Wey Education Share Discussion Threads

[bones] 03/5/2019 14:05

Just paid 5.79p for 100k which is below mid price. Clearly MM's have a few to sell yet.

The interims will have an ugly bottom line due to the kitchen sinking we expect but I refer myself always to this sentence from the February trading statement:

"Both InterHigh and Academy 21 have started the financial year with strong performance in advance of the Group's expectations. The Board has decided that all Wey Education's business will now be provided by either InterHigh, which is an online secondary school or Academy 21, which provides alternative education services to business or state entities. It is those brands under which Wey will expedite its marketing strategy."

[manc10] 03/5/2019 10:29

how much money does this company generate and you should only buy stock with a pe of 10

[ny boy] 02/5/2019 10:42

Just one to tuck away, a little under-valued gem

Looking forward to a move back into double digits for starters

[netcurtains] 02/5/2019 09:09

Watched Game of thrones last night.
Have to say Bella Ramsey had the "biggest" battle scene of the entire crew. Well done Bella

[abergele] 02/5/2019 09:07

If there were more buys than sells and held, then it wouldn't look like this.gla

[manc10] 01/5/2019 14:15

this graph looks terrible the only way is down as it has been since jan 18

[hamidahamida] 01/5/2019 13:22

Absolutely bargain

[bones] 30/4/2019 22:46

Just had a flick through the published 2018 WEY accounts and there’s a provisional timetable saying the interims will be published on 13th May 2019. Not set in stone but provisional. Most likely to happen though I would imagine.

I am also waiting for the underlying individual subsidiary accounts of Interhigh and Academy21 to be filed at Companies House, as these will have individual figures for each business. Unlike the PLC accounts which must be filed within 6 months of year end, the subsidiaries’ accounts can be withheld for 9 months from year end. That means they will be filed in May as the deadline is 31/5/19. It would be nice to see them to get a feel for each business in isolation.

[bones] 30/4/2019 21:12

No worries, Garth, I like to dig to get an edge if possible since nothing is certain in the future! We are hopefully all here to help each other maximise knowledge.

[garth] 30/4/2019 20:52

Bones,That is very helpful.Your research is more detailed than my own and provides a greater clarity that I think removes the concerns I had. As I say - my digging was done a year ago in company records and was less thorough, or informed than what you have presented here.Thank you for taking the time to ferret around and to post your findings.Kind regards,G.

[bones] 30/4/2019 18:30

Garth, ref your post 1812 and the history of InterHigh and Academy21 being “bought back”.

For your information, my researches show:

In 2005, the Daniells (Paul and Jacqui) started Interhigh. In 2015, they had built it into a substantial business and David Massie’s hitherto unsuccessful and independent investment vehicle, Wey Education (then listed on ISDX and previously called Wey Capital) decided to buy Interhigh for a little less than £1M (half in WEY shares). Prior to that, I am unaware that there was any connection between Massie and the Daniells except that maybe they met in business as Massie was trying before that to set up some Academy schools via Wey Capital but ended up in dispute with the previous CEO (Wey Capital had nothing to do with Interhigh in those days).

Separately, in 2005 or thereabouts, it appears that Academy21 also started but the history is vague as it was not incorporated. However, the company Academy21 Ltd was set up in 2011 and the shares were then owned 50/50 by (1) Mr & Mrs Sullivan and (2) Mr & Mrs Daniells. It was a small business then. In 2012, the Daniells were bought out of Academy21 for £35K by way of a share buyback, so the Sullivans then owned it 100%. It is they who sold it to WEY in 2017 for £1.6M having seen it grow into a much bigger and profitable company.

It seems to me that the Daniells, who now run the Interhigh/Academy21 parts of WEY but only own 10% of the shares in WEY, did not benefit personally from the buying in of Academy21. However, with their familiarity of it, that could be seen as a sensible move by WEY.

It is worth noting that the Sullivans were in their mid-70’s when they sold, and presumably retired, so I don’t really see anything underhand there.

What I do not know is what the personal relationship is between the Sullivans and the Daniells and whether it is in any way important or relevant. It seems like it was a good time to take Academy21 forward in well-funded hands given its growth and its relevance to WEY as an online education company.

Hope this is useful. All the above was gleaned from Companies House records and WEY releases. Anyone can find these things out with a bit of digging :)

[bones] 29/4/2019 20:44

njl53 - thank you.

[njl53] 29/4/2019 16:23

Bones - thank you for excellent analysis.

[netcurtains] 29/4/2019 13:30

We all await further news.

[awise355] 29/4/2019 13:29

Thanks for the responses

[bones] 29/4/2019 13:24

Superadams, I would qualify that by saying that the Daniells (Paul and Jacqui, 10% WEY shareholders and founders of Interhigh) are the driving force behind Interhigh and Academy21 whereas David Massie, while a spokesperson for those schools, was busy trying to develop and expand the online activities in Quoralexis, Wey Ecademy and Infinity Education all of which were relatively new areas but which could leverage the existing online technology that the group already had put in place over the last three years, plus he was trying to develop partnerships in Nigeria and China (as you said).

