2014-11-19
MANILA, Philippines Consistent increase in the number of enrollments in most of the schools it owns has pushed the revenues of STI Holdings to soar to P975.1 million during the first six-month period ending in September 30 this year.
The amount, which is about P25 million shy of a billion pesos, is 18 percent higher than the P826.9 million it generated during the same period last year.
In its quarterly report submitted Thursday to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Philippine Stock Exchange, STI Holdings said the improvement of P148.2 million in revenues was driven by the increased enrollment in the STI network and West Negros University. Â
Based on the latest summary of enrollments in STI Holdings subsidiaries, a total of 74,002 were currently enrolled in the STI network of schools, which is 3,895 higher than the 70,107 it reported during the previous school year.
WNU and iAcademy also posted a higher number of students for school year 2014-2015, bringing the total number of students in schools owned by STI Holdings to 80,200, resulting in an increase in tuition revenues by P149.2 to 826.4 million from last years P677.2 million.
Enrollment mix also tipped towards the more profitable four-year courses, with 81 percent of students preferring to enter in bachelors degree courses. The ratio is higher this year compared to the 76 percent who enrolled in these courses last school year.
STI Holdings also said that company earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) for the six-month period increased by P50.4 million to P361.8 million from last years P311.4 million, a 16 percent hike.
Gross profit also stood at P667.1 million this year compared to P583.2 million last year.
Notable also is the companys property and equipment, which increased by P975.1 million or 22 percent mainly due to the completion of school buildings constructed for STI-Cubao and STI-Calamba campuses, renovation of the building for STI-Batangas and purchase of school furniture and equipment for these campuses.
The new and renovated schools are part of the ambitious expansion programs the company has launched in 2012 after STI Holdings successfully raised funds by way of follow on offering through the PSE.
Just recently, STI-Lucena held its topping off ceremony. The school should be ready to accept students in time for school year 2015-2016.
Last April, STI ESG also acquired two parcels of land in San Jose del Monte in Bulacan with a combined land area of 4,178 square meters, which will also be a site for another school.
STI Holdings is included in the 2013 list of top 50 Philippine-listed companies evaluated under the Asean Corporate Governance Scorecard. The top listed companies from six participating Asean member-countries were evaluated based on the international standards of corporate governance, including the five Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development principles of corporate governance.
