More bad news ahead from troubled education services provider, Vocation (VET).
It will be a detailed valuation of its balance sheet, especially asset values, meaning big blobs of red ink.
That’s supported by the announcement on Christmas Eve, that the company will not be paying an interim dividend for the six months to the end of December.
Vocation placed its shares in a trading halt yesterday ahead of the update on its earnings forecast.
Vocation says expects its shares will remain in a trading halt until it releases its updated forecast on or before January 21.
That would be the 4th update from the company in the past four months.
“Vocation is seeking the trading halt to enable the Company to complete certain financial reviews which are currently in progress,” the company told the ASX yesterday.
VET 1Y – Vocation in another trading halt
Vocation had snuck out an update on Christmas Eve when it revealed that the recently appointed chief financial officer Stewart Cummins was well into a thorough review of the business, its assets, their carrying values and other balance sheet matters.
Vocation told the ASX on Christmas Eve that it “is currently reviewing the carrying value of its non-current assets including intangibles which may result in some non-cash impairment adjustments” when the company reports its half-year results in February 2015.
The company also announced that it had finalised negotiations with bankers to amend the terms of a loan facility.
Vocation said the renegotiated facility retains the balance of an existing three-year arrangement, but repays and cancels $35 million of a facility limit using part of the company’s existing cash reserves.
"This will leave the company with a cash balance in excess of $20 million and an $85 million fully drawn loan facility," Vocation said in its statement to the ASX.
Vocation said the interim dividend wouldn’t be paid because of a forecast loss for the first half of 2014-15.
The company shares ended last week on 25c, compared with $3.40 last September, when the first tremors were felt by alert investors.
