28th Nov 2019 11:33
(Alliance News) - Malvern International PLC said Thursday it expects annual revenue to be "modestly" ahead of the year prior after a strong first half of 2019 was tempered by a weaker than forecast second half.
Shares in Milton Keynes-based Malvern were 40% lower at 0.90 pence in London on Thursday.
The AIM-listed education firm said that whilst revenue performance in the first half of 2019 had been "slightly ahead" of expectations, the increase in second half revenue had not been "as strong as expected."
Consequently, 2019 full year revenue is now expected to be modestly ahead of 2018 with underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation & amortisation anticipated to be "positive."
In 2018, Malvern reported underlying Ebitda of GBP180,466 on revenue of GBP7.6 million. Pretax loss stood at GBP717,773.
Malvern said second half revenue was hurt by an unexpected delay in the approval process for university courses. This has held back forward university bookings and enrolments being lower than expected.
Their university partners, however, have reiterated their commitment to the courses.
In addition, the London operations of the firm had a weak start to the second half as bookings fell from Europe and South America after a "healthy" summer trade. The firm has since been working with regional sales partners in these regions to improve marketing and bookings for 2020 are now improving.
Operations in Singapore and Manchester, however, delivered satisfactory trading. Its up-for-sale Malaysian operations, continued to see revenue come in below expectations.
Malvern said it "believes that it is pursuing the right strategy in diversifying its product offering and locations. The group now has four established operating channels: language, university pathway, professional courses and junior summer camps."
"The restructuring of the Group in 2019 and the bookings for next year to date give the new board confidence that 2020 will see the further positive development of the group and deliver a significantly improved financial performance for shareholders," Malvern added.
By Ahren Lester; [email protected]
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