Q2 2026 Stadio Holdings Ltd Earnings Call

August 28, 2026

Speaker #1: There you go. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Stadio Holdings' interim results presentation for the period ended 30 June 2026. Today, we're going to do things a bit differently than usual.

Chris Vorster: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Stadio Holdings interim results presentation for the period ended 30 June 2026. Today, we are going to do things a bit different than usual. We are coming live to you from our Durbanville Campus here in the Western Cape, and we are broadcasting from our architecture room at the campus. To all those who are joining us in person, special word of welcome to all of you, and welcome back to university. Ladies and gentlemen, our presentation today, I will start us off with a brief introduction and setting the scene. Thereafter, I will hand over to our group CFO, who is joining me with this presentation this morning, Ishak Kula.

Chris Vorster: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to STADIO Holdings interim results presentation for the period ended 30 June 2026. Today, we are going to do things a bit different than usual. We are coming live to you from our Durbanville Campus here in the Western Cape, and we are broadcasting from our architecture room at the campus. To all those who are joining us in person, special word of welcome to all of you, and welcome back to university. Ladies and gentlemen, our presentation today, I will start us off with a brief introduction and setting the scene. Thereafter, I will hand over to our Group CFO, who is joining me with this presentation this morning, Ishak Kula.

Speaker #1: We are coming to you live from our Durbanville campus here in the Western Cape, and we are broadcasting from our architecture room at the campus.

Speaker #1: So, to all those who are joining us in person, a special word of welcome to all of you, and welcome back to university. Ladies and gentlemen, for our presentation today, I will start us off with a brief introduction and set the scene.

Speaker #1: Thereafter, I will hand over to our Group CFO, who is joining me for this presentation this morning, Isak Kula. He will unpack the numbers for us in detail, and thereafter I'll give everybody a glimpse into the future of Stadio and some of our plans.

Chris Vorster: He will unpack the numbers for us in detail, and thereafter, I will give everybody a blink into the future of Stadio and some of our plans for going forward. After that, there would be a question and answer session, and then for the people joining us live here at the venue, some drinks and refreshments, as well as a campus tour of the new facilities for those of you who would be interested. Again, welcome.

Chris Vorster: He will unpack the numbers for us in detail, and thereafter, I will give everybody a blink into the future of STADIO and some of our plans for going forward. After that, there would be a question and answer session, and then for the people joining us live here at the venue, some drinks and refreshments, as well as a campus tour of the new facilities for those of you who would be interested. Again, welcome.

Speaker #1: Going forward, after that there will be a question-and-answer session, and then, for the people joining us live here at the venue, some drinks and refreshments.

Speaker #1: As well as a campus tour of the new facilities for those of you who would be interested. Again, welcome.

Speaker #2: Every day is a hustle. And working while doing my degree? Now that's hustling. Thanks to STADIO.

[Company Representative] (Stadio Holdings): Every day is a hustle. Working while doing my degree? Now that is hustling. Thanks to Stadio.

[Company Representative] (STADIO Holdings): Every day is a hustle. Working while doing my degree? Now that is hustling. Thanks to STADIO.

Speaker #3: I got my master's degree, and she is in Stadio.

[Company Representative] (Stadio Holdings): I got my master's degree and shares in Stadio.

[Company Representative] (STADIO Holdings): I got my master's degree and shares in STADIO.

Speaker #4: Thanks to Stadio, I can benefit in daycare and my diploma.

[Company Representative] (Stadio Holdings): Thanks to Stadio, I can balance daycare and my diploma.

[Company Representative] (STADIO Holdings): Thanks to STADIO, I can balance daycare and my diploma.

Speaker #2: Getting my degree? With all the campus life? That's Stadio.

[Company Representative] (Stadio Holdings): Getting my degree with all the campus life? Thanks, Stadio.

[Company Representative] (STADIO Holdings): Getting my degree with all the campus life? Thanks, STADIO.

[Company Representative] (Stadio Holdings): Stadio gives access.

[Company Representative] (STADIO Holdings): STADIO gives access.

Speaker #4: Stadio gives access.

Speaker #5: Options.

[Company Representative] (Stadio Holdings): Options.

[Company Representative] (STADIO Holdings): Options.

Speaker #2: World-class degrees. On campus. Employability.

[Company Representative] (Stadio Holdings): World-class degrees. On campus.

[Company Representative] (STADIO Holdings): World-class degrees.

[Company Representative] (STADIO Holdings): On campus.

[Company Representative] (Stadio Holdings): At home.

[Company Representative] (STADIO Holdings): At home.

[Company Representative] (Stadio Holdings): Employability.

[Company Representative] (STADIO Holdings): Employability.

Speaker #4: Opportunity.

[Company Representative] (Stadio Holdings): Opportunity.

[Company Representative] (STADIO Holdings): Opportunity.

Speaker #2: Stadio, empowering the nation through higher education.

[Company Representative] (Stadio Holdings): Stadio, empowering the nation through higher education.

[Company Representative] (STADIO Holdings): STADIO, empowering the nation through higher education.

Speaker #1: Ladies and gentlemen, the first six months—we've seen a very good, strong first six months for the Stadio Holdings Group. Just to get clarity again, the Holdings Group have three distinct brands: the first one being Stadio Higher Education. During the presentation, we'll talk about the different brands.

Chris Vorster: Ladies and gentlemen, the first 6 months, we have seen a very good, strong first 6 months for the Stadio Holdings Group. Just to get clarity again, the Holdings group has three distinct brands, the first one being STADIO Higher Education. During the presentation, we will talk about the different brands. The first one being STADIO Higher Education, our comprehensive brand offering both distance and contact learning. Our second brand in the group is Milpark Education. Milpark being an immersive online institution and still the biggest providers of CAs in the country. Then thirdly, our multi-award-winning film school, AFDA. AFDA is a contact learning institution. Just for clarity, when we talk about the three brands, these are independent brands with their own strategy and a specific market segment that they target.

Chris Vorster: Ladies and gentlemen, the first 6 months, we have seen a very good, strong first 6 months for the STADIO Holdings Group. Just to get clarity again, the Holdings group has three distinct brands, the first one being STADIO Higher Education. During the presentation, we will talk about the different brands. The first one being STADIO Higher Education, our comprehensive brand offering both distance and contact learning. Our second brand in the group is Milpark Education. Milpark being an immersive online institution and still the biggest providers of CAs in the country. Then thirdly, our multi-award-winning film school, AFDA. AFDA is a contact learning institution. Just for clarity, when we talk about the three brands, these are independent brands with their own strategy and a specific market segment that they target.

Speaker #1: The first one being Stadio Higher Education, our comprehensive brand, offering both distance and contact learning. Our second brand in the group is Milpark Education, Milpark being an immersive online institution.

Speaker #1: And still the biggest providers of CAs in the country. And then, thirdly, our multi-award-winning film school, AFDA. And AFDA is a contact learning institution.

Speaker #1: Just for clarity, when we talk about the three brands, these are independent brands with their own strategy and specific market segment that they target.

Speaker #1: We started the year off with the opening of the Durbanville campus, which has been a strategic milestone for us in the group. It's been a long journey to get to where we are today, and I'm also very happy to see that we are joined by Dr. Chris van der Merwe, our previous CEO for Stadio. It was Chris's vision to obtain this land many years ago.

Chris Vorster: We started the year off with the opening of the Durbanville Campus, which has been a strategic milestone for us in the group. It has been a long journey to get here where we are today. I am also very happy to see that we are joined by Dr. Chris van der Merwe, our previous CEO for Stadio. It was Chris' vision to obtain this land many years ago. So Chris, I am sure it must be very special for you also to step onto this premises and to see what we have actually put down at this stage. Again, thank you so much for your vision in identifying this land when you did. This Durbanville Campus, ladies and gentlemen, we set ourselves a target to open the campus with 1,000 students. We thought that would be very ambitious.

Chris Vorster: We started the year off with the opening of the Durbanville Campus, which has been a strategic milestone for us in the group. It has been a long journey to get here where we are today. I am also very happy to see that we are joined by Dr. Chris van der Merwe, our previous CEO for STADIO. It was Chris' vision to obtain this land many years ago. So Chris, I am sure it must be very special for you also to step onto this premises and to see what we have actually put down at this stage. Again, thank you so much for your vision in identifying this land when you did. This Durbanville Campus, ladies and gentlemen, we set ourselves a target to open the campus with 1,000 students. We thought that would be very ambitious.

Speaker #1: So, Chris, I'm sure it must be very special for you also to step onto these premises and to see what we have actually put down at this stage.

Speaker #1: Again, thank you so much for your vision in identifying this land when you did. This Durbanville campus, ladies and gentlemen— we set ourselves a target to open the campus with 1,000 students.

Speaker #1: We thought that would be very ambitious. At the close of registration, we registered 1,250 students on our first go on this campus. That obviously led us, or got us to the point, to pull the trigger on the second phase.

Chris Vorster: At the close of registration, we registered 1,250 students on our first go on this campus. That obviously led us or got us to the point to pull the trigger on the second phase. When you do the campus tour today, you would see there is still a lot of development taking place on the campus. That is phase 2, and that phase should be completed by November this year. That includes additional engineering labs, a moot court, sport facilities, as well as cafeteria and our new hall, which is actually completed already. Talking about the three brands, STADIO Higher Education, the comprehensive brand, has seen a stellar year thus far. We have really seen fantastic growth in that institution, 18% growth in total student numbers. If we unpack it, 33% of that growth comes from contact learning, and then 16% coming from our very big distance learning.

Speaker #1: And when you do the campus tour today, you will see there's still a lot of development taking place on the campus. That is Phase 2, and that phase should be completed by November this year.

Speaker #1: That includes additional engineering labs, a moot court, sports facilities, as well as a cafeteria and our new hall, which is actually completed already. Talking about the three brands: Stadio Higher Education, the comprehensive brand, as seen as Stellar here thus far.

Speaker #1: We've really seen fantastic growth in that institution—18% growth in total student numbers. If we unpack it, 33% of that growth comes from contact learning, and then 16% is coming from our very big distance learning.

Speaker #1: Looking forward, maybe just a quick, quick appetizer. We're very excited about applications already for next year, but I'll talk more to that later in the presentation.

Chris Vorster: Looking forward, maybe just a quick appetizer. We are very excited about applications already for next year, but I will talk more to that later in the presentation. STADIO Higher Education obtained BAC, that is British Accreditation Council accreditation this year, as well as becoming a full member of the International Council for Open and Distance Education. We did not just open this campus in 2026. We also opened a new campus for AFDA in Hatfield, Pretoria. Very excited about that. We have also exceeded our targeted numbers at that campus, and we believe that is a good market for our AFDA brand, especially the Pretoria area. It has not been all plain sailing, ladies and gentlemen. We had some headwinds in our AFDA and Milpark brand. AFDA being affected by the crisis in the film industry, especially what is happening in Canal+, the close down of Showmax. Diane is here.

Speaker #1: Stadio Higher Education obtained BAC—that's British Accreditation Council—accreditation this year, as well as becoming a full member of the International Council for Distance Education.

Speaker #1: But we didn't just open this campus in 2026; we also opened a new campus for AFTA in Hatfield, Pretoria—very excited about that. We've also exceeded our targeted numbers at that campus.

Speaker #1: And we believe that's a good market for our AFTA brand, especially the Pretoria area. But it hasn't been all plain sailing, ladies and gentlemen.

Speaker #1: We had some headwinds in our AFTA and Mallpark brands. AFTA was affected by the crisis in the film industry especially, but it's also happening in Canal Plus—the close down of Showmax. Dehon is here; I think she can tell you more about everything that happened to the industry.

Chris Vorster: I think she can tell you more about everything that happened to the industry. We see it as a temporary and short-term glitch. We already see nice green shoots coming from AFDA for the future. At Milpark as well, a lot of new initiatives in our Milpark business. New programs coming in for next year, and we are super excited about the growth prospects also in our Milpark business. 2026 is a deliberate year of investment. I will talk more to it after Ishak's unpacking of the results, showing our focus in this investment year. Even with the investment year, we are very excited about our EBITDA margins that we are still producing. All in all, a good start to the year. We have a solid foundation, a very strong balance sheet, and we are ready for growth opportunities. Promises made is promises kept. What did we promise?

