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Share Name | Share Symbol | Market | Type | Share ISIN | Share Description |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wey Education Plc | LSE:WEY | London | Ordinary Share | GB00B54NKM12 | ORD 1P |
Price Change | % Change | Share Price | Bid Price | Offer Price | High Price | Low Price | Open Price | Shares Traded | Last Trade | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0.00 | 0.00% | 47.25 | 0.00 | 00:00:00 |
Industry Sector | Turnover | Profit | EPS - Basic | PE Ratio | Market Cap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 | 0 | N/A | 0 |
TIDMWEY
RNS Number : 8515S
Wey Education PLC
11 November 2019
WEY EDUCATION PLC
("Wey", the "Group" or the "Company")
PRELIMINARY ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS
FOR THE YEARED 31 AUGUST 2019
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS:
-- Turnover increased by 44.3% to GBP6.0m (2018: GBP4.2m)
-- Adjusted PBT from continuing operations more than doubled to GBP322k (2018: GBP148k), ahead of market expectations
-- Statutory loss before tax of GBP685k (2018: GBP302k), impacted by exceptional items of GBP436k (2018: GBP54k) and loss from discontinued operations of GBP312k (2018: GBP174k)
-- Operating profit of GBP53k (2018: operating loss of GBP107k) -- Adjusted EPS 0.25p (2018: 0.12p), statutory LPS 0.52p (2018: 0.25p) -- Cash balances at year end of GBP5.0m (2018: GBP4.2m)
OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS:
-- Significant growth in student enrolment, including Sixth Form expansion -- Successfully established Interhigh Juniors for primary age children -- Teaching Online course introduced and accredited by ATHE level 4 -- Key appointments to Wey management team -- Introduction of vocational City & Guilds Assured Courses -- Developments to Wey's learning platform -- Company stabilized into two main brands, InterHigh and Academy 21
Commenting on the results, Barrie Whipp (Chairman) said:
"These results represent a pleasing outcome in a year where Wey underwent significant change. We have increased turnover, delivered profitability at the operational level and hold significant cash resources allowing us to continue our growth journey. The Board plans to not simply consolidate but accelerate growth in our core businesses"
Enquiries: Wey Education Plc Barrie Whipp (Chairman) +44 (0) 7778 367 999 Barry Nichols-Grey (Executive Director - Finance) +44 (0) 1873 813 900 WH Ireland Limited (Nominated Advisor and Broker) James Joyce (Corporate Finance) +44 (0) 20 7220 1666
Chairman's Statement
The financial year which ended on August 31, 2019 was an extraordinary period for Wey Education Plc. The sad death of our Chairman shook the Board to the core, however there was only one course of action to take; implement a plan that would take the Group forward and execute it to the best of our ability.
Jacqueline Daniell was appointed Chief Executive Officer to lead the operations of the business. Jacqui founded both InterHigh and Academy 21, so was the ideal candidate to step into this role. I had been a Non-Executive Director since 2015 and David Massie was my friend for over 30 years, I believed that, along with the other members of the Board, we could settle the Group and then drive it forward.
The Board decided that executing Joint Ventures in Africa and China was a strategy that did not fit with the focus that the Board wished to implement in InterHigh and Academy 21 and we decided to terminate our physical operations in these areas. We also took the decision to close executive offices in London and the associated London Learning Centre. Finally, we decided to cease specific activities in some of the new, minor brands in English as a foreign language and other services. These decisions had a short-term cost and I do not shy away from the fact that these resulted in the Group making a statutory Loss before Tax for the year. The financial benefits, however, are substantial on an ongoing basis.
After a short period of stabilization, the Group was able to focus clearly on its two core businesses, InterHigh and Academy 21. Stakeholders can now see clearly how Wey's accounts reflect the income from supplying our services of online education, less the cost of teaching and overhead. This demonstrates how well capitalized, funded and operationally geared the Group is.
InterHigh is a Business to Consumer Company selling directly to parents, and is, in the opinion of the Directors, the UK's leading online secondary school. In fact, InterHigh now offers online education to students from late Primary School age to Sixth Form and our student numbers are growing.
Academy 21 is a Business to business Company which supplies education services including alternative provision to education providers such as schools and other institutions.
The Board's aim, in its short to medium term plan, is for the combined Wey business to become the largest secondary school in the UK by number of students.
