One-on-One Educational Services Limited (ONE) has reported a dramatic turnaround, posting an $86-million annual profit for the year ended August 31, 2025. This result credits a multi-year bet on building its intellectual property and software, which boosted revenue by more than 20 per cent to $374.1 million.

The profit outturn represents a dramatic surge from the meagre $940,477 recorded the previous year (2024), a result which itself was a recovery from a substantial $37.8-million loss in 2023.

Chief Executive Officer Ricardo Allen framed the result as the payoff from a disciplined, long-term strategy. “When we came out of our IPO in 2022, raising $358 million, we made a commitment to leveraging that capital to invest in the growth of the business,” Allen stated in an interview Wednesday with Jamaica Observer.

“It’s really the fruits of that kind of strategy that we’ve laid out three years ago,” Allen added.

The financial statements bear this out. This strategic bet is now reflected in a cumulative intangible asset base of $408 million. The foundation for this was laid by sustained investment, totalling over $207 million, across the three years since its listing — comprising $77.6 million in 2024, $64.0 million in 2023, and a further $65.6 million in the past year alone to build out its artificial intelligence capabilities, content studio, and software platform.

Allen explained that the company has now transitioned from a high-cost investment phase to a more efficient operational model. “We’re maintaining a very low operating cost, growing the top line in revenues,” he said, characterising the current profit as the benefit of upfront investments finally paying down the line.

However, this aggressive investment strategy has come at a cost to the company’s immediate liquidity. The heavy capital outlay, combined with $201 million in outstanding trade receivables, forced the company to rely on a $50.8-million bank overdraft, leaving it with a negative net cash position despite the year’s strong profitability.

A significant portion of these receivables are long overdue. The company’s own disclosures show that 55 per cent, or $105.3 million, of the total trade receivables were more than 91 days past due as of August 31, 2025. In 2024, only $13.96 million (14 per cent) of receivables were in the greater than 91 day category.

Allen attributed this to the company’s reliance on government contracts, which he said operate on extended payment cycles. “The reality is that how we earn, especially from our larger clients like government clients… is that they tend to have a payment cycle of three to four months,” he explained to Business Observer

This concentration of credit risk has been a persistent area of focus for the company’s auditors, CrichtonMullings & Associates, who have flagged the “allowance for expected credit losses” as a key audit matter for the last two years, noting the significant judgement involved in estimating potential defaults.

Allen expressed confidence that the debts would be collected but acknowledged the strain, stating that converting 75 per cent of the receivables would “be showing you over $100 million in cash”.

This liquidity constraint creates a fundamental challenge for Allen, who is now attempting to steer the profitable company into an even more capital-intensive phase of growth.

That next phase involves a fundamental pivot into what Allen terms “personalised intelligence”. He revealed that One-on-One is planning to acquire a US-based artificial intelligence firm to expand beyond education technology, stating the company is “not being limited to the school market… but [looking at] any company anywhere”. He framed this as a play on a future of “digital employees that augment human employees”.

“We’re looking very aggressively in terms of personalised intelligence. And what that means for us quite simply is not being limited to the school market or the learning and training segments, but any company anywhere that requires the ability of using AI to make their processes better those are areas that we’re kind of looking at.”

“We believe that the future will be digital employees that augment human employees,” Allen stated. “And we’re making a play on that market.”

The new strategy, however, collides with the company’s financial reality. Funding a US acquisition and competing in the global AI market will require significant capital, precisely what the company currently lacks.

When asked how he would resolve this, Allen confirmed that all options are on the table. “In order to get there, we have to look at capital and we need cash to care,” he said, acknowledging that the company may need to seek more permanent equity or long-term debt to build a resilient capital structure. He hinted at potentially seeking capital in international markets that might assign a higher value to a technology-driven company like ONE.

The company therefore finds itself at a critical juncture. It must execute a delicate balancing act: Improving its internal cash collection from governments while simultaneously securing external funding to bankroll a transformative acquisition. Allen himself conceded the challenge, noting the company must “manage both risks”.

The $86-million profit, while a definitive end to the company’s post-IPO struggles, appears to be merely the foundation for a second act that is far more ambitious than the first.