Rm Regulatory News (RM.)

11 Jan 2006 07:00

RM PLC11 January 2006 RM demonstrates educational excellence at BETT 2006 RM will demonstrate educational excellence and technical innovation at BETT 2006 - the UK's major educational ICT showcase, which opens today at Olympia, London. Across four stands, the RM Group (which includes RM, TTS, Softease and Sentinel) will be showing a wide range of innovative products and services designed to help teachers to teach and learners to learn. Analyst and investor briefings During the four days of BETT, RM will host briefings for investment analysts and institutional investors. These briefings will include presentations frommanagement and a visit to the exhibition. No update on trading will be given;performance in the first three months of the year has been in line with theoutlook statement set out in the Group's preliminary results announcement inNovember 2005. Commenting on BETT, Tim Pearson, RM's CEO, said: "Providing innovative products that genuinely help teachers and learners achievehigher educational standards is at the heart of what RM does. At BETT 2006,we're showing lots of exciting new developments, each of which demonstrates awinning combination of technical innovation and educational focus. For example:Easilearn - The Island uses a computer games-like approach for supporting thegeography curriculum; on the Softease stand we're demonstrating educationalpodcasting; and TTS is introducing two new ICT products - LogBox and ProBot -which take ease of use and educational appropriateness to new levels. "BETT will also see new developments in our school management software business.We're launching IntegrisG2 - a Web-delivered school management system,particularly suitable for primary schools. I'm also pleased to be able toannounce that our contract to provide Integris to the Department of Educationand Training in Western Australia has been extended until March 2008, with thepossibility of a further two-year extension. "Increasingly, educational ICT is about more than individual products. A keytheme at BETT this year is the emergence of Learning Platforms; sophisticatedsoftware systems which support educators in all aspects of their jobs -planning, preparing, delivering and assessing learning. Through the innovativeeducation enterprise systems we are providing in Warwickshire, Newham, Lambethand, in particular, for SSDN (the Scottish Schools Digital Network), RM isplaying the pioneering role in these developments." - Ends - For further information, please contact:Mike Greig/Phil Hemmings, RM plc 08709 200200Fiona Laffan/Mark Antelme, Brunswick 020 7404 5959 Notes to Editors: The RM Group is The UK's leading provider of educational products and servicesto schools, colleges and universities, local government and central governmenteducation departments and agencies. Founded in 1973, RM works closely witheducationalists to use new products, processes and technology to improveteaching and learning and is recognised as a leading innovator in theeducational information and communications technology (ICT) arena.BETT is an annual exhibition showcasing educational technology; it is the year'smajor meeting point for the educational ICT community, with an audienceincluding senior policy makers as well as teachers and school managers. Withover 27,000 attendees and approximately 600 exhibitors, it is believed to be theworld's largest educational technology exhibition. BETT 2006 takes place atOlympia, London from the 11th January to the 14th January, and will beofficially opened by Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State for Education at theDepartment of Education and Skills. New products from the RM Group on show at BETT 2006 include: • Easiteach 3.3 - the latest version of RM's widely used interactive whole-class teaching software, which now supports instant class voting and provides a 'vision check' tool designed to help teachers determine whether pupils can see information displayed on a whiteboard adequately. • IntegrisG2 - a new generation school management and administration systems using a centrally-hosted and Web-delivered architecture, which is particularly suitable for primary schools as it removes the need for each individual school to manage its own database system. • Easilearn: The Island - a 'virtual field trip' for primary school pupils, which uses a sophisticated games-like environment to provide children with an exciting and motivating range of simulated missions based on curriculum-relevant geography themes. • Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Workshop - an off-the-shelf training package for primary school teachers, which provides materials and support to help primary school teachers make the most out of their interactive whiteboards. • Living Library Reference Suite - a major new version of RM's powerful online multimedia reference library, which includes encyclopaedia articles, revision guides, educational Web links and a newspaper archive. • ProBot - an innovative programmable robot from TTS, which builds on the success of BeeBot (introduced last year at BETT) supporting the ICT curriculum in the later years of primary school. • Textease Timeline - an extension of the widely used Textease product, which allows pupils to create sophisticated chronological timelines using a wide range of digital images, videos and sound. • Educational podcasting - visitors to the Softease stand will be able to hear a range of educational podcasts. RM Group stands can be found at: • RM - Stand D50/E50 • Softease - Stand C56 • Sentinel (Ranger) - E90 • TTS - PZ1 For more details about RM's presence at BETT 2006, visit www.rm.com/bett2006 RM made the following comments about prospects in its preliminary resultsannouncement in November 2005: 'The recent education white paper, Higher Standards, Better Schools for All,identifies a central role for ICT in education; this follows on from thepublication of the DfES' eLearning Strategy early this year and the appointmentof the first ever Director of Technology to the DfES Board. 'RM remains a seasonal business, with more than half of our revenues - and aneven greater proportion of profits - occurring in the second half of the year(reflecting the peak in schools demand in preparation for the start of theacademic year in September). While we have improved the visibility of ourrevenues, we still have almost two-thirds of the year's business to win anddeliver. 'As always at this time of our financial year, it is too early in the year tomake any meaningful comment on RM's performance in 2006. However, with Englishhead teachers facing budget pressures as a result of the workforce remodellingprogramme and the introduction of teaching and learning responsibility paymentsfor teachers, the weakness in the market that was evident at the start of thenew academic year has continued into the current financial year. 'As previously mentioned, we are choosing to increase our investment inbusiness-development expenditure to prepare for the opportunities presented byBSF. We believe that this is in the long-term interests of shareholders;however, it will hold back profit growth in 2006. 'In the longer term, RM is very well positioned to deliver innovative ICTproducts and services that will help teachers to teach and learners to learn.' This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange