RM conserves cash in first half amid Covid crisis

Education technology and resources company RM updated the market on its first half on Friday, reporting that trading was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, following the closure of UK and international schools and the cancellation of exams.

The London-listed firm said it still remained profitable in the six months ended 31 May, adding that as schools and early years settings re-opened, trading would improve.

It said that, where possible, all RM employees in the UK, India and Australia were working from home, and for those who were not able to, it had put in place measures to ensure the working environments were safe, and to enable its sites and services to remain operational.

The company said it entered the Covid-19 crisis in a “strong” financial position, and took action to balance the conservation of cash with the long-term needs of the business.

Those actions included the board and executive team reducing their salaries by 25% and 20% respectively, and pausing its two major capital programmes, with the expectation they would start again later in the year.

RM also halted recruitment of permanent staff and reduced levels of temporary staffing, cancelled its final dividend for the 2019 financial year, and “significantly” reduced its discretionary spend.

As at 31 May, RM had net debt of £14m, down from £21m year-on-year, against a revolving credit facility of £70m.

That facility also had its net debt leverage covenant increased to 3.5x from 2.5x for 2020.

Looking ahead, the board said the situation was still “too fluid” to provide financial guidance for the rest of the financial year.

It said it remained confident that the resilience of the business and the actions taken to conserve cash, alongside its credit facilities, provided the company with a platform to successfully manage through the current uncertainty.

“In the short term, RM's focus is on continuing to provide our products and services safely to our customers,” said chief executive officer David Brooks.

“Looking further ahead, as schools reopen and exam boards restart assessments, RM will play a key role in helping to get education systems back on track and adapt to the new environment.”

At 0800 BST, shares in RM were up 1.67% at 244p.