Educationally, we aim to provide the very best experience we can for our students. We have increased our teaching staff and have completed development of the Teaching Online qualification, available on the OFQUAL register. Going forward, all of our teaching staff and new recruits will be required to take the course and pass the related examination. We have continued to regularly engage with the Department for Education to assist in their desire to implement voluntary registration of online education provision. Our Non-Executive Director, Dame Erica Pienaar is an invaluable resource in leading our Academic Advisory Board and furthering our policies and procedures to ensure that we lead the way in compliance and safeguarding.
Our commitment to enhancing the Wey learning platform continues and we are experiencing some successes with delivering projects that will enable further development in automated learning. The ongoing partnership with the University of South Wales allows us to embed the latest research into our technology strategy. We aim for Wey to be at the very forefront of technical developments in online education and will continue to invest in these areas appropriately.
It is pleasing to be able to report that the Group's revenues were in excess of GBP6m for the financial year. Our growth has been achieved consistently and we believe that we have the platform to become, in terms of student numbers, the size of a multi-academy trust. It should not be underestimated that Wey provides online education to students overseas as well as the UK, nor that our corporate sales department is still in a fledgling stage.
After adding back the costs of exceptional items and discontinued businesses the core of the business produced a pre-tax operating profit.
Our capital reconstruction was finalized during the year and we are well funded with cash balances in the region of GBP5m.
The operational success of Wey is very much due to the efforts of Jacqueline and our committed, enthusiastic and loyal team, not only in our Head Office but our teaching staff who are based remotely. I am grateful to them for their commitment and support. I am also grateful for the support of our Board, advisers and a number of significant shareholders who agreed with our new strategy and vision for Wey going forward.
Barrie RJ Whipp
Chairman
11 November 2019
Operational Review
I am pleased to be able to report on a year where Wey Education went through a significant strategic review and implemented a clear plan for the future.
The core business grew turnover by 44% and we are optimistic that our marketing and recruitment strategy will ensure that growth will continue on an upward path. We have reached levels of operational gearing across the group which will allow us to deliver improved profitability as we grow.
For clarity I describe our operating businesses as follows:
InterHigh (www.interhigh.co.uk), delivers live, interactive teaching of the British Curriculum to year groups 4 through to 13, including teaching both IGCSE and A levels and with some City and Guilds and other vocational courses. It is a complete school with a broad academic, pastoral and enrichment programme ensuring that young people who join the school study successfully for their future career and life choices. InterHigh continues to expand and pupil numbers are at an all-time high.
Academy 21 (www.academy21.co.uk) is an online educational business that provides a range of Key Stage 3 and GCSE programmes to pupils who have been referred by local authorities and schools across the UK. It delivers alternative education provision to schools, local authorities and other education providers. The group has successfully grown the business since acquisition, and the brand now leads the B2B division. Revenue and profitability in Academy21 has exceeded the group's targets this year.
Education and learning
Education and learning have been extended in InterHigh to include a Junior school division delivering Key Stage 2 (Primary) curriculum, initially to years 5 and 6 and more recently to year 4. The primary division of InterHigh delivers an inclusive curriculum which includes core subjects as well as communication and creative pursuits subjects. In the secondary school division, InterHigh has extended its available subjects to include 9 core and 4 additional subjects at Key stage 3. At Key stage 4, InterHigh has grown its range of additional subjects and 6 vocational City and Guilds Assured Courses. In the Sixth Form, pupils can choose from a range of 20 A level subjects.
Academic Results overall have improved on last year and were once again outstanding in English.
Staffing
Following the closure of our London Learning Centre, the management functions, administrative staff and senior teaching personnel are based at the Group's administrative headquarters in Crickhowell, Wales while teaching staff are home based. Separate exam centre/meeting facilities accommodation is located in Abergavenny.
Staffing structures have been rationalized and made highly scalable. Some key positions have been identified and new recruitment mechanisms have meant relevant appointments have been made swiftly. Executive Head Teacher, Head of Business Information and Head of Educational Partnerships have added capacity to Wey's management team.
Technology
As well as continuous planned enhancements and releases, further developments have been built on the Wey learning platform and software integrations enhanced. The continued partnership with the University of South Wales means that progress has been made in the technology roadmap towards the vision for an AI enabled school.
Jacqueline K Daniell
CEO
11 November 2019
Financial Highlights
I am pleased to report that we have delivered continued growth in revenues alongside improvements in gross profit margins.
