Top UK Stocks to Watch: Pearson maintains dividend despite being hit by pandemic Joshua Warner March 8, 2021 8:52 AM Pearson hopes to bounce back after a tough 2020, Direct Line ups its dividend and launches share buyback programme, Clarkson beats expectations and raises its payout, Micro Focus loses a patent infringement case, and Ferguson is jointly listing in the US later today. Share: Top News: Pearson hopes to stage recovery after tough 2020 Pearson said it expects revenue to return to growth in 2021 on expectations that schools and workplaces will start to get back to normal after taking a battering during 2020. Revenue slipped to £3.39 billion from £3.86 billion in 2019. Although demand for online learning has increased during the pandemic, this has not been enough to offset the disruption caused during the pandemic to its traditional business of supplying courseware to schools and assessing exams.