Speaker #1: But we see it as a temporary and short-term glitch. We already see nice green shoots coming from AFTA for the future. At Mallpark as well, there are a lot of new initiatives in our Mallpark business, new programs coming in for next year, and we're super excited about the growth prospects in our Mallpark business as well.

Speaker #1: 2026 is a deliberate year of investment. I'll talk more about it after Ishak's unpacking of the results, showing our focus in this investment year.

Speaker #1: But even with the investment year, we are very excited about our EBITDA margins that we are still producing. So, all in all, a good start to the year.

Speaker #1: We have a solid foundation, a very strong balance sheet, and we are ready for growth opportunities. Promises are made, and those promises are kept. What did we promise?

Speaker #1: We promised in our pre-listing statement that we would reach 56,000 students by 2026. We've achieved this, with 56,171 registered students by the end of June.

Chris Vorster: We promised in our pre-listing statement that we will get to 56,000 students by 2026. We have done that with 56,171 registered students by the end of June, so we can tick that box. I can then also say, as we stand here today, we are busy with our second semester intake, and we have already surpassed the 59,000-student mark. Stadio has delivered consistent growth over the years, not just in student numbers, but also in revenue and core headline earnings. Let us look at the group's interim results. In the summary, I will just touch on at high level, and then Ishak will unpack the results for us in detail. Firstly, student numbers for the group up 10% to 56,171 students. This is at the end of June. Revenue up 13%. Normalized EBITDA up 31%. Profit after tax up 14%. Earnings per share up 15%. Core headline earnings per share up 18%.

Chris Vorster: We promised in our pre-listing statement that we will get to 56,000 students by 2026. We have done that with 56,171 registered students by the end of June, so we can tick that box. I can then also say, as we stand here today, we are busy with our second semester intake, and we have already surpassed the 59,000-student mark. STADIO has delivered consistent growth over the years, not just in student numbers, but also in revenue and core headline earnings. Let us look at the group's interim results. In the summary, I will just touch on at high level, and then Ishak will unpack the results for us in detail. Firstly, student numbers for the group up 10% to 56,171 students. This is at the end of June. Revenue up 13%. Normalized EBITDA up 31%. Profit after tax up 14%. Earnings per share up 15%. Core headline earnings per share up 18%.

Speaker #1: So we can tick that box. I can then also say, as we stand here today, we're busy with our second semester intake, and we have already surpassed the 59,000-student mark.

Speaker #1: Stadio has delivered consistent growth over the years, not just in student numbers but also in revenue and core headline earnings. But let's look at the group's interim results.

Speaker #1: In the summary, I'll just touch on it at a high level, and then Ishak will unpack the results for us in detail. Firstly, student numbers for the group are up 10% to 56,171 students.

Speaker #1: This is at the end of June. Revenue up 13%. Normalized EBITDA up 31%. Profit after tax up 14%. Earnings per share up 15%. Core headline earnings per share up 18%.

Speaker #1: And then cash generated from operations is up 13%. And then our return on equity is up from last year's 15.4% to 17.2%. So we are well on our way to reaching our long-term goal of a 20% return on equity.

Chris Vorster: Cash generated from operations up 13%. Our return on equity up from last year's 15.4% up to 17.2%. We are well on our way to reach our long-term goal of a 20% return on equity. I will now hand over, ladies and gentlemen, to our group CFO, Ishak Kula, who will unpack these numbers for us in more detail.

Speaker #1: I will now hand over, ladies and gentlemen, to our Group CFO, Ishak Kula, who will unpack these numbers for us in more detail.

Speaker #2: Thank you, Chris. Thank you, Chris. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It's good to see you all here this morning. And I could see Dr. Chris van der Merwe smile when he saw the 56,000 student number that Chris just put up on the screen.

Ishak Kula: Thank you, Chris. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It's good to see you all here this morning. I could see Dr. Chris van der Merwe smile when he saw the 56,000 student number that Chris just put up on screen. Again, a big milestone for us as a group. I know a promise that was made at the back end of 2017, 2018, Dr. Chris van der Merwe. So well done. It's a big milestone for us. Allow me the opportunity to take you through the results for the H1. I'd like to go through it systematically and perhaps highlight some of the key changes and some of the highlights that you can see. As Chris alluded to, I think it's a year dubbed as a year of deliberate investment, but with sustained growth. I think that's important.

Speaker #2: It's again a big milestone for us as a group, and I know a promise that was made at the back end of 2017, 2018, Dr. Chris van der Merwe.

Speaker #2: So, well done. It's a big milestone for us. Allow me the opportunity to take you through the results for the half-year. I'd like to go through them systematically and perhaps highlight some of the key changes, as well as some of the highlights that you can see.

Speaker #2: I think, as Chris alluded to, it's a year dubbed as a year of deliberate investment, but with sustained growth. And I think that's important.

Speaker #2: Although we embarked on this year, it was promised to our shareholders that we would continue to generate good results. I think the numbers will speak for themselves as we go through the slides.

Ishak Kula: Although we embarked on this year, we always promised our shareholders that we'll continue to generate good results, and I think the numbers will speak for themselves as we go through the slides. First and foremost, Stadio achieved its pre-listing statement and highlight of 56,000 students for the H1. That's underpinned by a 13% revenue growth, I think for the H1. Really driven by the 10% overall student number growth that we've seen. As Chris alluded to, we've opened two new campuses, the Stadio Durbanville Campus, which we're all on today for those that are here in person, where we exceeded our target with 1,250 students in total, and we also opened our AFDA Hatfield campus. Our loss allowance margin is consistent and flat with the prior period at 8.7% of revenue.

Ishak Kula: Although we embarked on this year, we always promised our shareholders that we'll continue to generate good results, and I think the numbers will speak for themselves as we go through the slides. First and foremost, STADIO achieved its pre-listing statement and highlight of 56,000 students for the H1. That's underpinned by a 13% revenue growth, I think for the H1. Really driven by the 10% overall student number growth that we've seen. As Chris alluded to, we've opened two new campuses, the STADIO Durbanville Campus, which we're all on today for those that are here in person, where we exceeded our target with 1,250 students in total, and we also opened our AFDA Hatfield campus. Our loss allowance margin is consistent and flat with the prior period at 8.7% of revenue.

Speaker #2: I think, first and foremost, Stadio achieved its pre-listing statement and highlight of 56,000 students for the half-year. That's underpinned by a 13% revenue growth.

Speaker #2: I think for the half year, we're really driven by the 10% overall student number growth that we've seen. As Chris alluded to, we've opened two new campuses.

Speaker #2: The Stadio Durbanville campus, which we're all on today for those that are here in person, where we exceeded our target with 1,250 students in total.

Speaker #2: And we also opened our AFTA Hatfield campus. Our loss allowance margin is consistent and flat with the prior period, at 8.7% of revenue. Then, going to our normalized margins for the period: 31.3% for the half year, up from the 30.6% we saw in the comparative period.

Ishak Kula: Going to our normalized margins for the period, 31.3% for the H1, up from the 30.6% we saw in the comparative period. Importantly, to the earlier point, which I'll unpack a bit later, in a year of investment, we believe that's a very good and healthy margin and can be sustained in the long term. I think financial performance, it's good to have good financial performance, but also really backed up by good cash generation, with our cash generated from operations also up by 13%. On the theme of deliberate investment for the year, some CapEx highlights, and I'll unpack that a bit more. Our big CapEx for the year in total accumulated to ZAR 147 million. That was invested ZAR 79 million into the Durbanville facility, with a bit more to come in the remainder of the year. We've also expanded in our STADIO Higher Education brand.

Speaker #2: And importantly, to the earlier point—which I'll unpack a bit later—in a year of investment, we believe that's a very good and healthy margin and can be sustained in the long term.

Speaker #2: I think financial performance—it's good to have good financial performance—but it's also really backed up by good cash generation, with our cash generated from operations also up by 13%.

Speaker #2: Then, on the theme of deliberate investment for the year—some capital expense highlights, and I'll unpack that a bit more. Our big capex for the year, in total, cumulated to R147 million.

Speaker #2: That was invested—79 million rand—into the Durbanville facility, with a bit more to come in the remainder of the year. We've also expanded in our Stadio Higher Education brand; we acquired the Kira Waterfall building for 18 million rand earlier in the year as part of our expansion journey in the Waterfall region.

Ishak Kula: We acquired the Curro Waterfall building for R18 million earlier in the year as part of our expansion journey in the Waterfall region. We have also invested R38 million on other campus enhancements across the Stadio Holdings group. Again, to support our IT strategy and curriculum enhancements, we invested another R12 million in that sphere. Moving on to shareholder returns, I think for the period, we returned R217 million to our shareholders, comprised of R156 million of dividends to our ordinary shareholders, as well as R11.3 million to our minority shareholders. In the period, as a stated strategy, we have embarked on a journey to acquire all of the long-term incentive scheme as those shares vest. Under the scheme, our strategy was to ensure that our shareholders are not diluted. In the period, we purchased and canceled 3 million shares up to 30 June, which costed us R36.3 million.

Ishak Kula: We acquired the Curro Waterfall building for R18 million earlier in the year as part of our expansion journey in the Waterfall region. We have also invested R38 million on other campus enhancements across the STADIO Holdings group. Again, to support our IT strategy and curriculum enhancements, we invested another R12 million in that sphere. Moving on to shareholder returns, I think for the period, we returned R217 million to our shareholders, comprised of R156 million of dividends to our ordinary shareholders, as well as R11.3 million to our minority shareholders. In the period, as a stated strategy, we have embarked on a journey to acquire all of the long-term incentive scheme as those shares vest. Under the scheme, our strategy was to ensure that our shareholders are not diluted. In the period, we purchased and canceled 3 million shares up to 30 June, which costed us R36.3 million.

Speaker #2: We've also invested R38 million on other campus enhancements across the Stadio Holdings group. Again, to support our IT strategy and curriculum enhancements, we invested another R12 million in that sphere.

Speaker #2: Then, moving on to shareholders' returns, I think for the period we returned R217 million to our shareholders, comprised of R156 million in dividends to our ordinary shareholders.

Speaker #2: As well as R11.3 million to our minority shareholders. In the period, as stated in our strategy, we've embarked on a journey to acquire all of the long-term incentive scheme shares as those shares vest. Under the scheme, our strategy was to ensure that our shareholders aren't diluted, and in the period we purchased and canceled 3 million shares up to 30 June, which cost us R36.3 million. Subsequent to 30 June, we've bought another 1.87 million shares for R24.6 million.

Ishak Kula: Subsequent to 30 June, we have bought another 1.87 million shares for R24.6 million. Further, we also issued 2.4 million shares under our long-term incentive scheme to those individuals that are entitled to the long-term incentive, and we will continue to do this in our strategy going forward. As Chris alluded to, I think importantly, although we have got a good, a massive year of investment and more to come, we have managed to maintain our debt levels at fairly low levels, with H1 debt amounting to R120 million, with that substantially paid off post to H1. What does it mean in student numbers? I will take you through the total student numbers and break it down into contact learning and distance learning.

Speaker #2: Further, we also issued 2.4 million shares under our long-term incentive scheme to those individuals that are entitled to the long-term incentive. We will continue to do this as part of our strategy going forward.

Speaker #2: As Chris alluded to, I think, importantly, although we've had a good and massive year of investment, with more to come, we've managed to maintain our debt levels at a very low level, with half-year debt amounting to R120 million, with that substantially paid off post the half year.

Speaker #2: Then what does it mean in student numbers? I'll take you through the total student numbers and break it down into contact learning and distance learning.

Speaker #2: I think some of the highlights there, as we've alluded to earlier, are that we've grown our student numbers by 10% in total, with student numbers going from 51,197 to 56,171 at the half-year mark, exceeding our pre-listing statement of 56,000 students.

Ishak Kula: I think some of the highlights there, as we have alluded to earlier, we have grown our student numbers by 10% in total, with student numbers going from 51,197 to 56,171 at the H1 mark, exceeding our pre-listing statement of 56,000 students. I think important to note there, our student numbers continue to be impacted by B2B component in our Milpark Education business. If we exclude the cyclical nature of that, our student number growth would have been 14%. Looking at our contact learning student numbers, breaking that down, I think for the period growing by 15% year-on-year, we continue to see incredibly good momentum. Student numbers up from 7,018 to 8,082 students. I think probably three key components to highlight from that story is in STADIO Higher Education, we have achieved 43% new student growth in the first semester. We have opened two new campuses, Stadio Durbanville and AFDA Hatfield.

