Abingdon's RM plc in improved position following fundamental review

RM plc, the Abingdon-headquartered supplier of technology and resources to the education sector, reported it was in an improved financial and operational position following a fundamental review of the business.

Reporting its results for the 12 months to end-November, 2023, the edtech group said its consortium business ceased trading in December last year following losses of around £10 million in fiscal 2023.

READ MORE: RM plc to sell Integris and Finance business after strategic review

In the year, the company permanently closed down its EVO ERP system - a planned warehouse automation project, and consolidated its distribution centre estate.

A newly simplified business will focus on end customers: learners, educators, and accreditors, the company said, adding that it aimed to build a Global Accreditation Platform to take advantage of the education transformation towards fully on-screen examinations.

A roadmap of the company's developed IP, products and solutions had been delivered to accreditors, educators and directly to learners, it added.

In the 12 months, revenue from continuing operations came in at £195.2 million, 8.9% lower than the £214.2 million seen in full-year 2022, while the loss before tax from continuing operations dropped 98.1% to £41.2 million (FY22: Loss of £20.8 million).

There was revenue growth of 8.7% in the strategic RM assessment business and 5.8% growth in its Technical Teaching Solutions (TTS) International business, which partially offset revenue decline of 42.8% in the troubled Consortium business and challenges in UK schools budgets, which impacted revenues for technology managed services and TTS UK, the firm said.

Trading in the first months of the firm's 2024 year had been "in line" with the company's expectations and full-year outlook remains in line with market expectations, it told investors, while the ongoing business was expected to recover a "significant proportion" of the lost Consortium revenue.

"Following a turbulent period, we have taken decisive action to transform and stabilise RM, including the difficult decision to cease trading in the Consortium business, permanently close down the EVO ERP system and consolidate our distribution centre estate," said chief executive Mark Cook in a statement.

"With the business in an improved financial and operational position, I am delighted to unveil our new strategic plan to deliver growth.

"This will create a simpler and more customer-centric business, with a focus on investing in RM-owned and designed IP, to take advantage of structural digital growth drivers across the education sector in the UK and internationally.

"While we have made significant progress over the past year there is still much to be done, but I am confident that our newly appointed and invigorated management team can build on RM’s 50-year heritage of innovation and capture the scale of the global growth opportunity we see," he added.
RM's three businesses include assessment, TTS and technology.