Shares in Pearson were up on the FTSE 100 in afternoon trading ahead of the publisher's full year results, expected on Monday.

In January the group, which owns the Financial Times, issued an upbeat statement in which it said it expected 2010 operating profit to rise 20 per cent to around £850 million.

Keith Bowman, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said ahead of the results, "Previous and ongoing investment in the digital education and information arenas continued to drive performance, with structural changes in its markets towards digital delivery, personalisation, subscription services and mobile device access all aiding. Ahead of the results, market consensus opinion currently denotes a hold."

By 14:30 shares in Pearson were up 1.09 per cent on the FTSE 100 to 1,024.00 pence per share.

FTSE