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STADIO Holdings, the JSE listed investment holding company that focusses on investments in higher education institutions, has gained further traction in the tertiary education market with a sizeable 43% increase in core headline earnings from 4.0 to 5.7 cents per share in the six months to June 2019.
This follows core headline earnings increasing by 46% from R31.9m to R46.5m with revenue rising by 38% from R296.8m to R408.9m.
Core headline earnings per share reflects headline earnings per share adjusted for certain items which include once-off acquisition-related costs, amortisation costs associated with client lists acquired and non-cash finance costs on deferred purchase considerations payable, giving shareholders a more consistent reflection of the underlying financial performance.
Headline earnings amounted to R41.7m (2018: R28.5m) with headline earnings per share increasing by 46% to 5.1 cents per share (2018: 3.5 cents per share). EBITDA increased by 75% to R104.9m (2018: R59.9m)
Given STADIO's current expansion plan, no dividend was declared.
STADIO unbundled from Curro Holdings and listed on the main board of the JSE in October 2017.
Announcing the results, STADIO CEO Dr Chris van der Merwe said the results are especially pleasing if one considers the sluggish economic environment in which it was achieved.
"With STADIO’s student numbers having increased by 10% to 28 280 students during the period under review, we continue with our strategy to migrate our six private higher education brands to one STADIO Multiversity. This will allow all stakeholders to benefit from the marketing, operational and regulatory advantages of doing so," said Van der Merwe.
"STADIO has already made good progress on this front, and subject to the required regulatory approvals, it anticipates that all brands will form part of STADIO Multiversity during 2020. This will deliver efficiencies in the long-term, but could result in additional costs in the short-to-medium term."
STADIO remains focused on developing additional key programmes for both on-campus and off-campus modes of learning delivery and is exploring geographic expansion of programme offerings through greenfield developments.
To this end, the group is in the process of concluding the purchase of a site in Centurion, Gauteng, and has already entered into an agreement to acquire vacant land located in Durbanville, Western Cape, both of which are subject to various closing conditions.
Given the respective sites' land readiness to start construction, STADIO expects the first large-scale campus to open in Centurion in 2021, with the Durbanville campus opening in 2022.
