Private school group Curro Holdings expects to report higher full-year earnings after a “credible operating performance with strong cash flow during the 2024 financial year”.
Headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the year to end-December were expected to be between 9.3% and 17.5% higher at 80c-86c, it said in a trading update on Tuesday.
Earnings per share (EPS) are expected to be 117.1%-217.1% higher at 15.2c-22.2c, which includes expected impairments of between R340m and R380m net of tax relating to lower-yielding school assets.
Curro identified eight campuses that had previously been impaired, the book value of which the company was now further reducing due to slower-than-expected learner growth. This contributed about two-thirds of the total expected impairment for 2024.
The closure of steel manufacturing operations is expected to affect two campuses as they are in their catchment areas. Curro expected that this could restrict their value in use in the future and was impairing the book value of these campuses accordingly, it said.
Curro had 72,109 registered learners by February 10, slightly below the 72,553 pupils at the end of November 2024.
“Consumer spend remains constrained and the group’s enrolment has not benefited from moderating inflation and the gradual easing of interest rates over the last few months,” it said.
Curro expects to release its annual results on March 5.
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