penguin books slipped 4 per cent and 10 per cent to settle at £187 million and £84 million respectively.

Pearson, the publisher of the Financial Times and Penguin books, reported a strong growth in its education business.

Pearson chief executive Dame Marjorie expects another year of underlying profit growth in 2010. She said that further growth in the US market would help it offset tough conditions in financial advertising.