KUALA LUMPUR: SEG International Bhd (SEGi) saw a 68.5% year-on-year (y-o-y) jump in net profit for 3QFY11 ended Sept 30, and declared a second interim dividend of 10 sen yesterday. The group’s 3QFY11 net profit was RM18.2 million from RM10.8 million in 3QFY10. Revenue was up 24% to RM69.95 million for the period. The improved performance was due to the increase in student enrolment.
Its nine-month cumulative net profit of RM54.7 million has already exceeded its entire FY10 net profit of RM43.1 million.
“You can see that we’re very consistent over the quarters,” CEO Lee Kok Cheng said at a briefing yesterday. “There will be no surprises for investors.”
“We should be performing as well as our earlier quarters,” said Cheryl Chong, executive vice-president of corporate planning and services for the group, adding that SEGi is “definitely” on track to meet its internal financial targets.
Lee highlighted several key areas which SEGi will focus on to meet its internal targets for the rest of the year.
“We’ll still focus on international student arrivals. That is one of the key growth areas this year and in the years to come,” he said. Currently, the international student population originates from over 60 countries and represents 10% of SEGi’s 26,000 students across its six branches.
Lee said the group hopes to see the international student population grow to 30% to 35% within the next few years.
He said the group is also focusing on rolling out new programmes to increase the student count.
He noted that the launching of its “big ticket programmes” which include a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, and Masters in Pharmacy over the last financial year contributed heavily to the increase in net margins.
“We no longer launch lower-end programmes. The courses we offer now are high-priced, which affect our margins,” said Chong, adding, “We always have new areas to go into and that is where our strength is. We’re very diversified.”
Lee said the group is also focusing on tapping into the working adult learners’ market by investing money in improving its online portals to provide access to classes and materials, as well as providing flexible payment options. Currently, 10% of the student population are working adult learners.
On the recent proposal by the National Higher Education Fund Corp (PTPTN) to exclude loans for living expenses, the group said this would not affect its numbers as its students who take PTPTN loans use them for tuition fees.
The group is looking at building another campus in Ipoh, which Chong said will hopefully begin operating in 2014. The investment in this development, she said, will be very little as SEGi has contracted a developer to build the facility and rent it to the group.
“We would rather be asset light,” she said, adding that the group would rather focus on being an education provider.
In a separate announcement yesterday, SEGi said it had entered into a memorandum of agreement with the Vietnamese ministry of labour, war invalids and social affairs to explore areas of cooperation in vocational training. This is to help the Vietnamese government to meet its immediate and long-term needs in terms of human capital development.
The initiative is a part of SkillsMalaysia INVITE, a national initiative to draw international students and trainees to pursue technical and vocational education in Malaysia.
The group has been in talks with parties in Indochina and Russia, but its initiative in Vietnam has seen the most progress. The group said the programme would only impact its financials next year.
SEGi’s stock ended yesterday at RM1.86, 3.91% higher than the previous day’s close of RM1.79. The company’s net assets per share as at Sept 30 stood at 41 sen.
This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, November 10, 2011.
Its nine-month cumulative net profit of RM54.7 million has already exceeded its entire FY10 net profit of RM43.1 million.
“You can see that we’re very consistent over the quarters,” CEO Lee Kok Cheng said at a briefing yesterday. “There will be no surprises for investors.”
“We should be performing as well as our earlier quarters,” said Cheryl Chong, executive vice-president of corporate planning and services for the group, adding that SEGi is “definitely” on track to meet its internal financial targets.
Lee highlighted several key areas which SEGi will focus on to meet its internal targets for the rest of the year.
“We’ll still focus on international student arrivals. That is one of the key growth areas this year and in the years to come,” he said. Currently, the international student population originates from over 60 countries and represents 10% of SEGi’s 26,000 students across its six branches.
Lee said the group hopes to see the international student population grow to 30% to 35% within the next few years.
He said the group is also focusing on rolling out new programmes to increase the student count.
Lee: We are very consistent over the quarters.
There will be no surprises for investors.
There will be no surprises for investors.
He noted that the launching of its “big ticket programmes” which include a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, and Masters in Pharmacy over the last financial year contributed heavily to the increase in net margins.
“We no longer launch lower-end programmes. The courses we offer now are high-priced, which affect our margins,” said Chong, adding, “We always have new areas to go into and that is where our strength is. We’re very diversified.”
Lee said the group is also focusing on tapping into the working adult learners’ market by investing money in improving its online portals to provide access to classes and materials, as well as providing flexible payment options. Currently, 10% of the student population are working adult learners.
On the recent proposal by the National Higher Education Fund Corp (PTPTN) to exclude loans for living expenses, the group said this would not affect its numbers as its students who take PTPTN loans use them for tuition fees.
The group is looking at building another campus in Ipoh, which Chong said will hopefully begin operating in 2014. The investment in this development, she said, will be very little as SEGi has contracted a developer to build the facility and rent it to the group.
“We would rather be asset light,” she said, adding that the group would rather focus on being an education provider.
In a separate announcement yesterday, SEGi said it had entered into a memorandum of agreement with the Vietnamese ministry of labour, war invalids and social affairs to explore areas of cooperation in vocational training. This is to help the Vietnamese government to meet its immediate and long-term needs in terms of human capital development.
The initiative is a part of SkillsMalaysia INVITE, a national initiative to draw international students and trainees to pursue technical and vocational education in Malaysia.
The group has been in talks with parties in Indochina and Russia, but its initiative in Vietnam has seen the most progress. The group said the programme would only impact its financials next year.
SEGi’s stock ended yesterday at RM1.86, 3.91% higher than the previous day’s close of RM1.79. The company’s net assets per share as at Sept 30 stood at 41 sen.
This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, November 10, 2011.
