Group EBITDA up materially to $3.6M for the period

Today, Arowana International (AWN.AX, the Group) announced record half-year group revenues. The results were bolstered by the exceptional results for VivoPower International (VivoPower) that were announced yesterday. The Group grew statutory revenues by 78% versus PoP to A$47.0m, driven by record results from VivoPower’s Aevitas businesses in Australia.  

The period also marked the commencement of the strategic transformation of EdventureCo, through various initiatives. The most recent of which was the launch of the first Philippines campus for DDLS Australia Pty Ltd (DDLS) under its joint venture with Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. (PSE:AEV). The campus launch follows months of above-budget revenues of performance in the Philippine market. DDLS is the largest Corporate IT training provider in Australia and is the largest of the businesses in the EdventureCo portfolio. 

As part of its strategy to develop higher margin revenue streams, EdventureCo also launched the Australian Institute of ICT with an online offering in cybersecurity, a 0% unemployment industry. The course, which is endorsed by a panel of global industry experts and includes a hiring programme for graduates is designed to take students with no ICT background to three internationally recognised cybersecurity certifications in less than six months.

Highlights for the six months ended December 31, 2019:

• Consolidated Group revenues of A$68.6m, up 42% period-on-period (PoP);
• Results primarily reflect very strong growth for VivoPower, which grew statutory revenues by 78% versus PoP to A$47.0m, driven by record results for the Aevitas businesses in Australia;
• EdventureCo statutory revenues of A$21.1m in line with the previous corresponding period; solid revenue growth in Everthought offset by marginally lower revenue in DDLS reflecting commencement of the strategic transformation of its sales architecture as well as the launch of Philippine JV and the Australian Institute of ICT; 
• Arowana Funds Management (AFM) revenues of A$0.5m, reflecting aggregate AUM (Assets Under Management) being relatively stable at A$147m as at 31 December 2019 (30 June 2019: A$150m); Arowana Impact Capital was also established in Singapore; and
• Statutory Group EBITDA of A$0.1m; underlying Group EBITDA improved to A$3.6m from (A$2.5m) loss in PoP.

Kevin Chin, Arowana CEO, commented: “The results evidence the transformation of VivoPower into a growth business, primarily due to the strong performance and outlook of the Aevitas business unit in Australia. We have also commenced our strategic transformation of EdventureCo, with a focus on transitioning the business to higher quality and higher margin revenue streams. To this extent, significant investment has been made to open the first DDLS campus in the Philippines which has started generating above-budget revenues. In addition, the Australian Institute of ICT has been launched to prepare students to meet the growing and unmet demand for talent in cybersecurity, web development, and data science.”