Speaker #2: I think it's important to note here that our student numbers continue to be impacted by the B2B component and our MOLPOC education business. If we exclude the cyclical nature of that, our student number growth would have been 14%.

Speaker #2: Then, looking at our contact learning student numbers and breaking that down, I think for the period, growing by 15% year on year, we continued to see incredibly good momentum.

Speaker #2: Student numbers are up from 7,018 to 8,082 students. I think there are probably three key components to highlight from that story. In Stadio Higher Education, we've achieved 43% new student growth in the first semester.

Speaker #2: We've opened two new campuses, Stadio Durbanville and AFTA Hatfield. And to Chris's earlier point, we've also taken some strain in our higher price-point qualifications, particularly in AFTA.

Ishak Kula: To Chris's earlier point, we have also taken some strain in our higher price point qualifications, particularly in AFDA. Moving on to our distance learning student numbers and how that performed, distance learning student numbers overall up 9% for the period, from 44,179 to 48,089 students. Again, three highlights here. We remain the leaders in the private higher education distance learning space. This is the core component of our group. Whilst we see good contact learning momentum, continue to see accelerated and good growth in distance learning and remain the leaders in that space. I think what is exciting and encouraging for us, although we have got a tremendously big base already in distance learning, we still saw 14% growth in new students in the distance learning space in STADIO Higher Education.

Speaker #2: Then, moving on to our distance learning student numbers and how that performed. Distance learning student numbers overall were up 9% for the period, from 44,179 to 48,089 students.

Speaker #2: Again, three highlights here. We remain the leaders in the private higher education distance learning space. This is the core component of our group. And whilst we see good contact learning momentum, we continue to see accelerated and strong growth in distance learning, and remain the leaders in that space.

Speaker #2: I think what is exciting and encouraging for us, although we've got a tremendously big base already in distance learning, is that we still saw 14% growth in new students in the distance learning space in Stadio Higher Education.

Speaker #2: And overall, our distance learning numbers would have also grown by 14% if they weren't impacted by the B2B component in our MOLPOC business. On the revenue side, we've crossed the R1 billion mark for the half year.

Ishak Kula: Overall, our distance learning numbers would have also grown by 14% if it wasn't impacted by the B2B component in our Milpark business. On the revenue side, we've crossed the ZAR 1 billion mark for the H1. Our revenue increased from ZAR 157 million to just over ZAR 1.080 billion. That 13% growth is made up of two components. Our contact learning revenue growth grew by 10% to ZAR 333 million, while our distance learning revenue grew by 14% to ZAR 743 million. Important to note, given the fact that we have taken some strain in our high price point qualifications, that has played an impact on our student mix and our average revenue per student. You can see that in the contact learning growth. The student numbers are up 15%, but revenue up in the contact learning space only by 10%.

Speaker #2: Our revenue increased from R157 million to just over R1 billion—R1.08 billion. That's 13% growth, as weighed up of two components. Our contact learning revenue grew by 10% to R333 million, while our distance learning revenue grew by 14% to R743 million.

Speaker #2: It's important to note, given the fact that we have taken some strain in our high price point qualifications, that this has impacted our student mix and our average revenue per student.

Speaker #2: And you can see that in the contact learning growth, with student numbers up 15%, but revenue up in the contact learning space only by 10%.

Speaker #2: And if we look at our EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA, I think importantly, one to highlight is the fact that in a year of investment, we've continued to achieve over the 30% mark, which was our stated objective, with our normalized EBITDA margins at 31.3%.

Ishak Kula: If we look at our EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA, I think importantly want to highlight the fact that in a year of investment, we've continued to achieve over the 30% mark, which was our stated objective, with our normalized EBITDA margins at 31.3%. The key difference I want to highlight there between normalized EBITDA or normal EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA in the period when we acquired the Curro building in Waterfall, we historically had a sublease with Curro there. Because we had acquired the building, we had to de-recognize a component of our sublease receivable, which led to a once off adjustment in our income statement, a loss of ZAR 6 million, which we've added back for EBITDA purposes, because it's not normal trading results. That's the differential between adjusted EBITDA and normal EBITDA.

Speaker #2: The key difference I want to highlight there between normalized EBITDA, or normal EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA: In the period when we acquired the CURO building in Waterfall, we had historically had a sub-lease with CURO there.

Speaker #2: And because we had acquired the building, we had to derecognize a component of our sublease receivable, which led to a once-off adjustment in our income statement—a loss of R6 million—which we've added back for EBITDA purposes, because it's not part of normal trading results.

Speaker #2: And that's the differential between adjusted EBITDA and normal EBITDA. I think, on the back of that, despite all of the two investments, or the number of investments, we still managed to achieve a very strong EBITDA margin.

Ishak Kula: I think on the back of that, despite all of the two investments or the number of investments, we still managed to achieve a very strong EBITDA margin. Just breaking the margins down a little bit more into our employee cost base, operating cost base, and loss allowance margins. I think for the period, our employee cost base margin, with the growth that we've seen, has actually improved. If you look at our employee cost base as a percentage of revenue, that's improved from 38.3% in June 2025 to now 37.3% at the H1 mark, with overall growth in employee cost of 10%. If we look at our operating expenses, that in total pre-normalization has grown by 17% off the back of the various investments, which I'll also highlight to you in the slides that come.

Speaker #2: Just breaking the margins down a little bit more into our employee cost-based, operating cost-based, and loss allowance margins, I think for the period, our employee cost-based margin, with the growth that we've seen, has actually improved.

Speaker #2: If you look at our employee cost base, as a percentage of revenue, that's improved from 38.3% in June 2025 to now 37.3% at the half-year mark.

Speaker #2: With an overall growth in employee costs of 10%, if we look at our operating expenses, in total pre-normalization, they have grown by 17% off the back of the various investments, which I'll also highlight to you in the slides that come.

Speaker #2: If we add back the once-off partial de-recognition of that sub-lease receivable, operating expenses as a percent of revenue slightly increased, from 22.9% to 23.9% at the half-year.

Ishak Kula: If we add back the once off partial de-recognition of that sublease receivable, operating expenses as a percent of revenue has slightly increased from 22.9% to 23.9% at the H1. Loss allowance, which I'll cover a bit more in detail, that is flat at the H1, year-on-year. If we look at trade receivables and loss allowance holistically, I think the picture is we've achieved 8.7% year-on-year. So it's flat year-on-year, despite, I think, still challenging macroeconomic conditions. So we believe it's a good outcome. We continue to innovate in this space. I think it's exciting to see that we are seeing our recovery rates of debt that we've written off in historic years. We've seen an acceleration of collections in that space. So it's showing us that our initiatives in terms of how we go about collecting is improving.

Speaker #2: And loss allowance, which I'll cover a bit more in detail, is flat at the half-year, year on year. If we look at trade receivables and loss allowance holistically, I think the picture is we've achieved 8.7% year on year, so it's flat year on year, despite, I think, still challenging macroeconomic conditions.

Speaker #2: So believe it's a good outcome. We continue to innovate in this space, and I think it's exciting to see that we are seeing our recovery rates of debt that we've written off in historic years accelerate collections in that space.

Speaker #2: So, it's showing us that our initiatives in terms of how we go about collecting are improving. But, unfortunately, we've also seen some strain in highest point, high price point qualifications.

Ishak Kula: But unfortunately, we have also seen some strain in high price point qualifications. That all played out at the loss allowance at the half year is flat year-on-year. Again, just an operational matter, I think we have highlighted it previously, but importantly, particularly in our distance learning space, students moving from semester 1 to semester 2. If they carry a significant amount of debt, we will not allow them to re-register in the second semester. But of course, it is our intention, our stated objective, because we want to widen access, which is one of our four pillars in our organization. We will try and assist students as far as we practically can to help them, guide them through the year where it is possible. Then just giving you a breakdown of how the debtors' balance moved at the half year-on-year. The overall book grew by 9%, whilst revenue grew by 13%.

Speaker #2: And that all played out, as the loss allowance at the half-year is flat year-on-year. And again, it's just an operational matter—I think we've highlighted it previously.

Speaker #2: But importantly, particularly in our distance learning space, students moving from semester one to semester two—if they carry a significant amount of debt, we will not allow them to re-register in the second semester.

Speaker #2: But, of course, it's our intention—our stated objective—because we want to widen access, which is one of our core pillars in our organization. We'll try and assist students as far as we practically can.

Speaker #2: To help them, guide them through the year where it's possible. Then, just giving you a breakdown of how the debtors' balance moved at the half-year, year on year.

Speaker #2: The overall book grew by 9%, whilst revenue grew by 13%. The current year book grew by 12%, with revenue up 13%. So you could see those collections in the current period were well managed.

Ishak Kula: The current year book grew by 12%, with revenue 13%. So you could see those collections in the current period was well managed. I think also holistically, if you look at our prior debt component, which we believe is the highest risk category in our organization. Last year, 2024 to 2025, our prior debt book grew by 21%, when the current period it only grew by 5%. To my earlier comment, we have seen good recoveries on our older book, which allowed us to keep our loss allowance coverage within an acceptable range, but to release some of those provisions. So profit or loss for the period. I think profit up 14% for the half year-on-year, with profit increasing from R183 million to R209 million, up 14%.

Speaker #2: And I think also, holistically, if you look at our prior year debt component—which we believe is the highest risk category in our organization—last year, 2024 to 2025, our prior debt book grew by 21%, while the current period only grew by 5%.

Speaker #2: And to my earlier comment, we've seen good recoveries on our older book, which allowed us to keep our loss allowance coverage within an acceptable range, but to release some of those provisions.

Speaker #2: So, profit to loss for the period—I think profit is up 14% for the half-year, year on year, with profit increasing from R183 million to R209 million, up 14%, really supported by good underlying organic growth in our organization.

Ishak Kula: Really supported by good underlying organic growth in our organization, despite all of the investments, which I will unpack a little bit more. I particularly want to highlight this point, our investment into people, processes, infrastructure, and brand, you can see in our half year results. Despite all these investments, we continue to deliver good results. As Chris always said, our stated objective is we will become a household name over time. Then looking at our earnings per share and headline earnings per share movements for the period. From left to right, earnings per share increasing by 15%, from 20.8 cents to 24 cents, with our headline earnings per share increasing by 16%, from 20.7 cents per share to 24 cents. Then looking at our core headline earnings. This is our stated metric that we use as a management team. This excludes that partial de-recognition of that sublease.

Speaker #2: Despite all of the investments—which I'll unpack a little bit more, and I particularly want to highlight this point—our investment into people, processes, infrastructure, and brand, you can see in our half-year results.

Speaker #2: And despite those investments, we continue to deliver good results. And as Chris always says, our stated objective is that we will become a household name over time.

Speaker #2: Then, looking at our earnings per share and headline earnings per share movements for the period, from left to right: earnings per share increased by 15%, from 20.8 cents to 24 cents, with our headline earnings per share increasing by 16%, from 20.7 cents per share to 24 cents.

Speaker #2: Then, looking at our core headline earnings, this is our stated metric that we use as a management team. This excludes the partial de-recognition of that sub-lease, so we normalized for that, which is a once-off adjustment.

Ishak Kula: So we normalize for that, which is a once off adjustment. This is where we believe if you look at the growth of 18%, still incredibly healthy in a year of investment. That is up 18% from June 2025, up R176 million to R207 million. Core headline earnings per share up from 20.7 cents to 24.5 cents. I would like to take a moment and pause here. We talked a lot about our investment, our investment year. So what does it mean from an earnings perspective and what sits in our income statement? This is a slide that effectively rolls our June 2025 core headline earnings to our June 2026 core headline earnings. You can see here the underlying organic growth in our institution, net of our loss allowance, that moved and increased by 26%.

Speaker #2: This is where we believe, if you look at the growth of 18%, it's still incredibly healthy in a year of investment. That's up 18% from June '25, from R176 million to R207 million.

Speaker #2: And core headline earnings per share are up from 20.7 cents to 24.5 cents. Then I'd like to take a moment and pause here. We talked a lot about our investment—our investment year.

Speaker #2: So, what does it mean from an earnings perspective, and what sits in our income statement? This is a slide that effectively rolls our June '25 core headline earnings to our June '26 core headline earnings.

Speaker #2: And you can see the underlying organic growth in our institution, net of our loss allowance, that moved and increased by 26%. And then that is set off by our strategic investments, which is inclusive of the incremental costs in opening the two new campuses we cited earlier, as well as our investment in brand, people, and infrastructure.

Ishak Kula: That is set off by our strategic investments, which is inclusive of the incremental costs in opening all of our 2 new campuses we cited earlier, as well as our investment in brand people infrastructure. That reduced our organic growth of 26% by 8%, and that is how we roll to 18% at the H1. On the statement of financial position, I think I highlighted the CapEx investments. I think the message here is we remain lowly geared. We have got incredibly strong balance sheet, and we are ready to pounce on opportunities, with lots of headroom in all of our facilities that we have got available. Looking at our cash flow from operations, our free cash flow and cash from operations. If you look at the middle section there, our cash generated from operations.

Speaker #2: That reduced our organic growth from 26% by 8%. And that's how we rolled to 18% at the half year. Then, on the statement of financial position, I think I highlighted the capex investments.

Speaker #2: I think the message here is we remain lowly geared. We've got an incredibly strong balance sheet, and we are ready to pounce on opportunities, with lots of headroom in all of our facilities that we've got available.

Speaker #2: Then, looking at our cash flow from operations—so our free cash flow and cash from operations—if you look at the middle section there, our cash generated from operations, we generated 123% cash when we compare that to our normalized EBITDA.

Ishak Kula: We generated 123% cash when we compare that to our normalized EBITDA in line with historic levels. So we still continue to generate a healthy amount of cash. With our free cash flow moving from ZAR 291 million to ZAR 332 million. Capital invested for the period, the ZAR 147 million can be broken up into 2 components. Our infrastructure development and capital assets of ZAR 159 million and then ZAR 8 million into program development specifically at the H1. Taking our total cumulative investment from 2021 or from inception to present to ZAR 2.9 billion. If we look at how we spend our cash for the H1. We start off with an opening cash balance of ZAR 156 million. Our operating activities generated ZAR 353 million for the period. We then spent ZAR 79 million on our Durbanville campus.

Speaker #2: In line with historic levels. So, we still continue to generate a healthy amount of cash, with our free cash flow moving from 291 million rand to 332 million rand.

Speaker #2: Capital invested for the period, the 147 million rand, can be broken up into two components: our infrastructure development and capital assets of 139 million rand.

Speaker #2: And then R8 million into program development specifically at the half-year, taking our total cumulative investment from 2021, or from inception to present, to R2.9 billion.

Speaker #2: If we look at how we spend our cash for the half-year, we start off with an opening cash balance of R156 million. Our operating activities generated R353 million for the period.

Speaker #2: We then spent R79 million on our Durbanville campus. We spent R18 million as part of our Waterfall expansion in contact learning as well.

Ishak Kula: We spent ZAR 18 million as part of our Waterfall expansion in contact learning as well. We spent another ZAR 16 million on various other enhancement and growth opportunities with ZAR 12 million in software and curriculum development. Our recurring CapEx number for the group is ZAR 22 million we spent H1, and we paid ZAR 12 million down for all of our lease liabilities across the group. We paid a dividend of ZAR 156 million in the period to ordinary shareholders and ZAR 11 million to our minority shareholders, and our net repurchases of ZAR 33 million for the period. That is how we rolled our cash balance from ZAR 156 million to ZAR 150 million at the H1. Total CapEx projects for the year. This gives you an indication of what is earmarked for the year.

Speaker #2: We spent another R16 million on various other enhancement and growth opportunities, with R12 million invested in software and curriculum development. Our recurring capex number for the group is R22 million.

Speaker #2: We spent the half-year and we paid R12 million down for all of our lease liabilities across the group. Then we paid a dividend of R156 million in the period to ordinary shareholders and R11 million to our minority shareholders.

Speaker #2: And our net repurchases of R33 million for the period. And that's how we rolled our cash balance from R156 million to R150 million at the half-year.

Speaker #2: Then, total Capex projects for the year—this gives you an indication of what we've earmarked for the year—a total of R301 million.

Ishak Kula: A total of ZAR 301 million, ZAR 42 million in curriculum and intangibles development. Our Durbanville property is circa ZAR 110 million for the full year, and then other campus expansions, ZAR 130 million we earmarked for the year with recurring CapEx for the full year at ZAR 36 million. That is how we roll to ZAR 301 million for the full year. Ladies and gentlemen, in a 6-year financial overview, I think the message is clear. We remain optimistic. We think the future is bright. We have got a solid track record with consistently good growth. Thank you very much.

Speaker #2: 42 million rand in curriculum and intangibles, development. Our Durbanville property is circa 110 million rand for the full year. And then other campus expansions are 113 million, and we earmarked for the year, with recurring capex for the full year at 36 million rand.

Speaker #2: That's how we rolled to R301 million for the full year. Ladies and gentlemen, in a six-year financial overview, I think the message is clear.

Speaker #2: We remain optimistic. We think the future is bright. We've got a solid track record with consistently good growth. Thank you very much.

Speaker #1: Thank you very much, Ishak. I think, yes, those set of results deserve a hand clap. Ladies and gentlemen, just to expand on what Ishak has said and to give you a little bit of a glimpse into the future and what we are busy with at Star U, we have, as I said, reached the 59,000 mark in student numbers.

Chris Vorster: Thank you very much, Ishak. I think, yes, those set of results deserve a handclap. Ladies and gentlemen, just to expand on what Ishak has said and to give you a little bit of a blink into the future and what we are busy with at Stadio. We have, as I said, reached the 59,000 mark in student numbers, in August. We are actually still in a registration period, so we can expect those numbers still to grow. The next target that we've set ourselves as a group is that of 80,000 students by 2030. To get there, we need to grow at a rate of about 7% per annum. We really believe that is achievable, and we actually believe we can do better, actually much better. Our growth strategy is effective. It's been serving us well over the last few years. The growth strategy focus on those five pillars.

Chris Vorster: Thank you very much, Ishak. I think, yes, those set of results deserve a handclap. Ladies and gentlemen, just to expand on what Ishak has said and to give you a little bit of a blink into the future and what we are busy with at STADIO. We have, as I said, reached the 59,000 mark in student numbers, in August. We are actually still in a registration period, so we can expect those numbers still to grow. The next target that we've set ourselves as a group is that of 80,000 students by 2030. To get there, we need to grow at a rate of about 7% per annum. We really believe that is achievable, and we actually believe we can do better, actually much better. Our growth strategy is effective. It's been serving us well over the last few years. The growth strategy focus on those five pillars.

Speaker #1: In August, we are actually still in a registration period, so we can expect those numbers to continue to grow. The next target that we've set ourselves as a group is 80,000 students.

Speaker #1: By 2030, to get there, we need to grow at a rate of about 7% per annum. We really believe that is achievable, and we actually believe we can do better.

Speaker #1: Actually, much better. Our growth strategy is effective. It's been serving us well over the last few years. The growth strategy has focused on those five pillars for the last few years.

Chris Vorster: For the last few years, we've really spent the majority of our attention on the first four. That includes accrediting new in-demand programs, where we have more than 100 accredited programs in the group currently. Taking programs to new sites of delivery and to new modes. I'll talk more to modes as we believe there is still a fantastic opportunity for us. Opening new facilities and schools or faculties in schools. Opening comprehensive campuses, optimizing current campuses. The last pillar has come into play since May this year. After restructuring the Stadio Higher Education Institution, the executive team now have space and capacity to actively explore new opportunities and new markets. Let me say this at this stage, there's a lot of work going on behind the scenes, and we are very excited about a lot of potential projects that we will launch soon.

Chris Vorster: For the last few years, we've really spent the majority of our attention on the first four. That includes accrediting new in-demand programs, where we have more than 100 accredited programs in the group currently. Taking programs to new sites of delivery and to new modes. I'll talk more to modes as we believe there is still a fantastic opportunity for us. Opening new facilities and schools or faculties in schools. Opening comprehensive campuses, optimizing current campuses. The last pillar has come into play since May this year. After restructuring the STADIO Higher Education Institution, the executive team now have space and capacity to actively explore new opportunities and new markets. Let me say this at this stage, there's a lot of work going on behind the scenes, and we are very excited about a lot of potential projects that we will launch soon.

Speaker #1: We've really spent the majority of our attention on the first four. That includes accrediting new in-demand programs, where we have more than 100 accredited programs in the group currently.

Speaker #1: Taking programs to new sites of delivery—and to new modes. I'll talk more about modes, as we believe there is still a fantastic opportunity for us.

Speaker #1: Opening new facilities and schools, or faculties and schools. Opening comprehensive campuses, optimizing current campuses. And then the last pillar has come into play since May this year, after restructuring the STAR U higher education institution.

Speaker #1: The executive team now have space and capacity to actively explore new opportunities and new markets. Let me say this at this stage: there's a lot of work going on behind the scenes.

Speaker #1: We are very excited about a lot of potential projects that we will launch soon. As Ishak said, we are investing for growth, and this year especially, we have targeted an increase in our investment.

Chris Vorster: As Ishak said, we are investing for growth, and this year especially. We have targeted this year to up our investment. The focus there on people, technology and systems, infrastructure, brand, and university status. Just a few examples, if we look at people, we've launched a new academic model in the beginning of this year. A model that we are very excited about and believe we will see even better improvement in our academic quality with scale. That has been the challenge. We think that we've cracked that nut. We're very excited about it, and it is now to capacitate our new academic model. Also, a lot of capacity in our Chief Information Officer's office with the appointment of software developers, engineers, as well as IT specialists.

Speaker #1: The focus there is on people, technology, and systems—infrastructure, brand, and university status. Just a few examples: if we look at people, we've launched a new academic model at the beginning of this year.

Speaker #1: A model that we are very excited about, and we believe we will see even better improvement in our academic quality with scale. And that has been the challenge.

Speaker #1: We think that we've cracked that nut. We're very excited about it. And it is now to capacitate our new academic model. Also, a lot of capacity in our Chief Information Officer's office.

Speaker #1: With the appointment of software developers, engineers, as well as IT specialists, looking at technology and systems, this will be a continuous development for us.

Chris Vorster: Looking at technology and systems, this would be a continuous development for us and it will require investment on a year-to-year basis as we see technology as an enabler for us to deal with the growing student numbers in our group. There's also currently a big focus on AI, not just for our staff and students, but also in our operations. It is a non-negotiable for us at Stadio that all our Stadio graduates would be AI literate. Not just being AI literate, they will also get the necessary skills to make a difference in the specific industries that they will move in after they have graduated. Infrastructure, I will come back to that when we talk more about contact learning. Then brand building, as Ishak said, we identified our sponsorship with the Springboks as the vehicle for us to become a household name in South Africa.

Chris Vorster: Looking at technology and systems, this would be a continuous development for us and it will require investment on a year-to-year basis as we see technology as an enabler for us to deal with the growing student numbers in our group. There's also currently a big focus on AI, not just for our staff and students, but also in our operations. It is a non-negotiable for us at STADIO that all our STADIO graduates would be AI literate. Not just being AI literate, they will also get the necessary skills to make a difference in the specific industries that they will move in after they have graduated. Infrastructure, I will come back to that when we talk more about contact learning. Then brand building, as Ishak said, we identified our sponsorship with the Springboks as the vehicle for us to become a household name in South Africa.

Speaker #1: And it will require investment on a year-to-year basis, as we see technology as an enabler for us to deal with the growing student numbers in our group.

Speaker #1: There's also currently a big focus on AI, not just for our staff and students, but also in our operations. It is non-negotiable for us at Star U that all our Star U graduates are AI literate—but not just being AI literate; they will also get the necessary skills to make a difference in the specific industries they will move into after they have graduated.

Speaker #1: Infrastructure—I will come back to that when we talk more about contact learning. Then, brand building: as Ishak said, we identified our sponsorship with the Springboks.

Speaker #1: As the vehicle for us to become a household name in South Africa, we believe there's a lot of synergy between the two brands. Both of these brands are very proudly South African.

Chris Vorster: We believe there is a lot of synergy between the two brands. Both of these brands are very proudly South African. As we said, I have mentioned it at all our previous meetings, for Stadio, it is all about becoming the first choice higher education institution in the country. A further investment priority for us is on university status, and that requires investment in curriculum, expanding our offerings and our faculties, improving our teaching and learning at all our campuses, research outputs, as well as community engagement. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we will become a university as soon as the regulations will allow us to apply. We visited the department in late July, myself and Professor Divya Singh, to just go and clarify the timelines, to give proper feedback to our investors and all our stakeholders.

Chris Vorster: We believe there is a lot of synergy between the two brands. Both of these brands are very proudly South African. As we said, I have mentioned it at all our previous meetings, for STADIO, it is all about becoming the first choice higher education institution in the country. A further investment priority for us is on university status, and that requires investment in curriculum, expanding our offerings and our faculties, improving our teaching and learning at all our campuses, research outputs, as well as community engagement. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we will become a university as soon as the regulations will allow us to apply. We visited the department in late July, myself and Professor Divya Singh, to just go and clarify the timelines, to give proper feedback to our investors and all our stakeholders.

Speaker #1: And as we said, I've mentioned it at all our previous meetings. For Star U, it's all about becoming the first-choice higher education institution in the country.

Speaker #1: And then a further investment priority for us is on university status. That requires investment in curriculum, expanding our offerings and our faculties, and improving our teaching and learning at all our campuses.

Speaker #1: Research outputs as well as community engagement. So, yes, ladies and gentlemen, we will become a university as soon as the regulations allow us to apply.

Speaker #1: We've visited the department in late July, myself and Dr. or Professor Divya Singh, just to go and clarify the timelines and to give proper feedback to our investors and all our stakeholders. I can report back that there is still not a clear timeline on when regulations will become available.

Chris Vorster: I can report back that there is still not a clear timeline on when regulations will become available. The department is working on it. There is a lot of complexities in this regard, but we know it is coming, but we do not know when. We keep on preparing as if we can become a university tomorrow. We believe that we are ready should the regulations become available. Our plan is to apply for university status in STADIO Higher Education, University College status for our Milpark Education. We believe that there is also potential to actually apply for university status in Milpark in the closer future. Lastly, as AFDA, we will register as a higher education college. Not because they are inferior in offering, it is just due to the nature of their programs.

Speaker #1: The department is working on it. There are a lot of complexities in this regard, but we know it is coming. However, we don't know when.

Speaker #1: So we keep on preparing as if we can become a university tomorrow. We believe that we are ready. Should the regulations become available, our plan is to apply for university status in StarU Higher Education.

Speaker #1: University college status for our Mallpark education. We believe that there is also potential to actually apply for university status in Mallpark in the near future.

Speaker #1: And then lastly, after, we will register as a university, as a higher education college—not because they are inferior in offering; it's just due to the nature of the programs.

Speaker #1: It's a very practical program, and therefore that category will suit them best. For those of you watching online, here are just a few pictures of the facilities at our Durbanville campus.

Chris Vorster: It is a very practical program, and therefore that category will suit them best. For those of you watching online, there are just a few pictures of the facilities here at our Durbanville campus. As I have said, we are extremely excited and there is a lot of interest in this campus. Very exciting news to share with you. On the land, if you look outside the window on our right-hand side, it is earmarked for our indoor high-performance center that we will start construction with late next year. This would be an indoor center that will meet international standards. We are in discussions with Netball South Africa as well as other sports codes that it would host international events in this indoor arena. Looking at our sports strategy, a lot of inquiries about what is Stadio's vision for sport going forward. Our sports strategy focuses on three levels.

Chris Vorster: It is a very practical program, and therefore that category will suit them best. For those of you watching online, there are just a few pictures of the facilities here at our Durbanville campus. As I have said, we are extremely excited and there is a lot of interest in this campus. Very exciting news to share with you. On the land, if you look outside the window on our right-hand side, it is earmarked for our indoor high-performance center that we will start construction with late next year. This would be an indoor center that will meet international standards. We are in discussions with Netball South Africa as well as other sports codes that it would host international events in this indoor arena. Looking at our sports strategy, a lot of inquiries about what is STADIO's vision for sport going forward. Our sports strategy focuses on three levels.

Speaker #1: As I've said, we're extremely excited, and there's a lot of interest in this campus. Very exciting news to share with you. On the land—if you look outside the window on our right-hand side—it's earmarked for our indoor high-performance center.

Speaker #1: That we will start construction with late next year. This would be an indoor center that will meet international standards. We are in discussions with other sports coaches.

Speaker #1: That it would host international events in this indoor arena. Looking at our sports strategy, there have been a lot of inquiries about what Star U's vision for sport is going forward.

Speaker #1: Our sports strategy focuses on three levels. Firstly, our social level—that is on-campus sport. You will see on all our campuses we have multi-purpose sport courts for match participation.

Chris Vorster: Firstly, our social level, that is on-campus sport. You will see on all our campuses, we have multipurpose sport courts for mass participation and inter-campus events. Competitive sport for those students who want to take the sport at a competitive level. We have sports clubs. We are also partnering with clubs in the area for those codes that we do not offer at our different campuses. The third level is at varsity sport level. We participate in the University Sport South Africa sporting events, in the codes of rugby, netball, chess, esports, and soon we will add soccer to it. This campus in Durbanville will have a focus on netball, especially as I have already indicated, the international facility that we will put down. We will focus our rugby program in Pretoria, and then our soccer program in our Musgrave campus in Durban.

Speaker #1: And inter-campus events. Competitive sport for those students who want to take the sport at a competitive level. We have sport clubs, and we are also partnering with clubs in the area for those codes that we do not offer at our different campuses.

Speaker #1: And then the third level is adversity sport level. We are participating in the Universities of South Africa sporting events, in the codes of rugby, netball, chess, esports, and soon, we will add soccer to it.

Speaker #1: This campus in Durbanville will have a focus on netball, especially—as I've already indicated, the international facility that we will put down. We will focus our rugby program in Pretoria.

Speaker #1: And then our soccer program at our Musgrave campus in Durban—nice to share this with our investors—we've participated this year in the USA, and both our netball and rugby teams won their respective divisions.

Chris Vorster: Nice to share this with our investors. We've participated this year in USSA, and both our netball and rugby won their respective divisions. Let's get back to the growth story. As Ishak already indicated, we have a stellar of a year, especially our contact learning that is doing very well in the group and especially in STADIO Higher Education, 43% new student growth in STADIO Higher Education, 33% total student growth in contact learning. Then very good demand already for next year. Obviously, with this growing demand, we have decided to look at our capacity and to expand our capacity in contact learning. We've done quite a lot in this regard at Durbanville, as I already indicated. We've pulled the trigger with phase 2, which you can see is currently in development. The indoor arena that is coming next year.

Speaker #1: But let's get back to the growth story. As Ishak already indicated, we have had a stellar year-over-year, especially with our contact learning. That is doing very well in the group.

Speaker #1: And especially in Stadio Higher Education. 43% new student growth in Stadio Higher Education. 33% total student growth in contact learning. And then very good demand already for next year.

Speaker #1: Obviously, with this growing demand, we have decided to look at our capacity and to expand our capacity in contact learning. We've done quite a lot in this regard.

Speaker #1: At Durbanville, as I already indicated, we've pulled the trigger with phase two, which you can see is currently in development. The indoor arena is coming next year.

Speaker #1: At Centurion, we've converted our big hall into lecturing facilities, and we are starting soon to develop our new 1,500-seater hall there at our Centurion campus.

Chris Vorster: At Centurion, we've converted our big hall into lecturing facilities, and we are starting soon to develop our new 1,500-seater hall there at our Centurion campus. Waterfall, very exciting. We've acquired the Curro building that's on the same site. That will increase our capacity there. There is still potential to acquire a second Curro building on that site. So there's a lot of prospect for growth at our Waterfall campus. At Musgrave, we also acquired or rented extra space in that area to also cover growth that we expect coming in the Musgrave area. Ladies and gentlemen, we said that we're not going to put down a campus in every town in the country when we started this contact learning project of ours in 2020. However, the demand is so big, and we see especially demand in cities outside of the metropolitan areas.

Speaker #1: Waterfall, very exciting. We've acquired the Kiru building; that's on the same site. That will increase our capacity there, and there is still potential to acquire a second Kiru building on that site.

Speaker #1: So, there's a lot of prospect for growth at our Waterfall campus. At Musgrave, we also acquired or rented extra space in that area to cover the growth that we expect coming in the Musgrave area.

Speaker #1: Ladies and gentlemen, we said that we're not going to put down a campus in every town in the country when we started this contact learning project of ours in 2020.

Speaker #1: However, the demand is so big, and we see especially strong demand in cities outside of the metropolitan areas. That is really something that we believe we want to test.

Chris Vorster: That is really something that we believe we want to test, and hopefully soon we will then also open a new campus in a province that we are not currently actually operating in. Moving on to our distance learning business. Without a doubt, Stadio is the leader in distance learning in the private higher education sector, with more than 50,000 students currently studying by way of distance learning. Just to put it in perspective, during this first semester in STADIO Higher Education Institution on its own, we've registered 13,400 new distance learning students. We believe that we are very well-positioned in that regard. We remain the leader in distance learning. We also see a lot of runway still there with a lot of new programs coming, and a lot of new technology that we will phase in to make the offering even better going forward.

Chris Vorster: That is really something that we believe we want to test, and hopefully soon we will then also open a new campus in a province that we are not currently actually operating in. Moving on to our distance learning business. Without a doubt, STADIO is the leader in distance learning in the private higher education sector, with more than 50,000 students currently studying by way of distance learning. Just to put it in perspective, during this first semester in STADIO Higher Education Institution on its own, we've registered 13,400 new distance learning students. We believe that we are very well-positioned in that regard. We remain the leader in distance learning. We also see a lot of runway still there with a lot of new programs coming, and a lot of new technology that we will phase in to make the offering even better going forward.

Speaker #1: And hopefully, soon we will also open a new campus in a province where we are not currently operating. Moving on to our distance learning business.

Speaker #1: Without a doubt, Star U is the leader in distance learning in the private higher education sector, with more than 50,000 students currently studying by way of distance learning.

Speaker #1: Just to put it in perspective, during this first semester, in Star U Higher Education Institution on its own, we've registered 13,400 new distance learning students.

Speaker #1: We believe that we are very well positioned in that regard. We remain the leader in distance learning, and we also see a lot of runway still there.

Speaker #1: With a lot of new programs coming, and a lot of new technology that we will face, we aim to make the offering even better going forward.

Speaker #1: So currently, in the group, we offer two modes of delivery. We have contact learning, and we have distance learning, each one of them coming at a specific price point.

Chris Vorster: Currently in the group, we offer two modes of delivery. We have contact learning and we have distance learning. Each one of them coming at a specific price point. Obviously, your contact learning is at a higher price point and your distance learning at a lower price point due to the lack of infrastructure needed. We've done a lot of research, ladies and gentlemen, over the last few years, and we looked at the higher education market. What we have seen is a definite need for something in between contact and distance learning. An offering that will come at a lower price point than what we are currently offering at contact learning level. With that being said, we will soon launch our blended learning campaign. What will this mean?

Speaker #1: Obviously, your contact learning is at a higher price point, and your distance learning is at a lower price point due to the lack of infrastructure needed.

Speaker #1: We've done a lot of research, ladies and gentlemen, over the last few years, and we looked at the higher education market. What we have seen is a definite need for something in between.

Speaker #1: Contact and distance learning, and offering that will come at a lower price point than what we are currently offering at contact learning level. And with that being said, we will soon launch our blended learning campaign.

Speaker #1: What will this mean? It would be an offering that will give more people access to classroom education, but at a lower price point. This means it will still be the same curriculum, the same academic quality, but we will be able to offer it at a reduced price point, and offer it to students at a reduced price point.

Chris Vorster: It would be an offering that will give more people access to classroom education, but at a lower price point. Meaning it will still be the same curriculum, the same academic quality, but we will be able to offer it at a reduced price point and offer it to students at a reduced price point. If you look at the market, it is evident that the big demand for higher education or the growth in demand for higher education predominantly comes from quantile 3, 4, and 5 schools. These are lower fee-paying schools, and we believe by bringing in this mode of delivery, we will then widen access to more South Africans to access quality higher education. We are very excited as a group on this, and we believe this is going to open a total new market for us.

Speaker #1: If you look at the market, it is evident that the big demand for higher education, or the growth in demand for higher education, predominantly comes from quantile three, four, and five schools.

Speaker #1: These are lower-fee-paying schools, and we believe that by bringing in this mode of delivery, we will then widen access to more South Africans.

Speaker #1: To access quality higher education. We are very excited as a group about this, and we believe this is going to open a totally new market for us.

Speaker #1: If you look at the group currently, we operate in the high premium price point. We also offer programs in the middle.

Chris Vorster: If you look at the group currently, we operate in the high premium price point. We offer programs in the middle price point level, and now with this new mode of delivery, we will also be able to offer a contact learning equivalent for a lower price point. In summary, we say that we are well-positioned to accelerate growth, as we've said to our shareholders. Our distance learning is well-established. We see a lot of runway still in distance learning. We are only playing in a few markets. There's a lot of market expansion potential for us by bringing in blended learning. We have no offerings in the FET and skills training market, and we haven't touched the rest of Africa yet. Although we believe we have still a lot of runway in South Africa, we already start looking at potential outside of the boundaries of the country.

Speaker #1: Price point level. And now, with this new mode of delivery, we will also be able to offer a contact learning equivalent at a lower price point.

Speaker #1: In summary, we say that we are well positioned to accelerate growth. As we've said to our shareholders, our distance learning is well established. We see a lot of runway still in distance learning.

Speaker #1: We are only playing in a few markets. There's a lot of market expansion potential for us by bringing in blended learning. We have no offerings in the FET and skills training market.

Speaker #1: And we haven't touched the rest of Africa yet. Although we believe we still have a lot of runway in South Africa, we are already starting to look at potential outside of the boundaries of the country.

Speaker #1: But we also realize that we need more expertise and experience in doing business in Africa, and that's also something that we are focusing on—building that capacity.

Chris Vorster: We also realize that we need more expertise and experience in doing business in Africa, and that's also something that we are focusing on in building that capacity. A wider range of price points. As I've just indicated, we are playing only in the two brackets. We've got nothing in the lower price point bracket for contact learning or equivalent contact learning. We see that as a very exciting new step for us at Stadio. The quality of our programs. We are very confident that Stadio is producing quality graduates. Our employment surveys prove that our graduates are highly in demand. We are well-positioned as a business with a very strong balance sheet. We can act on all these opportunities, and I think one will see a lot of things happening over the next few months towards the end of the year.

Chris Vorster: We also realize that we need more expertise and experience in doing business in Africa, and that's also something that we are focusing on in building that capacity. A wider range of price points. As I've just indicated, we are playing only in the two brackets. We've got nothing in the lower price point bracket for contact learning or equivalent contact learning. We see that as a very exciting new step for us at STADIO. The quality of our programs. We are very confident that STADIO is producing quality graduates. Our employment surveys prove that our graduates are highly in demand. We are well-positioned as a business with a very strong balance sheet. We can act on all these opportunities, and I think one will see a lot of things happening over the next few months towards the end of the year.

Speaker #1: A wider range of price points. As I've just indicated, we are playing only in the two brackets. We've got nothing in the lower price point bracket for contact learning or equivalent contact learning.

Speaker #1: We see that as a very exciting new step for us at Star U. Regarding the quality of our programs, we are very confident that Star U is producing quality graduates.

Speaker #1: Our employment surveys prove that. Our graduates are highly in demand. We are well positioned as a business, with a very strong balance sheet. We can act on all these opportunities.

Speaker #1: And I think one will see a lot of things happening over the next few months, towards the end of the year. And then lastly, ladies and gentlemen, we're very excited.

Chris Vorster: Lastly, ladies and gentlemen, we're very excited and I can say that we believe we're a university in waiting, and that we will meet the criteria that would be set by the department when we can apply for university status. Yes, we've laid the foundation, as Ishak also alluded to. We're very excited about the second half of this year, and we believe that Stadio will really accelerate our growth over the next few months. Thank you very much. We will now open for a question and answer session. Kate, you will read us the questions from the online people, and we'll have a roaming mic for questions in the room. Any questions?

Chris Vorster: Lastly, ladies and gentlemen, we're very excited and I can say that we believe we're a university in waiting, and that we will meet the criteria that would be set by the department when we can apply for university status. Yes, we've laid the foundation, as Ishak also alluded to. We're very excited about the second half of this year, and we believe that STADIO will really accelerate our growth over the next few months. Thank you very much. We will now open for a question and answer session. Kate, you will read us the questions from the online people, and we'll have a roaming mic for questions in the room. Any questions?

Speaker #1: And I can say that we believe we're a university in waiting, and that we will meet the criteria that would be set by the department when we can apply for university status.

Speaker #1: So yes, we've laid the foundation. As Isaac also alluded to, we're very excited about the second half of this year, and we believe that StarU will really accelerate our growth over the next few months.

Speaker #1: Thank you very much. We will now open the question and answer session. You will read us the questions from the online participants, and we will also have a roaming mic.

Speaker #1: Are there any questions in the room? Thank you for the opportunity. I'm just interested in the format of the blended offering. You mentioned it, but what will it look like?

[Analyst]: Thank you for the opportunity. I am just interested in the format of the blended offering. You mentioned it, but what will it look like?

[Analyst 1]: Thank you for the opportunity. I am just interested in the format of the blended offering. You mentioned it, but what will it look like?

Speaker #2: Of course, I'm not going to unpack it in detail. What makes us very excited about the blended offering is, as I've indicated, there is a big demand for contact-equivalent contact learning at a lower price point.

Chris Vorster: Again, I am not going to unpack it in detail. What makes us very excited about the blended offering is, as I have indicated, there is a big demand for equivalent contact learning at a lower price point, and that blended model will focus on exactly that. Not having these big campuses with all the campus life on it, but to look at a premises that can offer a quality environment, but without having to spend all the CapEx in offering that class-based education.

Speaker #2: And that blended model will focus on exactly that—not having these big campuses with all the campus life on them, but to look at premises that can offer a quality environment without having to spend all the capex involved in offering that class-based education.

Speaker #3: Chris and Isaac are well done. I am incredibly inquisitive in terms of how big this market is. You know, there are three questions: Is there a market?

Chris van der Merwe: Chris and Ishak, well done. I am incredibly inquisitive in terms of how big this market is. You know those three questions, is there a market? How big is the market? Will the product be a lasting product if we take a view for over 10 years? The growth has been sterling. My question is, if our Parliament adopts stalling, considering the power of AI, how big do you think is our market, considering that we can also expand to the SADC countries?

[Analyst 2]: Chris and Ishak, well done. I am incredibly inquisitive in terms of how big this market is. You know those three questions, is there a market? How big is the market? Will the product be a lasting product if we take a view for over 10 years? The growth has been sterling. My question is, if our Parliament adopts stalling, considering the power of AI, how big do you think is our market, considering that we can also expand to the SADC countries?

Speaker #3: And how big is the market? And will the product be a lasting product if we take a view over 10 years? Now, the growth has been sterling.

Speaker #3: So my question is, if our parliament adopts Starlink, considering the power of AI, how big do you think our market is, considering that we can also expand to the Saidic countries?

Speaker #2: Now, Chris, let me start off by saying we really believe in the market and in the size of the market. I think over the last few years especially, we've seen a shift in South Africa.

Chris Vorster: Chris, let me start off by saying we really believe in the market, in the size of the market. I think over the last few years, especially, we have seen a shift in South Africa, where in the past, private school education was seen as a premium product. However, private higher education has the reputation of being inferior to our public university. That has changed tremendously over the last few years, and I strongly believe that what is happening currently in this private higher education space is contributing to that. I think the quality of the offering of not just Stadio, but also a lot of our bigger competitors, have really increased the quality of higher education in this space. So we believe that the market is very big.

Chris Vorster: Chris, let me start off by saying we really believe in the market, in the size of the market. I think over the last few years, especially, we have seen a shift in South Africa, where in the past, private school education was seen as a premium product. However, private higher education has the reputation of being inferior to our public university. That has changed tremendously over the last few years, and I strongly believe that what is happening currently in this private higher education space is contributing to that. I think the quality of the offering of not just STADIO, but also a lot of our bigger competitors, have really increased the quality of higher education in this space. So we believe that the market is very big.

Speaker #2: In the past, private or private school education was seen as a premium product. However, private higher education has the reputation of being inferior to our public universities.

Speaker #2: That has changed tremendously over the last few years, and I strongly believe that what is happening currently in this private higher education space is contributing to that.

Speaker #2: I think the quality of the offering—not just at Star U, but also from many of our larger competitors—has really increased the quality of higher education in the space.

Speaker #2: So, we believe that the market is very big. Also, if you look at the profile of South Africa and its schools, a lot of our lower-fee schools in the past didn't get access to higher education programs.

Chris Vorster: Also, if you look at the profile of South Africa and its schools, a lot of our lower fee schools in the past didn't get access into higher education programs. The main reason for that being affordability. If you add up all the costs associated with enrolling at a university, it is actually astronomical. Your school or your tuition fees are normally not the biggest part of your cost. It's the accommodation, traveling, and your life expenses moving into a town where your university campus is. I think by taking education into those areas where there are not university campuses, even increase the size of the market.

Speaker #2: The main reason for that has been affordability. If you add up all the costs associated with enrolling at the university, it is actually astronomical. Your school or your tuition fees are normally not the biggest part of your cost.

Speaker #2: It's the accommodation, travelling, and your living expenses—moving into a town where your university campus is. So I think, by taking education into those areas where there are not university campuses, you can even increase the size of the market.

Speaker #1: Thank you, Chris and Isaac, for a really good presentation and great results. Just to follow on from Dr. Chris's question regarding blended: As I was driving in this morning from town, on this foggy day, I was listening to SAFM and the crisis going on in Manispa's funding scheme.

[Analyst]: Thank you very much for a really good presentation and great results. Just to follow on from Dr. Chris van der Merwe's question regarding blended. As I was driving in this morning from town in this foggy day, I was listening to SAfm and the crisis going on in the NSFAS funding scheme. The gentleman on the call said 97%, if I'm right, of NSFAS funding goes to accommodation. Which means if you can do away with that and actually provide that funding from government into educational purposes, there could be a huge market of this company going forward once you get university status. Any comment on that, please?

[Analyst 3]: Thank you very much for a really good presentation and great results. Just to follow on from Dr. Chris van der Merwe's question regarding blended. As I was driving in this morning from town in this foggy day, I was listening to SAfm and the crisis going on in the NSFAS funding scheme. The gentleman on the call said 97%, if I'm right, of NSFAS funding goes to accommodation. Which means if you can do away with that and actually provide that funding from government into educational purposes, there could be a huge market of this company going forward once you get university status. Any comment on that, please?

Speaker #1: And the gentleman on the call said 97%, if I'm right, of Manispa's funding goes to accommodation. Which means if you can do away with that and actually provide that funding from government into educational purposes, there could be a huge market for this company going forward once you get university status.

Speaker #1: Any comment on that, please?

Speaker #2: Yes, no, 100%. It is, as I've said, we have identified exactly that. Just in our research over the last few months, people responsible for sponsoring and assisting students to go to university have said exactly that.

Chris Vorster: Yes. No, 100%. As I've said, we have identified exactly that. Just in our research the last few months, people responsible in sponsoring and assisting students to go to university have said exactly that. With this blended mode of delivery that we are planning to roll out, we have worked out that you can accommodate five students for the same price as one student going to university and having to pay for accommodation and traveling costs. Yes, definitely. That's all part of our ethos and our DNA, is to make higher education accessible to more South Africans.

Speaker #2: With this blended mode of delivery that we are planning to roll out, we have worked out that you can accommodate five students for the same price.

