Online learning firm ThirdForce warned of lower sales in the British market yesterday, as it made public its plans to acquire an unnamed e-learning company in Britain.
The company disclosed that its performance was unlikely to meet market expectations to its agm yesterday, only six weeks after it reported a "notable upturn" in business during the second half of last year.
There was no immediate impact on its shares, which last traded on the Alternative Investment Market in London on May 19th when they rose 7.69 per cent to 21 pence.
ThirdForce chief executive Brendan O'Sullivan declined to identify the acquisition target after the company said it had submitted an offer "which may or may not lead to an acquisition" of the business in question.
Stating that the target company was privately-owned, he said ThirdForce had initiated a due diligence process on the potential deal. "We're hoping it won't be too long but I couldn't give a timeframe."
ThirdForce was formed from a Rapid Technology spin-off that merged with two other operations. The AIM-listed company reported last month that it had reduced its pre-tax losses to €324,000 for 2004 from €875,000 in 2003 on the back of a 55 per cent increase in revenues to €12.03 million.
However, its agm heard yesterday that it had recorded a "lower level of sales in some sectors" of the British market following very strong growth in the second half of 2004.
"The company views this as a short-term shift in training patterns primarily within the UK government-funded sector."
While Mr O'Sullivan saw this development as a "shift in trading patterns which are going to come around again", he declined to forecast its impact on the bottom line.
ThirdForce is investing to diversify the business beyond information technology training into the online assessment and adult literacy markets. To that end, it is making a "significant investment" in the formation of two new business divisions.
"The company recognises that this market and investment activity will mean that results for the current financial year may as a result be below market expectations. However, these investments will help accelerate future growth and increased shareholder value."
