R205 million pumped into new private university in South Africa
JSE-listed Stadio Holdings has pumped over R200 million in capital expenditure into its new Durbanville campus in Cape Town.
In its financial results for the 2025 financial year, STADIO said it invested R303 million in capital expenditure, of which R205 million was allocated to the new STADIO Higher Education Durbanville campus.
STADIO opened the Durbanville campus last year, with the first set of students arriving in February 2026. The group aimed to enrol 1,000 students to launch the campus in 2026 and surpassed that goal.
The campus currently has a capacity of 1,800 students, and phase 2 of the development will increase the capacity to 5,000.
It offers higher certificates, undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, and qualifications across seven schools: Education, IT, Law, Media and Design, Commerce, Architecture, and Engineering.
The new campus will add to the group’s growing student numbers, which reached 53,303 (2024: 50,039) in semester two, marking 7% growth.
The rise in student numbers increased the company’s overall revenue by 14% to R1.8 billion (2024: R1.6 billion), with profit to the owners of the parent increasing by 25% to R328 million (2024: R262 million).
The group’s Core headline earnings grew by 22% from R267 million to R327 million, and the group declared a final gross dividend of 18.4 cents per share, representing 48% of Core HEPS.
The group added that it remains committed to preserving stakeholder value and limiting dilution of shareholders’ shareholding where feasible.
The board thus approved the repurchase of 6.9 million shares for a total of R75.7 million, with the shares to be cancelled immediately.
The group added that its financial position remains robust, with the group drawing down on its revolving credit facility, which is being used to fund the construction of the Durbanville campus.
The other external debt on the statement of financial position is the lease liabilities, which total R131 million (2024: R112 million).
The group’s cash balance stands at R156 million (2024: R132 million), while cash generated from operations increased by 16% to R540 million.
| Metric | Prior Period | Current Period (2025) | % Change |
| Revenue | R1.6 billion | R1.8 billion | 14% |
| Student Numbers (Sem 1) | 47,024 | 51,197 | 9% |
| Student Numbers (Sem 2) | 50,039 | 53,303 | 7% |
| EBITDA | R458 million | R553 million | 21% |
| Profit After Tax | R276 million | R341 million | 24% |
| Core Headline Earnings | R267 million | R327 million | 22% |
| Earnings Per Share (EPS) | 30.9 cps | 38.6 cps | 25% |
| Headline EPS (HEPS) | 31.4 cps | 38.5 cps | 23% |
| Core HEPS | 31.5 cps | 38.5 cps | 22% |
| Net Asset Value Per Share | 231 cps | 245 cps | 6% |
| Gross Final Dividend | 15.1 cps | 18.4 cps | 22% |
Future plans
Looking ahead, the group said that it is on track to reach its pre-listing ambition of 56,000 students by 2026, and management believes that it can reach 80,000 students by 2030.
Speaking at the group’s results presentation, Stadio CEO Chris Vorster said that the group is also exploring opportunities to open new campuses in 2027.
The group has already seen a strong 30% rise in student interest in its Centurion Campus, with campus optimisation happening across the group.
Vorster added that the group is working hard to secure university status for its campuses amid proposed changes to regulations that would allow non-state-owned entities to be deemed universities.
The group is also exploring new markets as demand for higher education continues to grow. With state-owned universities struggling to meet demand, STADIO believes it can take market share.
Private education only took up 21% of market share in South Africa in 2023, which is far below the 33% in global averages.
The group, however, is facing headwinds, including Namibia’s plan to offer free higher education and struggles in the film industry, which can be seen in the closure of Showmax.
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