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2022 profit up 11% to 456 mln stg

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On track for 2023 profit forecast of 585 mln stg

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Shares down 2.5% in early deals

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Some investors had hoped for a buyback

LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) - British education group Pearson expects rising demand for its workforce skills products to help drive a 28% rise in operating profit this year, it said on Friday after posting better than expected annual earnings.

Despite the positive outlook, its shares, which have climbed 45% in the last year, fell 2.5% to 889 pence in early deals on disappointment that the group did not announce a further share buyback after completing a 350 million pound ($419.3 million) purchase announced with last year's results.

For this year, Pearson said it expected low to mid single digit underlying group sales growth, adding that adjusted operating profit was on track to meet a consensus forecast of 585 million pounds currently.

That would represent a 28% jump on the 456 million pound adjusted operating profit it posted for 2022, as demand for the tests its provides for qualifications in healthcare and English language learning increases.

Pearson Chief Executive Andy Bird, the former Disney executive who is building digital ties with school pupils, college students and workers wanting to retrain, said a new Workforce Skills platform would help its offering this year.

He said the AI-driven product would link HR leaders and employees with learning solutions. He added that Pearson was a long-term user of AI as it detects cheating on its tests.

"The group has not committed to a buyback... We note some investors may be disappointed given overall leverage remains low," said Citi analysts.

Chief Financial Officer Sally Johnson told reporters on Friday that a strong balance sheet was the priority.

"We've got a strong balance sheet and we're going to maintain that in order to keep optionality, but the board is constantly looking at our capital allocation policy," she said.

($1 = 0.8347 pounds) (Reporting by Paul Sandle; Writing by Sarah Young; Editing by Jan Harvey)