STI posts net profit of P564M
STI HOLDINGS, operator of one of the country’s leading networks of private schools, grew its net profit in the nine-month period ending December by 22.6 percent year-on-year to P564.38 million, boosted by a strong performance in the last quarter.
In the quarter ending December, STI’s net profit attributable to equity holders of parent company surged by 80.5 percent year-on-year to P495.78 million. This was boosted by a 19-percent rise in revenues, mostly from tuition and other school fees, as well as higher equity share in earnings of subsidiaries and associates.
For the nine-month period, revenues likewise expanded by 16 percent year-on-year to P1.85 billion.
The increase in attributable net income during the nine-month period was also largely due to the substantial increase in tuition and other school fees.
In the school year 2015-2016, educational institutions owned by STI Holdings—which includes STI schools, iACADEMY, STI West Negros University, and DLS STI College—took in a total of 84,764 students, representing an increase of 6 percent compared to the 80,200 who enrolled the previous school year.
Enrollment mix was described by STI Holdings as “more favorable” in 2015 than in 2014, noting that students had gravitated more toward the Commission on Higher Education (CHED)-sanctioned four-year programs offered by STI than the two-year programs under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
The four-year CHED programs charged higher tuition and brought in more revenues per student, STI Holdings said.
In a press statement, STI Holdings said it had attained notable growth despite the looming threat of the K to 12 program, which was supposed to result in the decline in college freshmen enrollments as the program required two additional years of senior high school.
The group, through STI Education Services Group (STI ESG), said it managed to turn this challenge into an opportunity by coming up with a first-to-market approach of offering a senior high school (SHS) program nationwide.
All 77 schools in the STI ESG network have been granted by the Department of Education a permit to offer senior high school. In the current school year alone, a total of 36 STI ESG schools attracted a total of 1,577 students to this program, which offers academic and technical-vocational tracks with various specializations. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla
