(Alliance News) - VR Education Holdings PLC on Tuesday said annual pretax loss was in line with expectations, and added that it has seen a significant rise in demand for its virtual reality products, with high levels of interest for conferencing and collaboration tools.
Chief Executive Officer David Whelan said: "The Covid-19 pandemic has transformed the group's fortunes as businesses, corporations and educational institutes globally are now seeking better alternatives to video-based communications due to limitations with collaborative tasks and the drawbacks of larger group communications via video as a medium. Our recently announced strategic partnership and investment from HTC places the group in a strong position to accelerate the global adoption of the Engage platform and create value for shareholders."
The Waterford, Ireland-based virtual reality software developer said its pretax loss for 2019 narrowed sharply to EUR1.9 million from EUR4.9 million a year ago. Loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation was also "in line with management expectations" at EUR1.4 million versus a EUR1.5 million loss.
The narrowed loss was attributed to a sharp rise in revenue and absence of exceptional costs relating to the company's initial public offering recorded in 2018.
Annual revenue surged 43% year-on-year to EUR1.0 million from EUR700,000, driven by the continued success of the company's showcase experiences on the PlayStation, Oculus and Steam platforms coupled with revenue generated from the Engage virtual social learning and presentation platform and exhibition in the US Space and Rocket Center in the US state of Alabama.
The company's cash position at December 31 was EUR1.3 million with no debt. Following the receipt subscription funds from HTC Corp, VR Education's cash position was EUR3.4 million.
Earlier in June, the company had secured a EUR3 million investment from HTC and formed a strategic partnership for the distribution and licence of the Engage platform globally through HTC enterprise sales channels.
Shares in VR Education were up 10% at 17.95 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.
By Tapan Panchal; tapanpanchal@alliancenews.com
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