Crawford and Vega Schools owner, ADvTECH full year earnings swell by 20%
ADvTECH delivers strong set of results and increases dividend by 45%
Bruce Whitfield speaks to Roy Douglas, CEO of ADvTECH.
ADvTECH's revenue grew by 13% to R7,860 million for the year as a result of good enrolment growth in both the schools and tertiary divisions, as well as from increased business activity in the resourcing division.
Operating profit increased by 18% to R1 577 million, while the group operating margin improved to 20.1%.
Significant investments made by the group over a number of years, include capital expenditure focused on increasing capacity at existing sites as well as the development of a new school and a new tertiary site.
The Varsity College campuses in Pretoria and Midrand were expanded in response to growing
demand. Equally so, Rosebank College acquired additional capacity at its mega-campuses in
Braamfontein and Pretoria, and opened a new digitally enabled campus in Mbombela in
January 2024.
Its business in the rest of Africa also recorded strong enrolment growth, resulting in a revenue increased of 14% to R381 million.
Capacity was increased at Crawford International School in Kenya as it continued to experience strong demand.
Roy Douglas, CEO of ADvTECH says such investments have begun contributing meaningfully to both earnings and cash generation.
He says the business is now in the position where it is generating cash in excess of what is required to
fund the group’s investment programme.
"The opportunity to come to work and make a difference in young people's lives, it really is a positive industry from that perspective."
- Roy Douglas, CEO of ADvTECH
"We've done a lot pf restructuring, reorganisation of systems. Focusing on what we believe are critical elements of delivering value and quality education."
- Roy Douglas, CEO of ADvTECH
"We have an adage in the organisation that, demand is not the problem, affordability is the issue. So we tend to spend a lot of time on efficiency. Eliminating waste and duplication."
- Roy Douglas, CEO of ADvTECH
Geoff Whyte will take over as the new CEO of ADvTECH, replacing Roy Douglas who retired and stepped down as the CEO in February 2024.
Listen to the interview for more.