Malvern International PLC (LON:MLVN), the educational courses partner, said current bookings are encouraging, with language student numbers starting to recover.
A new cohort of University Pathway students is due to start in January with courses going ahead either face-to-face or online, depending on the prevailing coronavirus (COVID-19) guidelines while language student numbers are rebuilding, with currently a quarter of the normally expected students for this time of year.
The COVID-19 pandemic had a big impact on the company’s operations, with educational establishments in the UK closed for a while, to which the company responded by accelerating the development of its Malvern Online Academy (MOA) and closing its Singapore operations.
The company believes MOA has the potential to become an important division within Malvern's portfolio in the long term., it said in its interim results statement covering the first half of the year.
Like-for-like revenues from continuing operations in the first half of the year were down 30% to £1.37mln from £1.94mln the year before.
The like-for-like loss before tax on continuing operations was £435,000, versus a profit the year before of £25,000. The loss from discontinued operations widened to around £320,000 from around £220,000 the year before.
Cash at the end of June stood at around £60,000, down from around £90,000 at the end of 2019; the group raised £1.15mln in June, of which £100,000 was received before the end of the reporting period and was immediately used to pay creditors.
“The financing activities in June, along with strong cost-control measures, have provided the company with the head-room to continue operating and unless there is a marked deterioration in the current operating environment position until activity levels return to normal operations,” said Richard Mace, who took over as chief executive officer at the end of June in a statement.
“While the long-term education market fundamentals remain unchanged and current bookings are encouraging, the continuing effects of COVID-19 dictate it is appropriate that we remain cautious in our outlook, whilst continuing to invest in and grow the existing business,” Mace said.