(Alliance News) - Tribal Group PLC on Tuesday reported good progress in 2019 despite "some softness in its end markets."
The education-focused software and services provider said adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization for 2019 was "marginally higher" than expectations.
However, revenue for the period was slightly lower than expected, "primarily due to a reduction in the number of new Student Information System opportunities coming to market in the UK and Australia, the increasing move to subscription sales from perpetual licenses in Further Education and Work-Based Learning, and the timing of revenue recognition under IFRS15," Tribal added.
In 2018, Tribal's revenue fell 1.1% to GBP80.1 million, while pretax profit jumped 41% to GBP4.8 million.
During the period, the company invested GBP6 million into its cloud-based Tribal Edge platform, with its first module due for release in Australia imminently.
Tribal said it has now reached a non-biding, in principle agreement to settle the dispute with a platform provider for past royalties and a new 10 year agreement for royalties due on future sales and renewals.
The company now expects to pay in the order of GBP9 million to settle all historical liabilities, including related legal fees, and will fully provide these costs in 2019.
Mark Pickett, chief executive officer, said: "There is clear demand for cloud-based solutions within our key markets, and Tribal Edge provides native cloud based next generation solutions, which positions Tribal to benefit from this trend."
"The board remains confident in the outlook for the year ahead," Pickett said.
Tribal shares were trading 0.2% lower in London at 72.38 pence each on Tuesday.
By Loreta Juodagalvyte; loretajuodagalvyte@alliancenews.com
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Tribal Grp. (TRB)