Troubled education provider Vocation insists it can remain a viable business and lift earnings over the next few months after suffering a $273 million half year loss.
Vocation's bottom line was weighed down by $241 million in impairments and writedowns on its Victorian businesses Aspin and BAWM.
Aspin has already been deregistered and BAWM is in the process of being deregistered in the wake of a damning rebuke by the Victorian government over the quality of the businesses, which led to the withdrawal of $20 million in funding.
Vocation has already launched a strategic review of its operations and is looking at possible asset sales over the next few months, and the problems in Victoria forced it to renegotiate its loans with banks.
Excluding the writedowns, Vocation achieved underlying earnings of $2 million in the half year, below the $3 million it had forecast.
But the company maintains it can survive and expects to record underlying earnings of $10 million in the second half of the financial year.
"Vocation expects to have a viable ongoing business with continuing customer support and pipeline on completion of the review," it said in a statement.
Chief executive Mark Hutchinson, who plans to step down once a replacement can be found, said the Victorian education department's moves had hurt enrolments, but online and non-Victorian enrolments had improved in the early stages of the second half of the year.
"Despite difficult trading conditions and substantial reputational damage to parts of the Vocational Education business, the Higher Education business consisting of Endeavour and the Australian School of Management have performed to expectations and carry momentum into the current half," he said.
Vocation shares have dropped more than 97 per cent since September 2014, and the company is facing legal action from shareholders.
The shares closed down half a cent at 8.5 cents.
VOCATION'S DISMAL HALF
* Net loss of $273m, down from $1m loss in 2013/14
* Revenue of $57.8m, up 9pct from $52.8m
* No interim dividend, unchanged
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