Fully booked: Walliams set to deliver goods for Penguin

The owner of publishing giant Penguin yesterday claimed a “consistently strong” line up of new releases will help its performance this year.

Pearson, which also owns the Financial Times, said that its book business was likely to be “in line” with the industry in 2012 following years of outperformance.

Penguin, whose UK arm published 78 top-ten best-sellers last year, expects to benefit from a strong publishing schedule, including comedian David Walliams’ autobiography Camp David and sports presenter Clare Balding’s childhood memoirs.

Pearson reported an 11 per cent rise in sales to £1.16 billion in the first three months of 2012 but warned first half operating profits will be lower than last year. The FT delivered “good sales growth”, Pearson said, despite a tough environment for corporate advertising and deal-making.

PETER RANSCOMBE