28 October 2014
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On the back of a settlement with Victorian education authorities over VET non-compliance issues, which saw ASX-listed training provider Vocation Ltd surrender $19.6 million in government funding, Vocation’s share price has taken a hammering.
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Close of trade 29 October
From $2.29 when trade in the shares was suspended on 24 October, the opened at $1.40 on 28 October on resumption of trading, reached a high of $1.52 to close at 99.5 cents on a volume of about 28.4 million shares traded – a far cry from its peak at $3.40. Vocation will also undertake a series of measures to ensure continuous improvement in its operations and compliance with regulatory standards. It has appointed a Quality Advisory Committee, headed by former ACPET chief Claire Field, to have full oversight of future continuous improvement activities within its Victorian businesses. Vocation has also announced that it intends to restructure its Victorian business.
According to The Australian, the corporate regulator ASIC says it is “closely monitoring” the situation as part of its market surveillance activities.
In general, we expect companies to abide by their continuous disclosure obligations, which are designed to ensure that investors have equal access to material information at the same time.
It also reports that more than 6000 students will be affected, and will most likely have to be reimbursed and retrained.