JOHANNESBURG - Private education operator ADvTECH tech Group said on Monday its trading revenue increased 14 percent to R2.3 billion and trading operating profit was up 15 percent to R387 million in the half-year ending 30 June 2018.
ADvTECH said the tertiary division continued its trend of organic growth, with revenue up 12 percent to R883 million, contributing 39 percent to group revenue. This was complimented by good growth in mid-fee schools and delivery on its African expansion strategy.
Normalised earnings per share increased eight percent to 40.9 cents, and the company announced an interim gross dividend of 15 cents per share, saying the group's expansion plans for the next few years required significant funding.
ADvTECH owns schools such as Abbotts College, Crawford Schools, Vega, Rosebank College, Varsity College, and most recently the University of Africa (UoA), a private distance-learning university in Zambia.
The group opened two additional digitally enabled, blended learning campuses in Pietermaritzburg and Bloemfontein under Rosebank College.
Roy Douglas, ADvTECH chief executive, said the group had made good progress on the restructuring process underway in the schools division.
"Once again, our tertiary division shows excellent growth while strong demand for our mid-fee schools has offset the impact of the difficult economic climate on our enrolment numbers," Douglas said.
"The management structure has been reorganised and support functions have been consolidated into the group shared services function to drive efficiencies, effectiveness and improved controls"
Douglas also said that the new student information system currently being rolled out across the entire schools division would greatly enhance its ability to track the academic progress of each student, while providing valuable analytics to inform both academic and operational insights.