Tribal Group PLC (AIM:TRB) shares climbed to 67.52p this morning after the education software provider said it is on track to deliver profits and cash ahead of market expectations for the year to December.
The business, which supplies student information systems to universities and colleges, reported a strong finish to the year, helped by solid trading in its core SIS division and a return to growth at its Etio unit.
Revenue should land in line with forecasts, but adjusted EBITDA will come in ahead.
The improvement is flowing through to the balance sheet. Tribal expects to swing from net debt of £3.2 million at the end of 2024 to at least £5 million of net cash this month, a marked turnaround driven by better earnings and working capital.
The board says it now sees that net cash position as sustainable, and has announced a special dividend of 1.5p per share, payable on 29 January.
A shift to subscription pricing in higher education is also gathering pace, with more customers moving onto packages that include cloud services and additional applications.
Chief executive Mark Pickett said the progress reflected the group’s transition into a full-service SaaS business and gave confidence in further growth.