Tribal (TRB), which provides schools and universities with student-management systems, inspections and surveys, made further inroads into North America and the Asia Pacific region last year. Its growth strategy of targeting former Commonwealth nations where the British education system remains popular seems to be working: international sales jumped 39 per cent last year to make up over a quarter of total revenues - up from just over a fifth in 2012.
That was partly thanks to Tribal expanding its clan, signing deals with Canada’s University of British Columbia and California's Berkeley. The pair offer "quite strong entry points into new markets", claims chief executive Keith Evans; their size and prestige should improve Tribal's credibility. But acquisitions also boosted sales. Tribal bought Australia's Sky Software, a cloud-based provider of education-management systems. It "fills a nice gap for us", says Mr. Evans, catering to smaller institutions.
Tribal’s stock slumped 3 per cent following its results, however. That's perhaps because of its solutions business, which provides inspections and surveys in the UK. Sales there rose 4 per cent, but that was entirely driven by i-graduate, Tribal’s student-survey business, without which divisional sales would have slipped 1 per cent.
Broker Canaccord Genuity expects adjusted pre-tax profits of £15.3m this year, giving EPS of 12.9p - up from £14.6m and 12.5p last year.
| TRIBAL (TRB) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 192p | MARKET VALUE: | £180m | |
| TOUCH: | 193-197p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 208p | LOW: 132p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.8% | PE RATIO: | 17 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 73p* | NET DEBT: | 7% | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 194 | -17.8 | -23.9 | 4.60 |
| 2010 | 104 | -0.4 | -0.5 | 2.50 |
| 2011 | 108 | 3.7 | 3.5 | 1.00 |
| 2012 | 115 | 10.0 | 8.5 | 1.25 |
| 2013 | 125 | 13.5 | 11.5 | 1.60 |
| % change | +9 | +35 | +35 | +28 |
Ex-div: 11 Jun Payment: 11 Jul *Includes intangible assets of £95.4m, or 101p a share | ||||
