ICT supply no longer RM's main activity

Recent PC market exit meant other activities such as curriculum products generated more revenue in 1H

Five years after the government called time on the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme and 18 months after it exited PC building, RM is no longer drawing the majority of its business from ICT education supply.

Its once flagship RM Education arm saw sales fall 31 per cent year on year to £36.5m in RM's fiscal first half ending 31 May, as BSF activity continued to wind down.

With total revenue falling 13 per cent to £79.8m in the same period, RM's other activities - namely in the fields of curriculum products through RM Resources and online exam authoring and onscreen testing through RM Results - generated 54 per cent of the total.

Across the company, adjusted operating profit fell five per cent to £6.9m and adjusted pre-tax profit slipped ten per cent to £6.3m.

RM was once a true goliath of the education ICT supply market, with 2010 sales of £376m, before the coalition government pulled the rug from under BSF. In 2013, it edged further away from its hardware supply roots by exiting PC assembly and striking a hardware referral deal with Misco.

RM Resources saw revenue rise 11 per cent year on year to £32.7m during the first half, while RM Results grew five per cent to £10.6m.

The business as a whole will return to revenue growth this year, with all three divisions growing by 2017, RM predicted.

"We have delivered another good half year of results and are on track with our journey back to growth," said RM chief executive David Brooks.

"RM Resources and RM Results have continued to grow and deliver strong margins. RM Education continues to improve margins as we focus on software and services. These results together with our strong balance sheet give us a stable platform for RM's long term future."