Raffles Education back in the black with S$10.7 million net profit for FY2018

A NET fair value gain from its investment properties helped Raffles Education Corporation (Raffles Edu)'s net profit for the financial year ended June 30 swing into the black with a S$10.7 million net profit, after posting a S$1.8 million net loss last year.

The company said it benefited from a S$53.0 million gain from its investment properties in OUCL and Oriental University of City Holdings (HK), a S$7.7 million gain from the investment properties in Parramatta, Australia and S$1.7 million gain from its investment properties in Bangkok, Thailand. In all, the net fair value gain enjoyed was S$64.9 million, up from the year ago's S$12.79 million. 

Revenue in the year edged up just 0.6 per cent to S$96.8 million from the previous year, while other operating income shrank 61 per cent to S$4.4 million, mainly due to the absence of gain due to the sale of OUCL and Oriental University of City Holdings (HK) in FY2017. The company also faced higher personnel, depreciation and amortisation and finance costs in the year. Earnings per share came in at 0.9 Singapore cent, a reversal from a loss per share of 0.17 Singapore cent in the previous year. Net asset value per share shrank to 45.09 Singapore cents as at June 30, from 54.6 Singapore cents three months ago.

"The challenging global education environment, currency volatility, increasing interest rates and increasing competition continue to impact the group," it said in its Singapore Exchange announcement on Wednesday. "The group continues to streamline and restructure its operations for better cost management and improved efficiency." Raffles Edu's shares ended S$0.003 or 2.0 per cent lower at S$0.15 on Wednesday.