Pearson, the educational publisher in the throes of an ambitious turnaround plan, has written down its assets by GBP849 million in the face of tougher trading conditions in emerging markets and the United States. The write-offs sent the company plunging to a statutory loss of GBP433 million in the year to December 2015, while operating profits stagnated at GBP723 million. Shareholders still marked the shares more than 4% higher, applauding the progress made in a GBP350 million cost-cutting plan.