Pearson suffered a protest by shareholders when almost a third of the votes cast at its annual meeting failed to support a resolution approving a report on directors’ pay.

The parent company of the Financial Times won the support of voters representing 376m shares (67.5 per cent of votes cast) for the report, which showed Dame Marjorie Scardino, chief executive, and all of her executive directors receiving less in total rewards than they had in 2007.