Tribeca chalks-up modest profit

Acquisitions in the accounting education sector and mandates with both the Financial Planning Association and the Australian Stock Exchange have helped Tribeca Learning post a 49 per cent increase in profit for the first half of the 2005 financial year.

But although the size of the increase sounds good in percentage terms, it only equates to a modest after tax profit of $580,000 for the half year.

Tribeca says the profit can largely be attributed to a surge in enrolments in accredited courses, such as the Diploma of Financial Services (Financial Planning), and continuing education programs. These higher inflows were able to offset the estimated $7.5 million the group spent in November 2004 when it aquired three accountancy based education providers.

Enrolments in accredited courses like the DFS and the Advanced Diploma in Financial Services (ADFS) increased 11 per cent for the half year to 6,629 with revenue increasing by 15 per cent to $4.49 million, while continuing education revenue, the group’s fastest growing business unit, increased by 16 per cent to $3.96 million.

The DFS accounted for 63 per cent of enrolments, while the ADFS accounted for the remaining 27 per cent.

The group also benefited, to a lesser extent, from inflows related to the acquisition of the three accountancy based education providers: Webb Martin, a provider of tax training workshops; Monroe Topple and Associates, a provider of preparatory courses for the Institute of Chartered Accountants’ CA designation; and the Strategist Group, a provider of Self Managed Superfund training.

The only part of the business to experience a decline in revenue was the compliance services unit where takings were down 27 per cent, thanks largely to a drop in the number of compliance audits requested by advisers post Financial Services Reform.

Now with a significant presence in financial planning, stock broking and accounting, Tribeca said it would be turning to real estate, mortgage broking and insurance markets as acquisition targets in the latter half of the 2005 financial year. Tribeca said that it expected profits in the second half of the year to be stronger than those posted today.