The company announced a pre-tax profit of £5m during the first half of 2001, after the £88m cost of its internet investment. This beat expectations and was an improvement on the £4m loss in the same period last year.
Pearson's share price was down 35p, or 3.2%, in early morning trading.
However, the FT Group's profits were down 19% for the half year, and full-year profits will be about 15% lower than in 2000, the company said. Advertising revenues fell 6%, and full-year advertising sales are expected to fall 20% unless the market picks up.
Marjorie Scardino, chief executive at Pearson, said, "Our main businesses are all performing strongly in the face of the economic downturn. The depressed advertising market has affected our business newspapers, although each of them is still reporting good profits and a strong competitive position. Our education and consumer publishing businesses are more resistant to the cycle and are performing reliably and ahead of their markets."
Scardino said that the FT Group would cut its costs by 10%, but insisted that no major redundancies would be made. The cuts would come from leaving already vacant positions unfilled, she said.
RTL Group, the pan-European TV company in which Pearson has a 22% stake, was also hit by the weak advertising market. The company said that operating profits for this year will be 10%-15% lower than last year's €555m (£341.7m).