This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
G8 Education Limited (ASX: GEM) has paid $82.7 million for 25 childcare centres and at the same time delivered a 48% jump in half year profit.
The centres were acquired from individual vendors. The purchase price is four times anticipated EBIT for the 12 months post settlement. The latest acquisitions comes hot on the heels of the 19 centres GEM purchased last month for $25.7 million
Managing director Chris Scott said these transactions would increase the total number of places in the Australian portfolio to 31,924 per day.
G8 also delivered a half year net profit after tax of $16.3 million, up 48% on the previous corresponding period. It was underpinned by a 59% jump in revenue to $187.2 million. The company’s EBIT increased by 76% to $30.1 million.
The basic earnings per share increased 26% to 5.21 cents. G8 announced an annual dividend of 18 cents fully franked, up from 14 cents.
At 30 June 2014, the group owned 361 centres in Australia and 18 in Singapore. There is an additional 78 centres contracted and not yet settled in Australia.
Scott said the result for the 2014 half-year was pleasing, and reflects both organic growth in G8 Education’s existing early learning centres and the positive contribution of recent acquisitions.
He added that underpinning this performance was the positive earnings contribution from the 76 childcare centres acquired in the 2013 financial year.
In the first half of the 2014 financial year, the Group continued to expand, completing the acquisition of 115 childcare centres.
“In the 2014 calendar year to date, G8 Education has expanded its Australian childcare portfolio through the addition of a further 115 centres,” Scott said.
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