All eyes will be on Dame Marjorie Scardino in the coming months. The chief executive of Pearson, who has invested heavily in education in recent years, remains convinced that the group’s United States based education business is recession proof.

Despite the group announcing forecast-beating results and,on the whole, providing a positive outlook for 2008, the shares were one of the biggest FTSE 100 fallers of the day. The market has had real concerns on the back of the slowdown in the United States, with Pearson's businesses, from Penguin to its education arm, particularly focused on the US market.

While Pearson sees little negative impact on its business from pressures in the US, analysts at Dresdner Kleinwort find it difficult to believe there will be no impact on its normally resilient education business, saying that 30 per cent of school funding in America is from property tax. Whether or not this will be true going forward, the US government's finances are under increasing pressure and it should not be assumed that Pearson's education arm is entirely defensive.

These concerns are coupled with the group’s uncertainty for the future of advertising market. While Pearson's FT Group has made a good start to the year, the remainder of 2008 is likely to be tougher.

Until the truth of Dame Marjorie's assertion is borne out, a near 5 per cent dividend yield to hold on.

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