The 2011 annual reports of Pearson plc and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., two publishing and information services companies included the following selected data as at December 31, 2011, and 2010:

Required:
a. Do you notice anything unusual about the data presented for Pearson? Comment specifically about some of the difficulties you would expect to encounter when comparing financial statement data of a U.S.-based company to data of a non- U.S.-based company.
b. Review the current asset data presented for each company. Comment briefly about your first impressions concerning the relative composition of current assets within each company.
c. Pearson's revenues are derived from educational publishing (68%) including Prentice Hall and Addison-Wesley, business and technology publishing (7%), FT (Financial Times) Group (7%), and Penguin books (18%). McGraw-Hill's revenues are derived from educational publishing (37%), S&P credit ratings (28%), S&P capital IQ and research indexes (22%), and C&C (commodities and commercial, 13%), including J.D. Power & Associates and other professional media outlets. How can these data help you make sense of your observations in partb?

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PEARSON PLC 2011 (Amounts in millions) Inventories Trade and other receivables, net of provision for bad and doubtful debts, and 2010 407 2 429 anticipated future sales returns of £102 in 2011 and 283 in 2010. Financial assets-Marketable securities Cash and cash equivalents Total current assets 1,337 18 1,736 23,520 1,386 23,171 THE McGRAW-HILL COMPANIES, INC 2011 (Amounts in millions) Cash and equivalents Short-term investments Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts and 2010 944 29 $1,526 sales returns of $242 in 2011 and $275 in 2010 Inventories Deferred income taxes Prepaid and other current assets Total current assets 1,045 263 260 138 $2,679 973 275 281 298 $3.375