Group turnover of GBP6.0m for the year ended 31 August 2019 (2018: GBP4.2m) represents year on year growth of 44%. The prior year included partial contribution from Academy 21 which was acquired in December 2017 - if it had been included for the entirety of the comparative period the underlying revenue growth would have been 36%.
The Group improved gross profit margins from 53.4% to 59.5% between 2018 and 2019, as a result of the increase in Academy 21 revenues as a proportion of group revenues, as well as better teacher utilization and changes to our teaching model.
Administrative expenses increased from GBP2.2m in 2018 to GBP3.4m in 2019. A number of expenditure items related to investment in growth, particularly in marketing, did not occur until the second half of FY18 following the share placing in November 2017. Therefore, we have only seen the full cost of these investments in FY19. We expect the growth in costs to stabilize as we exploit operational gearing over the coming years to deliver improved profitability as we grow revenues.
The overperformance in terms of 2019 revenues allowed the group to accelerate marketing activity in the second half of the year to secure business for FY20 and beyond.
Overall, we have made a statutory loss before tax of GBP685k for the year, however the group incurred costs of GBP312k in respect of its discontinued overseas operations during the year. In addition, the group incurred exceptional costs of GBP436k in respect of termination and restructuring costs and the costs of closing the London Learning Centre.
The group maintains a very strong cash position with GBP5.0m of cash balances held at the year end.
To reconcile the headline figures to adjusted profit, being loss before tax from continuing operations adjusted for exceptional items, amortization of acquired intangibles and share based payments, we have more than doubled the adjusted PBT year on year.
Year ended Year ended 31 August 31 August 2019 GBP'000 2018 GBP'000 (restated*) Loss before tax from continuing operations (380,691) (160,491) Add back: Finance costs (2,063) (432) Exceptional costs 435,755 61,313 Exceptional income - (7,500) Operating profit/(loss) 53,001 (107,110) Amortisation of acquired intangibles 160,000 160,000 Equity based share awards 109,060 95,452 -------------- -------------- Adjusted PBT from continuing operations 322,061 148,342 -------------- -------------- Adjusted EPS 0.25 0.12 Adjusted Diluted EPS 0.23 0.11
*Note - The prior year comparatives have been restated as a result of the implementation of IFRS 9 and the restatement of certain costs which relate to our discontinued operations in Kenya, Nigeria and China. See note 3 for further details.
Barry Nichols-Grey
Finance Director
11 November 2019
Outlook and Summary
The group marketing strategy is designed to concentrate resources on the best possible opportunities to increase sales in its Business to Consumer market, whilst also developing and growing educational partnerships, both domestic and overseas. The Board is committed to be ambitious in accelerating growth in its core businesses.
Wey has continued to be viewed as a leader in online education delivery in the UK as evidenced by the Department for Education's invitation to assist in a small working party to help implement the voluntary registration of online providers. The DfE has now launched a public consultation with the first registrations planned for January 2020.
Financial resources and technical expertise are aligned to ensure Wey can maintain the quality in education delivery on a scale that represents further significant growth, through the deployment of emerging technologies and machine learning. With cash resources and a stable core business the Board looks to the future with confidence.
Annual General Meeting and Other Dates
The Group's provisional reporting timetable for 2019/20 is as follows:
Date of AGM 28 January 2020 Publication of Interim Results 11 May 2020 Preliminary Announcement 9 November 2020
WEY EDUCATION PLC
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
YEARED 31 AUGUST 2019
Year Year ended ended 31 August 2018 31 August (restated) 2019 GBP Note GBP Revenue 6,049,370 4,191,873 Cost of Sales (2,447,538) (1,950,045) ------------ ------------ Gross profit 3,601,832 2,241,828 Other income 5,668 402 Expenses Administrative expenses (3,445,439) (2,253,888) Equity based share awards (109,060) (95,452) Operating profit/(loss) 53,001 (107,110) Finance costs 2,063 432 Exceptional costs 4 (435,755) (61,313) Exceptional income 4 - 7,500 Loss before income tax benefit from continuing operations (380,691) (160,491) Income tax benefit 7,804 33,095 Loss after income tax from continuing operations (372,887) (127,396) Loss after income tax expense from discontinued operations 3 (312,530) (174,472) Loss after income tax benefit for the year attributable to the owners of Wey Education plc (685,417) (301,868) ------------ ------------ Earnings per share from continuing operations Basic earnings per share 6 (0.29) (0.10) Diluted earnings per share 6 (0.29) (0.10) Earnings per share from discontinued operations Basic earnings per share 6 (0.24) (0.14) Diluted earnings per share 6 (0.24) (0.14) Total earnings per share Basic earnings per share 6 (0.52) (0.25) Diluted earnings per share 6 (0.52) (0.25)
There is no recognised income or expense for the year other that the loss shown above and therefore no separate statement of other comprehensive income has been presented.
