Transcription of Finance News Network Interview with 3P Learning Limited (ASX:TPN) CEO, Tim Power
Lelde Smits: Hello I’m Lelde Smits for the Finance News Network and joining me from 3P Learning Limited (ASX:TPN) is its CEO, Tim Power. Tim congratulations on having just listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.
Tim Power: Thank you, a very exciting day.
Lelde Smits: 3P Learning is an education software provider behind such programs as Mathletics and Reading Eggs. Could you outline your offering and how the Company generates revenue?
Tim Power: They’re subscription based websites and integrated technologies, which we sell to schools on a subscription basis. We also sell direct to parents as well. So the main products are Mathletics, Reading Eggs, IntoScience and we also have another one called Spellodrome. When we sell it to schools and parents, it’s on a per student basis and it’s on an annualised/annual basis. So it has a recurring revenue style feel to it.
Lelde Smits: The Company has just listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. What price did you list at and what market capitalisation does that put on the Company?
Tim Power: We debuted at $2.39 per share and that puts a market capitalisation of about $330 million.
Lelde Smits: Your initial public offering raised about $280 million. Where do you plan to deploy the funds and based on your $2.50 issue price, what’s your price to earnings ratio?
Tim Power: We’re aiming to build out our operations in Europe and North America, and then later on in Asia. We’re really not looking to change direction, we’re just continuing on our mission and so really that’s essentially the deployment of funds that we’re aiming to do. The price to earnings ratio, it’s around 30 times, as a rough number, but I think our job is to focus on the business and continue to do a good job with that.
Lelde Smits: The Company’s IPO is the second largest technology listing on the ASX. Why did you choose to go public?
Tim Power: Because we wanted to continue to build out our mission. We want to reach as many students in a generation to help them love learning, because we think that’s a shield, we think that’s a shield for resilience through life. And we thought a public listing would give us that impetus to keep going.
Lelde Smits: 3P Learning has a portfolio of brands and products. Who are your main customers and what are the benefits for users?
Tim Power: Our main customers are schools and there’s a few key benefits for them. One is the environments in which the students learn are highly personalised to each individual student. And so that helps them progress faster, learn better, be more responsive to their needs. And for teachers it takes a lot of work load off their shoulders, so they can spend more time teaching, doing the things that they love. And really working, motivating students, mentoring them in reasoning and all the more difficult things for them to grasp.
Lelde Smits: What do you believe gives your offering the competitive edge in a global marketplace?
Tim Power: It’s that very high degree of personalisation. And the second one is our team don’t fear innovating and trying new things. So we experiment, we iterate and we work very closely with schools and students. And I think they’re the things that differentiate us.
Lelde Smits: How have you protected your e-learning and core literacy resources from internet piracy?
Tim Power: In some senses of course we encrypt and protect all the backend code, but really the only protection is to move fast, adapt, evolve and keep improving your resources. That is the only true protection.
Lelde Smits: 3P Learning is based here in Sydney but has a global reach. Could you outline your current footprint and what regions you’re focused on for expansion?
Tim Power: Outside of Australia we have teams in New Zealand, Hong Kong, the UAE, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Canada and the US. And we have quite substantial teams in the UK and now in North America, and that’s where our focus is. We’re going to continue to grow and continue to grow aggressively in those territories. We love engaging with some of the outstanding schools in those markets, doing fantastic innovative things and we want to keep building upon that.
Lelde Smits: Finally Tim, what will 3P Learning be focused on now that you are a public company, and how would you like to see the Company positioned this time next year?
Tim Power: We’d love to have expanded that community of students in our resources. If I think of the incredible growth we’ve had particularly in the last year, in the last six months, I think for example we added 800,000 students into that community in the last year. We’d like to continue on that path. And as a public company, we really just want to get a little bit more professional and just better at what we do.
Lelde Smits: Excellent, Tim Power thanks so much for the introduction to 3P Learning and congratulations again on listing on the ASX.
