Raffles Education FY19 earnings nearly quadrupled to $40.2 mil on one-off disposal gain

SINGAPORE (Aug 22): Raffles Education Corporation reported FY19 earnings quadrupled to $40.2 million, or 2.92 cents per share, from a year ago.

This came on the back of a surge in operating income to $45.1 million from $4.4 million the year before which included a $37.4 million gain on the disposal of subsidiary Langfang Development Zone Oriental University City Sino-Singapore Education Investment Co.

See: Raffles Education unit disposes 51% stake in China university operator for $85 mil

Revenue for FY19 rose 1% to $97.9 million the year before.

Operating expenses decreased to $43.2 million in FY19 from $49.3 million in FY18 mainly due to a decrease in foreign exchange loss of $1.7 million and absence of a $2.8 million payment for the use of these facilities by Tianjin University of Commerce Boustead College which was incurred in FY2018 after the facilities were purchased over.

There was also an increase in depreciation and amortisation expenses to $13.8 million from $12.4 million mainly due to the commencement of depreciation by RafflesAmerican School in Iskandar upon completion of its campus construction late last year.

In its outlook statement, Raffles Education said it will continue to strengthen its operations in the face of current global trade tensions and currency volatility.

Shares in Raffles Education closed 0.2 cent lower at 7.3 cents on Wednesday before the results announcement.