• Bloomberg , Tuesday, January 20, 2009 9:17 AM

Not all newspaper publishers are watching their profits evaporate. Companies that are diversified by industry, geography or both are often able to avoid some of the pain being felt by U.S. media outlets. Thanks to the demand for educational publications, Pearson, U.K. publisher of the Financial Times, says earnings rose about 20% in 2008, exceeding analyst estimates.

Key to its performance: growth in the U.S. college and international education business. That growth more than offset some weakness in the U.S. school publishing market, which was hurt by state budget cuts. CEO Marjorie Scardino also sold assets to focus on the Financial Times and the education business, which publishes textbooks and provides testing for nurses and business-school students.

Citigroup analysts say the company is their top media pick for 2009 and in many of its businesses, Pearson "has leading market positions and is well placed to outperform competitors." Pearson should also benefit in 2009 from the U.S. stimulus plan because education is at the center of Obama's plan, and Pearson is the largest education company in the U.S., according to analyst Sami Kassab.

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