PRIVATE higher education investment company Stadio Holdings has sprung to a 4.70 cents inaugural dividend, paid for the full year period to December 31, 2021, after raising revenues by 18 percent to nearly R1 billion.
The dividend declaration for the period is in contrast to the previous year when the company did not give shareholders a pay cheque.
Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation for the latest period lifted up 100 percent to R309 million while headline earnings for the period rose to 17 cents per share compared to a loss of 8.5 cents a year earlier.
The dividend declaration and the stronger financial position for the company, however, did not cheer up investors in the company on the JSE as Stadio’s share price traded weaker at R3.21 in afternoon trade on Monday.
Nonetheless, said Stadio, the payment of a dividend for the full year to December 2021 “represents excess cash available, following a period of significant capital investment” since its JSE listing in 2017. The decision to pay the dividend was undertaken after consideration of capital requirements for organic and “acquisition growth” opportunities.
A 9 percent increase in student numbers that surged to above 35000 helped boost revenues to R933 million, with after tax profits for the period rising to R137m compared to a post-tax loss of R138m a year earlier.
Dilution of Stadio’s interest in Milpark from 87.2 percent to 68.5 percent impacted earnings per share which however were up at 14.9 comparative to a per share earnings loss of 14.5 cents loss in 2020.
This followed “conclusion of the early settlement agreement with the CA Connect shareholders, and impairments of various assets” amounting to R30m.
“These impairments largely result from the execution of the Stadio Group’s strategic plan to consolidate contact learning campuses to create operational efficiencies within the Stadio.”
The stronger after-tax profit, earnings and headline earnings performance for Stadio for the period under review has been ascribed to organic growth.
Online professional qualifications also underpinned growth for the year, the company said. However, contact learning student numbers contracted by 6 percent in semester one and by 7 percent in semester two “due to students delaying or deferring studies given the uncertainties of the Covid-19” pandemic.
Furthermore, “regulatory delays in accrediting programmes and site extensions impacted” growth plans for many of its contact learning sites.
“The group believes that the contact learning student numbers will recover once normality and stability return to campuses.”
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE