The iCollege Ltd (ASX: ICT) share price will be on watch this morning. This comes after the company announced a positive trading update yesterday morning.
Just minutes after the announcement, the ASX went into lockdown, restricting all trades due to a technical glitch. It will be interesting to see where the iCollege share price will end up today.
Before the halt, shares in the organisation were up 4.1% to 12.5 cents.
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What does iCollege do?
iCollege is an Australian-based organisation, comprising 7 business that deliver accredited and non-accredited vocational education and training solutions.
The company operates throughout Australia, but services both domestic and international markets.
Trading update
For the period ending 31 October, iCollege reported a solid trading performance for the first four months of FY21. The company revealed it is on track to deliver record revenue and earnings for the half-year to the end of December.
So far, iCollege has recorded revenue of $5.6 million, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciations and amortisation (EBITDA) of $1.1 million. The company attributes the robust result to significant growth in its domestic training operations and its ability to rapidly address skill shortages.
iCollege received its first cash receipts from the Western Australian government-funded 'priority industry training scheme'. In addition, revenue is also expected to flow in from its infection control skills set training, which is being delivered as a part of an $80 million federal and state government initiative.
Despite border closures, the company is beginning to witness a recovery in enrolments for international students who remained in Australia. For pupils who are abroad, iCollege has focused its efforts on sales and marketing programs. This has led to an uptick of international students commencing online courses in their home countries.
To expand its revenue streams, the company has rolled out an online coding boot camp for children, specialising in gaming.
What did management say?
iCollege managing director Mr Ash Katta commented on the record results:
Year to date, iCollege has performed exceptionally well and we are on track to deliver a record first half performance. As we have previously stated, the Company's ability to rapidly adapt in extremely challenging market conditions highlights the resilience of our business model.
We expect November to be another strong month ahead of the traditionally quieter Christmas and New year period, but we are rolling out a series of short courses to boost revenue streams across these months. As well as our strong organic growth, we are using our balance sheet to acquire complementary businesses and scale up existing operations.
iCollege share price summary
The iCollege share price has been on the move in the last 5 months. Shares in the education and training provider have risen from 3 cents to 12.5 cents, representing a gain of 300%.
The company has a market capitalisation of $72.7 million, making it a small-cap ASX share with considerable room to grow.
