Feedback's virtual training card

Shares in Feedback have risen tenfold from last year's low but are still a strong buy at their current 163.5p. What has got the market excited is Feedback's 50 per cent stake in TeKnical, which markets a 'virtual campus' that allows universities to teach their students over the internet. TeKnical delivered its first one to China three weeks ago and is hoping to sell a Mandarin version to other Chinese universities.

There are two reasons why Feedback remains cheap at current levels. One, a competing business called 'eCollege', recently floated on the US exchange, Nasdaq. It is valued at around £100 million. As Feedback's house brokers, Charles Stanley recently pointed out, were TeKnical valued on the same basis, Feedback's stake in it would be worth around £3 a share. In fact, there are sound reasons for suggesting TeKnical is superior to eCollege and worth more.

The second reason is the potential of TeKnical itself. Demonstrations of the TeKnical system at the recent BETT education exhibition generated a lot of interest. But by March TeKnical is expected to have launched a virtual training manager for corporations, too. The first system is being tested by AmTrak, the US logistics business. The corporate market is potentially huge.

At the current price, Feedback is capitalized at just £22 million. There is scope for a further doubling in the price. Buy.

(Readers of the Weekly Digest received this recommendation on Friday when the price was 147p. To find out about the Weekly Digest, click on the button above).