ADvTECH’s profits will boost expansion
‘We aim to make tertiary education available for the public and to Africa’
ADvTECH said yesterday it had continued to build profits steadily in the year to the end of December while maintaining a high matric pass rate and expanding its footprint outside of South Africa.
“The directors are pleased to announce excellent results for 2016, continuing the trend of strong performance from the business as it pursues its growth strategy,” the private schools company said in a statement.
Profit for the year was up 67%, from R226.1 million to R377.9m, on revenue that had improved by 24% to R3.4 billion.
The company said excluding the benefit of the settlement of a long-standing litigation matter, profit had increased by 55% to R350.4m.
The schools group said highlights of the year included a number of strategic acquisitions, increasing the group’s presence in the Western Cape, introducing blended learning models and growing its position in the distance education sector.
ADvTECH said an investment from the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, had been an important milestone during the year under review. The investment “supports our growth strategy with a particular focus on sub-Saharan Africa”, it said. In the schools division, the company said, Independent Examination Board students achieved a 100% matric pass rate.
ADvTECH’s National Senior Certificate matric pass rate was 99%, compared with the national pass rate of 73%. Combined, 98% of ADvTECH’s studfents qualified for admission to higher education institutions.
Highlights from the tertiary division included the 51% acquisition of the Oxbridge group in 2016, which added 21 000 registered distance learning students to the division. The acquisition of the University of Africa in Zambia, effective in 2017, signified the group’s growth in the continental distance-education sector.
“We aim to make quality tertiary education available to the broader public, not only in South Africa, but in the greater part of Africa as well,” ADvTECH said.
Another acquisition, of Capsicum Culinary Studio, spearheaded ADvTECH’s “development of the hotel, hospitality and tourism education offering”. The resourcing division had a “challenging year”, but a positive trend had continued into the first quarter of 2017.
Headline earnings per share for the group were 39% improved at 71.1 cents and a final dividend of 19c was declared, up from 17 cents in 2015. This brings the full year dividend to 32.5c, up from 29.5c the year before.