With Massie now departed, the Daniells are sensibly looking to focus on the existing established and growing schools that they are familiar with. So, there will be costs in shutting down or redirecting some of the Massie parts, especially the ones that relied on Massie's overseas connections.

Fortuitously, the group now has a cash cushion as a result of Massie's City expertise when he raised £5M when the shares were flying high.

If the group can contain the discontinued activity costs, keep Interhigh and Academy21 motoring and have a war chest for other small acquisitions, this could be a good leveraged play. All "IF's" just now but hopefully we will get a progress update with the interims (last year these were on 8th May but the date this year I guess depends how messy things are with the clearing up operation).

[superadams] 29/4/2019 12:54

Awise - David Massie , the Exec Chairman, was the dealmaker and driving force behind Wey and was using his international experience to spread WEY's online offering to fast growing markets like China and Nigeria. Brokers got a bit carried away with forecasts. DM became gravely ill with heart condition and sadly died.

Non Exec Director who was also founder and Chairman of Crimson Tide took over as Chairman. Board decided to abandon DM's overseas ambitions and focus on fast ( 25 % pa )revenue growth domestic business. Write-offs and kitchen sinking will cause paper loss in current year ending Aug 2019. Operating profits are covering PLC costs so next year's profit prospects depend on continued revenue growth and operational gearing.
£ 7.5 m mkt cap relies heavily on £ 4 m cash pile left over from a placing at c 22p.

[netcurtains] 29/4/2019 12:47

awis: go to scroll to the bottom of page. You will note two things...
(1) they have done up their web site a lot...
(2) they have about 800 pupils a year

Numbers sort of imply that the group as whole probably has 2,000 pupils (perhaps higher). But possibly might mean (soon) #3K * 2000 = #6Million

And growing...
These figures tie in with Bones figures at top of page:

Broker Note - 35p TARGET (DCF basis)
Updated W H Ireland (house broker) forecasts as at 20/2/19:
2019 (est) Rev 5.0m: Pre-tax Profit 0.0m (before exceptional items); EPS 0.0
2020 (est) Rev 6.7m: Pre-tax Profit 0.5m; EPS 0.3p

If figures match then perhaps 35p will happen.

That is a seven bagger from here...

[awise355] 29/4/2019 11:53

Hello. Being lazy but hoping for a quick short answer, this company when I last looked maybe a couple of years ago was flying high, what's brought the share price down to a 52 week low? And is there a catalyst to turn it around in the next few weeks?

[garth] 29/4/2019 06:58

netcurtains26 Apr '19 - 15:02 - 1785 of 1811

Your opening sentence isn't correct, my friend.


Junderwood,

"I assume most home school kids being special needs so what % does IH have?"

Really?

FWIW, the class size article doesn't really apply in this context.

The issues around class size are impacted by age, culture (inside and outside of school), subject being studied.
The cohort types for IH and A21 are different and the issues for the two are very different - you can't make direct comparisons.

The key question on class size in a UK context is probably how it impacts on quality and timing of feedback.

You won't know how it is really working unless WEY publish detailed breakdowns of GCSE results. Trouble is, (and this is from memory of the research I did a year ago) certainly in the A21 model schools/LAs are responsible for the examination process and results. That removes visibility of academic impact and therefore accountability with investors. The only way you will see it is via the proxy of what % of schools/LAs retain long term contracts.

WEY got way ahead of itself - which I said a year ago. I intended to reinvest at 10p, I bought in again at 5p instead. They have, in my opinion, now gone too far the other way. I reckon they represent value at these levels.

I remain uncomfortable with the process of the history of the two businesses leading to flotation of WEY and then the use of investor money to buy back A21. Feels too much like old friends lining each other's pockets. I retain a self-interested "our personal business" concern. But that may be unjustified, I have never met the management.

My opinions only.

G.

[netcurtains] 28/4/2019 16:02

bones: worth noting re: 50 to class. We have heard the down side but there is also the obvious up side. We should hold judgement until know more but on paper it could be a good thing.

[bones] 27/4/2019 21:38

Slight deviation, but an indication that online education ideas can raise big money, here is a Danish company raising a second round of $21M:

[bones] 27/4/2019 21:19

Jonbirdy, on Tuesday, I noted the 1.5m sale and initially wondered if it was the Massie estate but decided it could be Miton. We don’t have an RNS to confirm who it was as yet. I don’t see it being the Massie shares at this low price. The guy was a millionaire with a huge house in Wimbledon. I don’t see them being distressed sellers. Makes more sense for it to be an institution like Miton which has been suffering fund drawdowns by its clients in the last six months.

Whatever, in the end, I decided the invitation was too tempting and bought a good chunk of that sale at 5.2p on Tuesday and Wednesday. I hope the forthcoming interims will contain a decent update although it will report a big loss due to the exceptional costs of retrenching to the core trades, as previously discussed. I’m more interested in what they have to say about the future trading in InterHigh/Academy21.

[jonbirdy] 27/4/2019 20:31

Just reading through all the recent posts I noticed that there was discussion that David Massie's estate were selling a portion of his position. This is just speculation I presume? (Unless I was misreading the posts)