Please refer to note 3 for details of restatement of prior period comparatives.
WEY EDUCATION PLC
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION
AT 31 AUGUST 2019
At At 31 August 31 August 2018 2019 (restated) GBP GBP Note Assets Current assets Trade and other receivables 3 735,334 626,749 Cash and cash equivalents 4,961,371 4,225,182 ----------- ------------ Total current assets 5,696,705 4,851,931 Non-current assets
Goodwill 1,630,939 1,630,939 Investment in subsidiaries - - Intangibles 449,628 562,645 Property, Plant and Equipment 170,990 188,859 Total non-current assets 2,251,557 2,382,443 ----------- ------------ Total assets 7,948,262 7,234,374 Liabilities Current liabilities Trade and other payables 323,904 203,253 Other 1,865,067 703,157 ----------- ------------ Total current liabilities 2,188,971 906,410 ----------- ------------ Total liabilities 2,188,971 906,410 Net assets 5,759,291 6,327,964 ----------- ------------ Equity Issued capital 1,312,072 1,307,072 Reserves 5 1,730,692 7,625,346 Retained profits/ (accumulated losses) 5 2,716,527 (2,604,454) ----------- ------------ Total equity 5,759,291 6,327,964 ----------- ------------
WEY EDUCATION PLC
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY
AT 31 AUGUST 2019
Issued Share Option Retained Total Capital Premium reserve profits equity GBP GBP GBP GBP GBP Balance at 1 September 2017 1,039,685 2,868,263 77,288 (2,323,251) 1,661,985 Total comprehensive loss after income tax for the year - - - (301,868) (301,868) Issue of shares for cash 227,273 4,772,727 - - 5,000,000 Exercise of share options and warrants 40,114 157,954 (20,663) 20,663 198,068 Expenses associated with share issue - (283,921) - - (283,921) Equity based share awards - - 53,698 - 53,698 Balance at 31 August 2018 1,307,072 7,515,023 110,323 (2,604,456) 6,327,962 ---------- ------------ --------- ------------ ---------- Balance at 1 September 2018 1,307,072 7,515,023 110,323 (2,604,456) 6,327,962 Total comprehensive loss after income tax for the year - - - (685,417) (685,417) Exercise of share options and warrants 5,000 15,000 (6,400) 6,400 20,000 Equity based share awards - - 96,746 - 96,746 Capital reorganisation - (6,000,000) - 6,000,000 - Balance at 31 August 2019 1,312,072 1,530,023 200,669 2,716,527 5,759,291 ---------- ------------ --------- ------------ ----------
WEY EDUCATION PLC
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASHFLOWS
AT 31 AUGUST 2019
Year Year ended ended 31 August 31 August 2019 2018 GBP GBP Cash flows from operating activities Loss before income tax benefit for the year (693,221) (334,963) Adjustments for: Depreciation and amortisation 192,173 225,857 Impairment 8,468 - Share-based payments 96,746 53,698 Interest and other finance costs (2,063) (433) ----------- ------------ (397,897) (55,841) Change in operating assets and liabilities: Decrease/(increase) in trade and other receivables (108,585) (101,009) Decrease in other operating assets 64,190 - Increase/(decrease) in trade and other payables 120,651 (64,626) Increase/(decrease) in other operating liabilities 1,161,910 (50,480) 840,269 (271,956) Income taxes refunded 7,804 33,095 ----------- ------------ Net cash from operating activities 848,073 (238,861) Cash flows from investing activities Payment for purchase of business, net of cash acquired - (1,338,279) Payments for property, plant and equipment (46,324) (102,476) Payments for intangibles (87,621) (14,904) Interest received 2,063 433 Net cash used in investing activities (131,882) (1,455,226) ----------- ------------ Cash flows from financing activities Proceeds from issue of shares 20,000 4,914,147 Net cash from financing activities 20,000 4,914,147 ----------- ------------ Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 736,191 3,220,060 Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the financial year 4,225,182 1,005,120 Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the financial year 4,961,373 4,225,180 ----------- ------------
WEY EDUCATION PLC
NOTES TO THE RESULTS
FOR THE YEARED 31 AUGUST 2019
1. The financial information set out above does not constitute statutory accounts for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006. These financial statements have not been reviewed or approved by the Group's auditors.
