Pearson says makes 'solid' start to year, strong pound drags

LONDON (Reuters) - Education group Pearson said it made a "solid" start to the year, although the strength of the pound against the dollar and some currencies in emerging markets caused headline sales to fall 6 percent in the first quarter. The British group, which also owns the Financial Times newspaper, said on Friday that sales at constant exchange rates, excluding its Penguin publishing arm which it has merged with Random House, and Mergermarket increased by 2 percent to 900 million pounds ($1.5 billion). It said the impact of the strong pound and restructuring charges would result in first-half adjusted earnings per share (EPS) falling on a year ago, but it would still come in between 62 pence and 67 pence for the full year. (Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Kate Holton)