Lower enrolment hurts Masterskill net profit

Wednesday May 25, 2011

PETALING JAYA: Nursing school operator Masterskill Education Group Bhd posted a 15.3% fall in net profit to RM22.58mil for the quarter ended March 31 compared with the same quarter a year ago due to lower enrolment of students and higher operating overheads.

The company’s revenue was down 12.6% to RM73.68mil after the number of student intakes for the quarter under review was cut to one from two compared with the corresponding quarter.

Masterskill said in an announcement to the stock exchange yesterday that the second intake of the year was deferred to the second quarter due to the late announcement of SPM results.

It added that the higher overheads were mainly due to an increase in depreciation because of the company’s expansion, which was accompanied by an increase in staff costs to support growth and expansion.

 

The company said in a separate announcement that it had signed a memorandum of agreement with Social Security Organisation to allow students to use the facilities and equipment at the latter’s rehabilitation centre in Alor Gajah, Malacca.

Earlier last month Masterskill entered into a subscription agreement with the controlling shareholder of soon-to-be-listed PT Sejahteraraya Anugrahjaya Tbk, the owner of Mayapada Hospital, to acquire a 1.31% stake in the latter.

Besides the stake, the company together with its chief executive officer Datuk Seri Edmund Santhara also entered into an agreement to form Universitas Masterskill-Mayapada.

Masterskill also announced late last month that it had entered into an agreement with Australia’s Newcastle University to offer business programmes.

Masterskill closed five sen lower at RM2.12 yesterday. Since its listing in May last year, the counter has fallen 44.21%.

 

CIMB Research keeps Buy on Masterskill, TP RM4.48

Written by theedgemalaysia.com

Wednesday, 25 May 2011 08:36

KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Equities Research is keeping its Buy call on Masterskill Education Group Bhd and RM4.48 target price. It said on Wednesday, May 25 that although Masterskill’s annualised 1Q11 core net profit made up 76% of its full-year forecast and 77% of consensus, the results were largely in line as subsequent quarters should be stronger. “We were not surprised by the weaker showing at both the top and bottom lines as it arises from timing issues in student intake following the delayed announcement of school-leavers’ results. Although EBITDA margin shrank YoY, it was a respectable 41.2%, which is not too far from our full-year forecast of 43%. “We make no changes to our forecasts, BUY call and RM4.48 target price, still pegged to 13.1x CY12 P/E or a 10% discount to our target market P/E of 14.5x. Potential re-rating catalysts include (i) a continued recovery in investor sentiment, and (ii) preference for defensive plays, backed by Masterskill’s 8.2% dividend yield,” it said.