Masterskill to set up facility in Indonesia

Written by Kamarul Azhar  
Thursday, 07 April 2011 11:28

PETALING JAYA: Masterskill Education Group Bhd, the operator of Masterskill University College of Health Sciences, intends to open a campus in Indonesia soon in a move to diversify geographically, sources said.

The education group will form a joint venture with Indonesia-based hospital owner PT Sejahteraraya Anugrahjaya (PTSA) for the venture, according to sources.

Under the plan, which is in its preliminary stages, the new campus would be able to enrol about 20,000 students for each semester, said sources.

Should the plan materialise, it would be a big boost to Masterskill in terms of student count and earnings. The group currently has about 18,400 students.

This comes hot on the heels of the group’s announcement on Tuesday that it had entered into a share subscription agreement to buy US$1 million (RM3.02 million) of new shares in Indonesia-based hospital owner PT Surya Cipta Inti Cemerlang, which will be listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange on Monday. 

PT Surya Cipta Inti Cemerlang is the controlling shareholder of PTSA, which owns and operates the Mayapada Hospital in Tangerang, near Jakarta. The former announced an IPO in January to raise fresh capital for expansion.

In its announcement, Masterskill said the share acquisition would enable the group to establish clinical training collaboration with Mayapada Hospital to allow the former’s students to comply with their academic requirements.

“We view the tie-up as a pioneer move for Masterskill to attract the foreign students, especially from Indonesia. The foreign students would be able to seek a career placement, apart from practical training, in Mayapada hospital through this strategic investment,” said Alliance Research.

Analysts said a venture into highly populated Indonesia, whose economy was on the growth path, was a good move as the demand for healthcare and healthcare practitioners was expected to be much bigger than at home.

“Whether private or public hospitals, the demand for healthcare will increase in tandem with the country’s economic growth as the standard of living improves,” said an analyst.

Masterskill has seen some negative news flow recently. The stock was hammered by heavy foreign selling and the group was hit hard by concerns over Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional’s (PTPTN) RM46 billion deficit.

The deficit raised worries that PTPTN would be more careful in granting student loans going forward. Masterskill was seen as the key victim because 90% of its students are financed by PTPTN loans.

Management is currently appealing against PTPTN’s new ruling that caps loans at RM45,000 for new courses.

Analysts believe that the new loan ruling, if implemented, would cover more than 75% of a typical tertiary course. An analyst noted that the government was unlikely to stop funding the programme, which was an important initiative to help students finance their higher education.

Nonetheless, the stock price rose to RM2.32, up 18 sen or 8.4% yesterday. It has rebounded 40% in the past three weeks from the all-time low of RM1.67. Despite the recent rebound, Masterskill is trading at just half of its all-time high of RM4.30 and 40% below its IPO price of RM3.80.

For FY10 ended Dec 31, revenue expanded to RM315.7 million from RM273.4 million previously. Net profit rose to RM102.1 million from RM97.4 million the year before.


This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, April 7, 2011.