Speaker #2: As one student going to university and having to pay for accommodation and traveling costs—so yes, definitely. That's all part of our ethos and our DNA.

Speaker #2: Our aim is to make higher education accessible to more South Africans.

Speaker #1: There we go. Sorry. Chris, Isaac, just a question on affordability. So, it seems like the thing that's coming through a lot here is just consumer pressure.

[Analyst]: There we go. Sorry. Chris, Ishak, just a question on affordability. It seems like the thing that's coming through a lot here is around just consumer pressure. That's kind of the biggest learning for me of the morning. If I look at that debtor book, it looks like the longer duration piece of it has grown disproportionately with the total debtor book, which is interesting. That talks to affordability, I guess. The high price qualifications taking strain. Is it pockets of issues? Is it like the AFDA issue potentially? Is it a broader story? Then I guess the university status, does that give you more pricing power long-term? You've got blended learning coming in, which is a great volumes play in ROE, but is there some pricing power that comes with that as well, maybe for in-person?

[Analyst 4]: There we go. Sorry. Chris, Ishak, just a question on affordability. It seems like the thing that's coming through a lot here is around just consumer pressure. That's kind of the biggest learning for me of the morning. If I look at that debtor book, it looks like the longer duration piece of it has grown disproportionately with the total debtor book, which is interesting. That talks to affordability, I guess. The high price qualifications taking strain. Is it pockets of issues? Is it like the AFDA issue potentially? Is it a broader story? Then I guess the university status, does that give you more pricing power long-term? You've got blended learning coming in, which is a great volumes play in ROE, but is there some pricing power that comes with that as well, maybe for in-person?

Speaker #1: That's kind of the biggest learning for me of the morning. So if I look at that data book, it looks like the longer-duration piece of it has grown disproportionately with the total data book, which is interesting.

Speaker #1: So that talks to affordability, I guess. The high price qualifications taking strain—just, is it pockets of issues? So, is it like the after issue, potentially?

Speaker #1: Is it a broader story? And then, I guess, the university status—does that give you more pricing power long term? So you’ve got blended learning coming in, which is a great volumes play and ROE, but is there some pricing power that comes with that as well?

Speaker #1: Maybe for in-person?

Speaker #2: Look, I'll hand over to you to talk about the data. Let's say it's a tough environment for a lot of our students. Even if you look at our data book, I think generally we see it takes longer for students to settle their tuition fees if we look at our distance learning behavior.

Chris Vorster: Look, I will hand over to you to talk about the debtors. Let's say it's a tough environment for a lot of our students. Even if you look at our debtors book, I think there is. Generally, we see it takes longer for students to settle their tuition fees, especially if we look at our distance learning behavior. These are typical adult learners, so they have other life priorities as well, and sometimes education gets paid last on the priority list. However, we do see these students come back. Even if it takes longer, they do come back, pay their school fees, and then continue. We do see pressure on the premium price point offerings that we have currently, but there is also a strong and definite market that want to operate in those specific qualifications that we offer at that high price point.

Speaker #2: These are typical adult learners, so they have other life priorities as well. And sometimes, education gets paid last in the priority list. However, we do see these students come back—even if it takes longer, they do come back, pay their school fees, and then continue.

Speaker #2: We do see pressure on the premium price point offerings that we have currently, but there is also a strong and definite market that wants to operate in those specific qualifications that we offer.

Speaker #2: At that high price point. And if you want to talk about the data book, Isaac?

Chris Vorster: If you want to talk about the debtors book, Ishak.

Speaker #1: Yeah, thank you, Chris. Thank you, Rob, for the question. I mean, exactly right—your earlier point. I think we are, to answer your first component...

Ishak Kula: Yeah. Thank you, Chris. Thank you, Rob, for the question. I mean, exactly right to your earlier point. I think we are. To answer your first component, we are definitely seeing it isolated to our price point qualifications, where I think the payment behavior does take longer. So there is certainly a bit more pressure in that system. But I think likewise, we have responded commensurately as a business by introducing various initiatives to try and curb that. I think quite interestingly, to articulate and to substantiate the point in the STADIO Higher Education example, in contact learning, we have actually seen improvement in collections year on year. So I think that is also remarkable. So I think the initiatives and the drive there has shown that although the consumer remains under pressure, we are still seeing good collections, and particularly in that space. But the high price point one is definitely taking some strain.

Speaker #1: We are definitely seeing it isolated to higher price point qualifications. I think the payment behavior does take longer, so there is certainly a bit more pressure in that system.

Speaker #1: But I think, likewise, we've responded commensurately as a business by introducing various initiatives to try and curb that. I think, quite interestingly, to articulate and to substantiate the point in the study—higher education example—in contact learning, we've actually seen improvement in collections year on year.

Speaker #1: So I think that's also remarkable. I think the initiatives and the drive there have shown that although the consumer remains under pressure, we're still seeing good collections, particularly in that space, but higher price point ones are definitely taking some strain.

Speaker #1: And then I think the point I just want to raise is the growth in the prior book is still less, if you look at the gross book, than the priors.

Ishak Kula: I think the point I would just want to raise is both on the prior book is still less.

Ishak Kula: If you look at the gross book than the priors, it is grown by 5% only comparatively to 20% odd in the prior.

Speaker #1: It's grown by 5% only, compared to 20%, I think, in the prior year. But because we're seeing enhanced recoveries of things we've written off, we've been able to reduce the coverage a little bit there to compensate for those enhanced recoveries.

Chris Vorster: Because we are seeing enhanced recoveries of things we have written off, we have been able to reduce the coverage a little bit there to compensate for that enhanced recoveries.

Ishak Kula: Because we are seeing enhanced recoveries of things we have written off, we have been able to reduce the coverage a little bit there to compensate for that enhanced recoveries.

Speaker #3: Thanks, everyone. There's just a question from my side. Given some of the growth initiatives currently underway, is there any thought being given to increasing leverage in the business, or would you still look to keep leverage at the same targeted level?

[Analyst]: Thanks, everyone. Just a question from my side. Just given some of the growth initiatives currently underway, is there any thought given to increasing leverage in the business or would you still look to keep leverage at the same target level?

[Analyst 5]: Thanks, everyone. Just a question from my side. Just given some of the growth initiatives currently underway, is there any thought given to increasing leverage in the business or would you still look to keep leverage at the same target level?

Speaker #2: Yes, I think there are a lot of projects that we are currently considering. It's at a very sensitive point. I don't really know how to say more in that regard, but definitely, we are looking at a lot of new potential projects coming in very soon.

Chris Vorster: Yes. There is a lot of projects that we are currently considering. It is at a very sensitive point. I do not know really how to say more in that regard. But definitely, we look at a lot of new potential projects coming in very soon. That will really address the leveraging of the total business going forward.

Speaker #2: And that will really address the leveraging of the total business going forward.

Speaker #1: Yeah, Chris, if I may add to that, I think—just to maybe give it some color in terms of numbers—at the off year, I mean, our debt levels were 120.

Ishak Kula: Chris, if I may add to that. I think just to maybe give it some color in terms of numbers. At the H1, our debt levels was ZAR 120 million. We repaid the majority of that post the H1. I think our strategy pending further acquisitions or other opportunities and expansion is, of course, to keep that as low as we practically can because the business is out there and generating a significant amount of cash. If we look at our debt carrying capacity, I will cite December 2025 numbers, of course, before I give you forecast information. I think we have generated EBITDA of just over ZAR 500 million at December 2025. We have got debt carrying capacity of circa just over ZAR 1 billion. So I think there is headway room there.

Speaker #1: We repay the majority of that post the off-year. And I think our strategy, pending sort of further acquisitions or other opportunities and expansion, is, of course, to keep that as low as we practically can.

Speaker #1: Because the business is healthy and generating a significant amount of cash. If we look at our debt-carrying capacity, I mean, obviously we need December 25 numbers, of course, before I give you a forecast or information.

Speaker #1: I think we've generated EBITDA of just over 500 million. At December 25, we've got debt carrying capacity of just over 1 billion rand.

Speaker #1: So I think there's headroom there. Of course, we'll look at the optimal debt levels when we embark on a growth opportunity to make sure that the shareholders' returns are optimal.

Ishak Kula: Of course, we will look at the optimal debt levels when we will embark on a growth opportunity to make sure that the shareholders' returns are optimal. So you can definitely expect some increased gearing capacity, but it will always be within acceptable parameters.

Speaker #1: So you can definitely expect some increased debt-carrying capacity, but it will always be within acceptable parameters.

Speaker #4: Thank you very much. At Millpark, could you maybe just speak a bit more about the headwinds you're experiencing there? And then, you also mentioned some green shoots and new initiatives—could you touch a bit on those as well?

[Company Representative] (Stadio Holdings): Thanks very much. At Milpark, can you maybe just speak a bit more about the headwinds that you are experiencing there? Then you also mentioned some green shoots and new initiatives, so just to touch a bit on those.

[Analyst 6]: Thanks very much. At Milpark, can you maybe just speak a bit more about the headwinds that you are experiencing there? Then you also mentioned some green shoots and new initiatives, so just to touch a bit on those.

Speaker #2: We have the CEO of Millpark here. I will also give him an opportunity. I think the big issue there is still the decline in the B2B business.

Chris Vorster: We have the CEO of Milpark here. I will also give him an opportunity. I think the big issue there is still the decline in the B2B business. I think we have been seeing that for the last few years. It is still the corporate business that is not showing any growth. Actually, we see more and more of the corporate entities cutting down on this type of formal education, maybe looking more at skills training. But I think, for Milpark especially, we have not introduced a lot of new programs over the last few years. But we have a few very exciting programs in the pipeline for next year already. A minimum of three new programs that we will launch there, if I am right, Andrew. Then, a whole lot of exciting other programs that will come to offer around about the end of 2027 and 2028.

Speaker #2: I think we've been seeing that for the last two years. It's still the corporate business that is not showing any growth. Actually, we see more and more of the corporate entities cutting down on this type of formal education.

Speaker #2: Maybe looking more at skills training. But I think for Milpark especially, we haven't introduced a lot of new programs over the last few years.

Speaker #2: But we have a few very exciting programs in the pipeline for next year already—at least three new programs that we will launch there.

Speaker #2: If I'm right, Andrew, and then a whole lot of other exciting programs that will come to offer around about the end of 2027 and 2028.

Speaker #1: And Chris, if I may, I know there's been a question, too, on the B2B piece. I think that maybe if we look at total student numbers, it's sort of between the 4% and 8% of our total student numbers.

Ishak Kula: Chris, if I may. I know there has been a question, too, on the B2B piece. I think just maybe if we look at total student numbers, it is sort of between 4% and 8% of our total student numbers. It ranges between that level depending on the corporates and the number of students they enroll in the programs. Therefore, you can see the impact, I think that we cited in our total students, the impact of about 4% at the H1 mark. In saying that, I think we like to believe that it has hopefully reached its bottom. Of course, but you can never say with a great degree of certainty. I think to Chris's point, therefore, we have seen in the banking and financial services space that many of the corporates opt for QCTO-type qualifications.

Speaker #1: And it ranges between that level, depending on the corporates and the number of students they enroll in the programs. And therefore, you can see the impact, I think, that we cited in our total student impact—about 4% at the half-year mark.

Speaker #1: In saying that, I think we like to believe that it has hopefully reached its bottom. Of course, you can never say that with a great degree of certainty.

Speaker #1: I think, to Chris's point, we've therefore seen in the banking and financial services space that many of the corporates opt for QCTO-type qualifications.

Speaker #1: And as a consequence, I think, led by Andrew and his team, there are a number of initiatives in that space to try and, one, not only curb, I think, the B2B impact, but hopefully over time even grow it.

Ishak Kula: As a consequence, I think, led by Andrew and his team, there is a number of initiatives in that space to try, and one, not only curb, I think, the B2B impact, but hopefully over time, even grow it.

Speaker #3: Online questions?

Chris Vorster: Online questions.

Chris Vorster: Online questions?

Speaker #4: Thank you, Chris. Nick, I think that's actually spoken to your B2B question. Talia has asked three questions. The first one: it's difficult to ascertain the effectiveness of marketing, but have you seen the rugby campaign helping student growth?