2. Wey Education Plc has adopted International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"), IFRIC interpretations and the Companies Act 2006 as applicable to companies reporting under IFRS. 3. Restatement of comparatives
The group restated its results for the comparative period as a result of:
(a) Implementation of IFRS 9
IFRS9 - Financial Instruments was adopted by the group from 1 September 2019.
The Group applies the IFRS 9 simplified approach to measuring expected credit losses using a lifetime expected credit loss provision for trade receivables. To measure expected credit losses on a collective basis, trade receivables are grouped based on similar credit risk and aging. The contract assets have similar risk characteristics to the trade receivables for similar types of contracts.
The group has restated the comparative trade receivable balances. The impact of the change in accounting policy amounts to an increase in bad debt provision of GBP105,485 at 31 August 2018.
(b) Discontinued operations
During the year, the Group took the decision to cease operations in its overseas entities. Therefore, the results of the following entities have been reclassified as discontinued operations in accordance with IFRS5:
Wey Education Nigeria Limited;
Wey Education Limited; and
Wey Education Consulting (Beijing) Limited
In addition, various expenses incurred by the parent entity in relation to the discontinued operations have been classified within discontinued operations.
The impact of the reclassification for the prior period consolidated statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income is a reduction in administrative expenses of GBP105,182 and a reduction in exceptional costs of GBP69,290, which have both been reclassified to loss from discontinued operations.
Consolidated 2018 2018 GBP GBP GBP Extract Reported Adjustment Restated Expenses Administrative expenses (2,253,585) (303) (2,253,888) Operating loss (106,375) (303) (106,678) Exceptional Costs (130,603) 69,290 (61,313) Loss before income tax benefit from continuing operations (229,478) 68,987 (160,491) Income tax benefit 33,095 - 33,095 Loss after income tax benefit from continuing operations (196,383) 68,987 (127,396) Loss after income tax expense from discontinued operations - (174,472) (174,472) Loss after income tax benefit for the year attributable to the owners of Wey Education plc (196,383) (105,485) (301,868) Other comprehensive income for the year, net of tax - - - Total comprehensive income for the year attributable to the owners of Wey Education plc (196,383) (105,485) (301,868) Total comprehensive income for the year is attributable to: Continuing operations (196,383) 68,987 (127,396) Discontinued operations - (174,472) (174,472) ----------- ---------- ----------- (196,383) (105,485) (301,868) =========== ========== ===========
4. Exceptional costs
The group has incurred exceptional costs in the current and prior years in respect of:
Year ended Year ended 31 August 31 August 2019 2018 (restated) GBP GBP Termination and restructuring costs 252,205 - Onerous lease costs 174,627 - Legal costs 8,787 18,343 Acquisition costs - 42,970 Litigation receipts - (7,500) ----------- ------------ 435,619 53,813 ----------- ------------
5. Capital reorganisation
On 24 September 2018 at a General Meeting, to allow the Company to create distributable reserves, shareholders approved a resolution to effect a capital reduction, transferring GBP6,000,000 from share premium to retained earnings. The transfer became effective on 21 December 2018 following Court approval.
6. Weighted average number of shares
The calculation of the basic earnings per share is based on the profit attributable to ordinary shareholders and the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the period.
The calculation of the diluted earnings per share is based on the profit per share attributable to ordinary shareholders and the weighted average number of ordinary shares that would be in issue, assuming conversion of all dilutive potential ordinary shares into ordinary shares using the treasury share method.
Reconciliations of weighted average number of ordinary shares used in the calculation are set out below:
Year Year ended ended 31 August 31 August 2019 2018 GBP GBP Weighted average number of ordinary shares Shares in issue at beginning of period 130,707,120 103,968,491 Impact of share issues in period 73,973 18,965,689 ------------ ------------ Weighted average number of ordinary shares for Basic EPS 130,781,093 122,934,180 Effect of share options outstanding 6,607,840 7,740,572 ------------ ------------ Weighted average number of ordinary shares for Diluted EPS 137,388,933 130,674,752 ------------ ------------
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
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November 11, 2019 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)
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