3 Feb 2017

Intueri Education to exit Australian business by the end of the year

4:15 pm on 3 February 2017

The troubled vocational training company, Intueri Education, plans to exit its Australian business by the end of the year.

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Photo: 123RF

The company said its Australian group would continue to operate in a break-even position for now, but changes to Australia's regulatory environment meant the business would not be commercially viable or profitable in the long run.

As well, Intueri was still awaiting a review by the Australian Skills Quality Authority that had previously threatened sanctions against two of its training schools in that country, including deregistration.

It was also awaiting a review of a decision by the Australian funder, which had refused to make a A$6 million payment it had been counting on to meet its banking arrangements.

It said it was finalising its full year financial report and was working with the ANZ Bank to restructure its debt finance facilities, as it was expected to breach its banking covenants.

Intueri Chair Chris Kelly said the changes to the Australian vocational education sector were disappointing.

"Whilst there are opportunities to build our business operations without access to government VET (Australian Vocational Education Training) funding, Intueri's current financial position does not allow us to put this medium term investment in place, and hence we are reviewing options to divest or close our Australian operations," he said, adding that the company was aiming to provide students with a smooth transition that allowed them to continue their studies with minimal disruption.

"We remain in close dialogue with our banking partner and expect to make significant progress assessing capital restructuring and strategic options over the next two to three months."

The company will release its full year result for the year ended in December on 23 February.

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