FAST NEWS: Maple Leaf Education swings to black on higher tuition revenue

The latest: China Maple Leaf Educational Systems Ltd. (1317.HK) on Monday announced it earned a net profit of 15.48 million yuan ($2.1 million) in the six months to February, the first half of its fiscal year, reversing a loss of 45.58 million yuan a year earlier.

Looking up: The company’s local and overseas students rose by 35.9% and 22.5%, respectively, driving a 10.7% jump in its revenue for the period to 575 million yuan, led by an increase in tuition fee income.

Take Note: The positive revenue growth was partially offset by a 5.9% increase in the company’s cost of revenue and a 21.3% rise in administrative expenses.

Digging Deeper: Established in 1995 and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2014, Maple Leaf is one of China’s leading operators of international schools in terms of enrollment, and also operates international schools in Malaysia, Singapore and Canada. Its business took a hit two years ago after China restricted private operators of schools at the K-12 compulsory education level, a market that Maple Leaf caters to, resulting in a huge loss of more than 3.1 billion yuan for the company that financial year. The company’s shares have been suspended from trading since the end of April last year due to its failure to announce financial results in a timely manner.

Translation by A. Au

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