One on One profit dips for Q2
SECOND-QUARTER profits of edtech company One on One Educational Services slid to $6.1 million for the period ending February 2023, owing to higher expenses, as the company continued its investment in growth projects while exploring new opportunities.
The quarter’s performance dragged earnings of the company down by more than 40 per cent when compared to the previous year.
In the preamble accompanying the company’s results, chairman Michael Bernard blamed the rise in expenses on new hires One on One made to improve existing product offerings and initiate new product developments, increased advertising, along with fees associated with its capital raise last year of $358 million from an IPO, which was massively oversubscribed.
The edtech company won over investors on its plans to invest in next-generation learning content, machine learning, and artificial intelligence tools, as well as to scale the business through the acquisition of complementary businesses.
So far, the company, which was founded by Ricardo Allen nine years ago, has signed off on the lease of a new premises for studio recording, acquired new perpetual licenses for the Classroom-in-a-Box devices, as well as a licence for the resale of content.
It also continues work on its intellectual property, from which revenue is generated.
The work to grow the business has not only pulled revenues of the company up by 17 per cent to $72.5 million, but also assets swelled 91 per cent to $635 million.
“The increase in revenue was driven by new contracts acquired and ongoing contracts from the previous financial year. Additionally, the company benefited from economies of scale in executing projects, resulting in a decrease of $4.5 million or 27.4 per cent in direct cost,” Bernard said.
For the six months ended February 2023, One on One generated revenues of $153 million, representing an increase of $49 million or 47 per cent when compared to the same period in 2022. The growth in revenue was driven mainly by the business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) divisions.
One on One’s product portfolio currently spans private-label online learning platform for business clients; an educational management information system – a government service specifically designed to assist developing countries digitise their education systems and all the related core processes; and offline content cloud called Classroom in a Box.
Over the next quarter, the company intends to increase focus on the B2C market segment with products such as ‘One on One for teachers and students’, which will connect knowledge sharers or teachers with students for a fee, and ‘One on One for professionals and trainers’ in which trainers and training organisations are allowed to use the company’s online learning platform to create, manage, market, and sell their online courses.
“As we move into Q3, we are optimistic about the growth and opportunities across all our divisions. The launch of OneAcademy and the continued expansion of our government and business divisions will drive our performance in Q3,” founder and CEO Allen said.
“Additionally, our investments in people, systems, content development, and AI will continue to yield results as we position One on One as a regional and global leader in the edtech space,” he continued.
Prior to its listing on the junior market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the edtech company had a subscriber base of over 250,000 learners. The company has been named as one of the largest online learning companies in the Caribbean, providing proprietary online learning platforms and content to governments, businesses, and individuals across 15 countries.