Curro has seen its total student numbers decline over the last year, but the group remains optimistic that it will benefit from expected improvement in the South African economy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Curro Holdings Limited is South Africa\u2019s largest independent school network. It has been listed on the JSE since 2011. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, in its interim financial results for the first half of 2025, the group said that its average number of leaders on a time-weighted basis dropped by 1.4% to 71,749 learners (2024 H1: 72,758). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This comes despite the group\u2019s number of schools increasing to 189 (H1 2024: 182), while its number of campuses jumped to 81(H1 2024: 78). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The group\u2019s revenue increased by 4.7% to R2.7 billion from the previous period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its school fee revenue increased by 4.1%, reflecting the impact of the reduction in learner numbers, which was offset by a portion of the annual school fee increases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The total discounts granted were similar to the comparable period and well controlled to decrease slightly to 6.3% of gross school fees, from 6.4% in the previous comparable period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Headline earnings per share increased slightly from 40.2 cents to 40.3 cents, with overall headline earnings declining by 1.8% from R228 million to R224 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recurring headline earnings, on which the group bases its dividends, saw the same figures as headline earnings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earnings per share (\u2018EPS\u2019) for the period under review dropped by 36.1% to 25.7 cents (2024: 40.2 cents). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was due to impairments of R74.1 million recognised on land previously acquired for future school development. This impairment charge is included in EPS but returned in RHEPS and HEPS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As per the group\u2019s dividend policy to contribute 20% of recurring headline earnings as an annual dividend, no interim dividend was declared for the period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The group said that the results reflect the ongoing challenges in South Africa\u2019s education sector, where private schools are experiencing increased demand from parents looking for alternatives to public education, while economic pressures hurt family budgets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The results reflect ongoing challenges in South Africa’s education sector, where private schools are experiencing increased demand from parents seeking alternatives to public education, while economic pressures impact family budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Curro\u2019s said that its ability to maintain its earnings and generate more cash despite lower learner numbers demonstrates its robust financial discipline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Delivering quality private education is our core mission. We are balancing educational excellence with financial sustainability and resilience, despite a challenging operating environment,” said Loubser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Curro invested R264 million in its business during the period, and plans to invest up to R630 million in capital projects over the next year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This capital will be used to replace and expand its facilities and accommodate the strong demand for high school tuition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Other investing activities include R32 million in the cash flow statement, representing the aggregate net decrease in money market investments and other financial assets (2024 H1: R16 million).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCurro has a dual strategy of offering exceptional education and opportunities, whilst driving efficiency and higher financial returns. It is well-positioned to benefit as economic conditions improve,\u201d it said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Curro has seen a drop in its number of learners, but says its ability to maintain earnings demonstrates its robust financial discipline. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":836075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[8043],"class_list":["post-836074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-curro"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=836074"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":836077,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836074\/revisions\/836077"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/836075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=836074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=836074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=836074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Metric<\/th> 2025 (Six months ended 30 Jun)<\/th> 2024 (Six months ended 30 Jun)<\/th> Change<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Weighted average learner numbers<\/td> 71,749<\/td> 72,758<\/td> -1.4%<\/td><\/tr> EBITDA (R million)<\/td> 625<\/td> 625<\/td> 0.0%<\/td><\/tr> Recurring headline earnings (R million)<\/td> 224<\/td> 228<\/td> -1.8%<\/td><\/tr> RHEPS (cents)<\/td> 40.3<\/td> 40.2<\/td> +0.2%<\/td><\/tr> HEPS (cents)<\/td> 40.3<\/td> 40.2<\/td> +0.2%<\/td><\/tr> EPS (cents)<\/td> 25.7<\/td> 40.2<\/td> -36.1%<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Outlook\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n