Keeping up a class actThe ravenous beast that is gobbling up the private education sector continues to hurl increasing numbers of learners into its cavernous maw. The rate of increase in learner numbers has inevitably slowed from the heady numbers of earlier years, but Curro has still managed to grow them by 14% in the year. Such is the gearing of the business to full classrooms that every additional set of fees goes thumping down to the bottom line, with headline earnings rising by a more than tidy 69%. Education is proving to be peculiarly resilient to the general economic malaise, with parents prepared to prioritise school fees over pretty much any other form of discretionary spending rather than subject the nippers to the vagaries of the government schools system. Curro admits that it is not immune to the economic woes, but with bad debt sitting at about 1% of turnover, it is in a much happier position than many corporates. The impact has been felt more in its most affordable op...
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