Durban - Private school operator Curro Holdings expects its year end results to improve by at least 57 percent for the year to end December.
The company on Thursday attributed the expected improvement in earnings to a successful $1 billion rights issue it took in May last year.
In a trading statement, Curro said earnings per share and headline earnings per share were expected to grow between 43.1c a share and 47.1c a share respectively - up from 27.8c a share and 28.3c per share recorded during the similar period last year or an increment of between 52 percent and 67 percent.
In August, Curro said it would spend R950 million to build nine campuses in the year and increase the number of schools under its portfolio to 200 by 2020.
Chief executive Chris van der Merwe said the group wanted to invest up to R2 billion, with R800 million earmarked for the construction of new campuses and R450 million for the expansion of existing campuses.
With South Africa’s public education sector facing a continued crisis of providing quality education, the private school operator has seen a boom and has looked beyond SA borders for expansion, particularly in the tertiary education sector.
Read also: Curro plans on R1bn to expand
In November, Curro acquired a 50 percent stake in Botswana-based BA Isago University.
Curro did not disclose the cost of the stake, but said the transaction would be done through its wholly owned subsidiary, the Embury Institute for Higher Education.
Curro also announced that it would fund the transaction through cash reserves and bank loans.
When completed, the acquisition will add 3 000 students to the 42 000 already at Curro campuses.
Nolwandle Mthombeni, an equity analyst at Mergence Investment Managers, said there was no surprise in the trading update from the company.
“The trading update is in line with the market expectations. Curro is currently trading at very lofty multiples, which means the market is pricing in very high growth over the coming years,” said Mthombeni.
The financial results are expected to be published on February 28.
Curro shares advanced 0.16 percent on the JSE to close at R48.88.