BETT 2006
RM PLC
11 January 2006
RM demonstrates educational excellence at BETT 2006
RM will demonstrate educational excellence and technical innovation at BETT
2006 - the UK's major educational ICT showcase, which opens today at Olympia,
London. Across four stands, the RM Group (which includes RM, TTS, Softease and
Sentinel) will be showing a wide range of innovative products and services
designed to help teachers to teach and learners to learn.
Analyst and investor briefings
During the four days of BETT, RM will host briefings for investment analysts
and institutional investors. These briefings will include presentations from
management and a visit to the exhibition. No update on trading will be given;
performance in the first three months of the year has been in line with the
outlook statement set out in the Group's preliminary results announcement in
November 2005.
Commenting on BETT, Tim Pearson, RM's CEO, said:
'Providing innovative products that genuinely help teachers and learners achieve
higher educational standards is at the heart of what RM does. At BETT 2006,
we're showing lots of exciting new developments, each of which demonstrates a
winning combination of technical innovation and educational focus. For example:
Easilearn - The Island uses a computer games-like approach for supporting the
geography curriculum; on the Softease stand we're demonstrating educational
podcasting; and TTS is introducing two new ICT products - LogBox and ProBot -
which take ease of use and educational appropriateness to new levels.
'BETT will also see new developments in our school management software business.
We're launching IntegrisG2 - a Web-delivered school management system,
particularly suitable for primary schools. I'm also pleased to be able to
announce that our contract to provide Integris to the Department of Education
and Training in Western Australia has been extended until March 2008, with the
possibility of a further two-year extension.
'Increasingly, educational ICT is about more than individual products. A key
theme at BETT this year is the emergence of Learning Platforms; sophisticated
software systems which support educators in all aspects of their jobs -
planning, preparing, delivering and assessing learning. Through the innovative
education enterprise systems we are providing in Warwickshire, Newham, Lambeth
and, in particular, for SSDN (the Scottish Schools Digital Network), RM is
playing the pioneering role in these developments.'
- Ends -
For further information, please contact:
Mike Greig/Phil Hemmings, RM plc 08709 200200
Fiona Laffan/Mark Antelme, Brunswick 020 7404 5959
Notes to Editors:
The RM Group is The UK's leading provider of educational products and services
to schools, colleges and universities, local government and central government
education departments and agencies. Founded in 1973, RM works closely with
educationalists to use new products, processes and technology to improve
teaching and learning and is recognised as a leading innovator in the
educational information and communications technology (ICT) arena.
BETT is an annual exhibition showcasing educational technology; it is the year's
major meeting point for the educational ICT community, with an audience
including senior policy makers as well as teachers and school managers. With
over 27,000 attendees and approximately 600 exhibitors, it is believed to be the
world's largest educational technology exhibition. BETT 2006 takes place at
Olympia, London from the 11th January to the 14th January, and will be
officially opened by Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State for Education at the
Department of Education and Skills.
New products from the RM Group on show at BETT 2006 include:
• Easiteach 3.3 - the latest version of RM's widely used interactive
whole-class teaching software, which now supports instant class voting and
provides a 'vision check' tool designed to help teachers determine whether
pupils can see information displayed on a whiteboard adequately.
• IntegrisG2 - a new generation school management and administration
systems using a centrally-hosted and Web-delivered architecture, which is
particularly suitable for primary schools as it removes the need for each
individual school to manage its own database system.
• Easilearn: The Island - a 'virtual field trip' for primary school
pupils, which uses a sophisticated games-like environment to provide
children with an exciting and motivating range of simulated missions based
on curriculum-relevant geography themes.
• Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Workshop - an off-the-shelf
training package for primary school teachers, which provides materials and
support to help primary school teachers make the most out of their
interactive whiteboards.
• Living Library Reference Suite - a major new version of RM's powerful
online multimedia reference library, which includes encyclopaedia articles,
revision guides, educational Web links and a newspaper archive.
• ProBot - an innovative programmable robot from TTS, which builds on the
success of BeeBot (introduced last year at BETT) supporting the ICT
curriculum in the later years of primary school.
• Textease Timeline - an extension of the widely used Textease product,
which allows pupils to create sophisticated chronological timelines using
a wide range of digital images, videos and sound.
• Educational podcasting - visitors to the Softease stand will be able to
hear a range of educational podcasts.
RM Group stands can be found at:
• RM - Stand D50/E50
• Softease - Stand C56
• Sentinel (Ranger) - E90
• TTS - PZ1
For more details about RM's presence at BETT 2006, visit www.rm.com/bett2006
RM made the following comments about prospects in its preliminary results
announcement in November 2005:
'The recent education white paper, Higher Standards, Better Schools for All,
identifies a central role for ICT in education; this follows on from the
publication of the DfES' eLearning Strategy early this year and the appointment
of the first ever Director of Technology to the DfES Board.
'RM remains a seasonal business, with more than half of our revenues - and an
even greater proportion of profits - occurring in the second half of the year
(reflecting the peak in schools demand in preparation for the start of the
academic year in September). While we have improved the visibility of our
revenues, we still have almost two-thirds of the year's business to win and
deliver.
'As always at this time of our financial year, it is too early in the year to
make any meaningful comment on RM's performance in 2006. However, with English
head teachers facing budget pressures as a result of the workforce remodelling
programme and the introduction of teaching and learning responsibility payments
for teachers, the weakness in the market that was evident at the start of the
new academic year has continued into the current financial year.
'As previously mentioned, we are choosing to increase our investment in
business-development expenditure to prepare for the opportunities presented by
BSF. We believe that this is in the long-term interests of shareholders;
however, it will hold back profit growth in 2006.
'In the longer term, RM is very well positioned to deliver innovative ICT
products and services that will help teachers to teach and learners to learn.'
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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