[Company Representative] (Stadio Holdings): Thank you, Chris. Nick, I think Ishak has just spoken to your B2B question. Talia has asked three questions. First one, it is difficult to ascertain the effectiveness of marketing. But have you seen the rugby campaign helping student growth?

Operator: Thank you, Chris. Nick, I think Ishak has just spoken to your B2B question. Talia has asked three questions. First one, it is difficult to ascertain the effectiveness of marketing. But have you seen the rugby campaign helping student growth?

Speaker #1: Well, I've put my head on the block here. In the sense of partnering with the Springbok brand, I can definitely say the numbers are not yet there in its first year of doing it.

Chris Vorster: Well, I will put my head on the block here. In the sense of partnering with the Springbok brand, definitely, I can say the numbers are not yet in. It is our first year of doing it. I think there is a general feedback that we get that the campaign is working very well for Stadio. We get a lot of exposure in this regard. Just for example, the past Saturday, we had 3 Springboks on the field studying with Stadio, being Damian Willemse, Paul de Villiers, who had a blinder of a match, and then also Zachary Porthen, the young, tighthead prop. If I can say, our involvement with the Springboks, at under 20 level, there, we had 30 boys that participated in the World Cup, in Georgia. 16 of those 30-man squad are studying with Stadio.

Chris Vorster: Well, I will put my head on the block here. In the sense of partnering with the Springbok brand, definitely, I can say the numbers are not yet in. It is our first year of doing it. I think there is a general feedback that we get that the campaign is working very well for STADIO. We get a lot of exposure in this regard. Just for example, the past Saturday, we had 3 Springboks on the field studying with STADIO, being Damian Willemse, Paul de Villiers, who had a blinder of a match, and then also Zachary Porthen, the young, tighthead prop. If I can say, our involvement with the Springboks, at under 20 level, there, we had 30 boys that participated in the World Cup, in Georgia. 16 of those 30-man squad are studying with STADIO.

Speaker #1: But I think there is a general feedback that we get that the campaign is working very well for Stardew. We get a lot of exposure in this regard.

Speaker #1: Just for example, this past Saturday, we had three Springboks on the field studying with Stadio, being Damian Willemse and Paul de Villiers. We had a blinder of a match.

Speaker #1: And then also Zachary Porten, the young tighthead prop. If I can say, our involvement with the Springboks at Under-20 level—there we had 30 boys that participated in the World Cup in Georgia.

Speaker #1: And 16 of those 30-man squad are studying with Stadio. We see all of these boys being ambassadors for the brand, and we strongly believe that when the numbers are in at the end of the year, we will see, or we will reap, the benefits of the partnership with SI Rugby.

Chris Vorster: We see all of these boys being ambassadors for the brand, and we strongly believe that when the numbers are in at the end of the year, we will reap the benefits of the partnership with SA Rugby.

Speaker #4: The second question: I see you give students shares in Stadio. How is this sustainable, as you have a large student base? And is it dilutive to shareholders?

[Company Representative] (Stadio Holdings): The second question, I see you give students shares in Stadio. How is this sustainable as you have a large student base, and is it dilutive to shareholders?

Operator: The second question, I see you give students shares in STADIO. How is this sustainable as you have a large student base, and is it dilutive to shareholders?

Speaker #1: Yeah. So this has been a decision from the Stadio management a few years ago already—to really partner with our students. We talk about the Stadio family.

Chris Vorster: Yeah. This has been a decision from the Stadio management a few years ago already, is to really partner with our students. We talk about the Stadio family, and we strongly believe it is sustainable. Let me just quantify it. These shares are not for all Stadio students. These are for postgraduate students. So it is a smaller percentage of our graduates, only for students obtaining honors, masters, and doctorate studies. So it is not in numbers, so many students that do qualify. We ring-fence that for postgraduate students.

Chris Vorster: Yeah. This has been a decision from the STADIO management a few years ago already, is to really partner with our students. We talk about the STADIO family, and we strongly believe it is sustainable. Let me just quantify it. These shares are not for all STADIO students. These are for postgraduate students. So it is a smaller percentage of our graduates, only for students obtaining honors, masters, and doctorate studies. So it is not in numbers, so many students that do qualify. We ring-fence that for postgraduate students.

Speaker #1: And we strongly believe it is sustainable. Let me just quantify it. The shares are not for all Stadio students. These are for postgraduate students.

Speaker #1: So it is a smaller percentage of our graduates, only for students obtaining honours, master's, and doctorates. So it is not in numbers. So many students that do qualify.

Speaker #1: We ring-fenced it for postgraduate students.

Ishak Kula: Can I maybe just add, if I may, Chris? I think to that point, just in terms of is it dilutive and sustainable. Firstly, that money, we do not issue shares for those, so we actually make the money available, and those shares are bought in the market, so they are not dilutive. If we actually look at it strategically as to why we do it actually just allows us also to market to our alumni and give them the opportunity to obviously sell the Stadio brand further. But also, I think in many instances, this just allows the students, as part of our investment into them, give them the opportunity to learn more about finances. I think that is probably two critical components as to why we do it as well.

Ishak Kula: Can I maybe just add, if I may, Chris? I think to that point, just in terms of is it dilutive and sustainable. Firstly, that money, we do not issue shares for those, so we actually make the money available, and those shares are bought in the market, so they are not dilutive. If we actually look at it strategically as to why we do it actually just allows us also to market to our alumni and give them the opportunity to obviously sell the STADIO brand further. But also, I think in many instances, this just allows the students, as part of our investment into them, give them the opportunity to learn more about finances. I think that is probably two critical components as to why we do it as well.

Speaker #3: Can I maybe just add, if I may, Chris? I think to that point, just in terms of is it dilutive and sustainable—firstly, that money, we don't issue shares for those.

Speaker #3: So, we actually make the money available, and those shares are bought in the market, so they're not dilutive. We actually look at it strategically as to why we do it.

Speaker #3: Actually, it just allows us also to market to our alumni and give them the opportunity to, obviously, sell the Stadio brand further and further.

Speaker #3: But also, I think in many instances, it just allows the students, as part of our investment into them, to be given the opportunity to learn more about finances.

Speaker #3: And I think those are probably the two critical components as to why we do it as well.

Speaker #1: Yeah, I think the honours are also in the room from EFTA. Just every year, when we do award these shares to students—to postgraduate students—it comes with great excitement.

Chris Vorster: I think Dian is also in the room from ASTA. Every year when we do award these shares to students or to postgraduate students, it comes with great excitement. It is, as Ishak indicated, a new thing for so many people in our country. That absolute joy and absolute pride of being part of a listed entity is very, very rewarding.

Chris Vorster: I think Diaan is also in the room from AFDA. Every year when we do award these shares to students or to postgraduate students, it comes with great excitement. It is, as Ishak indicated, a new thing for so many people in our country. That absolute joy and absolute pride of being part of a listed entity is very, very rewarding.

Speaker #1: It's, as Isak indicated, a new thing for so many people in our country. And that absolute joy and absolute pride of being part of a listed entity is very, very rewarding.

Speaker #4: And then her final question is, how would the margins sit for the mixed learning offering?

[Company Representative] (Stadio Holdings): Her final question is, how would the margins sit with the mixed learning offering?

Operator: Her final question is, how would the margins sit with the mixed learning offering?

Speaker #1: So we've done our homework and our research. We think we can run very healthy margins with the blended mode. Obviously, you see margins are 30% currently.

Chris Vorster: We have done our homework and our research. We think we can run very healthy margins with the blended mode. Obviously, you see margins are 30% currently, and we believe with this new blended mode, we can get very close, if not maybe a bit higher than the 30% margins. So we are excited. We are upbeat about it. A lot of work is going in behind the scenes in launching this properly. But yes, from a margin perspective, I think it is well within our aim of a 30% EBITDA margin.

Speaker #1: And we believe with this new blended mode, we can get very close, if not maybe a bit higher, than the 30% margins. So we're excited.

Speaker #1: We are upbeat about it. A lot of work is going in behind the scenes to launch this properly. But yes, from a margin perspective, I think it is well within our aim of a 30% EBITDA margin.

Speaker #4: And well done on achieving pre-listing student targets. Looking forward, what are the capital requirements to reach and support the 100,000 students? And what are the ROEs and ROICs you would expect at that scale?

[Company Representative] (Stadio Holdings): Well done on achieving pre-listing student targets. Looking forward, what are the capital requirements to reach and support the 100,000 students, and what are the ROEs and ROICs you would expect at that scale? Can you paint the path to achieve this scale and the challenges you need to overcome to be successful?

Operator: Well done on achieving pre-listing student targets. Looking forward, what are the capital requirements to reach and support the 100,000 students, and what are the ROEs and ROICs you would expect at that scale? Can you paint the path to achieve this scale and the challenges you need to overcome to be successful?

Speaker #4: Can you paint the path to achieve this scale, and the challenges you need to overcome to be successful?

Speaker #1: So we've indicated that there is great potential in our contact learning business. On this new blended mode, it won't be as capex-heavy as a normal comprehensive campus, as what we have here.

Chris Vorster: We have indicated that there is great potential in our contact learning business. On this new blended mode, it will not be as CapEx heavy as a normal comprehensive campus as what we have here. I think the capital required to launch the blended mode will not be as high as a normal contact learning campus. Then one must remember, we already created the infrastructure in our distance learning business. We are very well positioned. As I have indicated, we already service more than 50,000 students on the distance learning mode. To expand those numbers come with very, very little further CapEx investment. Obviously, technology will always be there, and we will always look at using technology to improve our offering. But the foundation, the infrastructure to grow and accelerate our numbers in distance learning comes with very, very low CapEx additions.

Speaker #1: So, I think the capital required to launch the blended mode will not be as high as for a normal contact learning campus. And then, one must remember, we already created the infrastructure in our distance learning business.

Speaker #1: We are very well positioned, as I've indicated. We already service more than 50,000 students in distance learning mode. Expanding those numbers will require very little further capex investment.

Speaker #1: Obviously, technology will always be there, and we will always look at using technology to improve our offering. But the foundation—the infrastructure to grow and accelerate our numbers in distance learning—comes with very, very low CAPEX additions.

Speaker #1: And I do want to add to that, Isak.

Chris Vorster: Then if you want to add to that, Ishak?

Speaker #3: No, I think that's spot on, Chris. And I think, to the point around the ROEs, we've always had a stated objective of reaching 20% over time.

Ishak Kula: No, I think that is spot on, Chris. I think to the point around the ROEs, I think we have always had a stated objective of reaching 20% over time, and we believe this will by no way detract from that. If anything, it might enhance that growth trajectory.

Speaker #3: And we believe this will in no way detract from that, and if anything, it might enhance that growth trajectory.

Speaker #1: Yes, one more question.

Chris Vorster: There is one more question.

[Analyst]: Just indicate, yes. I will take it. Chris, thank you very much for this presentation. Very exciting, and we are looking forward to the developments that we envisage to do in future. The one thing that I would like to ask you about is where does all this money come from? Is all the revenue coming from student fees? Would you have other avenues of income also?

[Analyst 7]: Just indicate, yes. I will take it. Chris, thank you very much for this presentation. Very exciting, and we are looking forward to the developments that we envisage to do in future. The one thing that I would like to ask you about is where does all this money come from? Is all the revenue coming from student fees? Would you have other avenues of income also?

Speaker #3: Chris, thank you very much for this presentation. Very exciting, and we're looking forward to the developments that we envisage in the future. The one thing that I would like to ask you about is: where does all this money come from?

Speaker #3: Is all the revenue coming from student fees, or do you have other avenues of income also?

Chris Vorster: Yes. Obviously, the majority of our income comes from our students, without a doubt. We also look at other options for our long-term expansion plans. At this stage, the majority comes from student income and then also having access to our revolving credit facility.

Speaker #1: Yes, obviously, the majority of our income comes from our students—we've added that. But we also look at other options for our long-term expansion plans.

Speaker #1: But at this stage, the majority comes from student income, and then also having access to our revolving credit facility.

Speaker #3: Yes. Now, in view of these options that you are considering, I thought that Stadio should also think of considering other avenues to, say for instance, a second avenue of income through perhaps grants from industry, private persons. I've just read yesterday about one great South African entrepreneur who donates his millions that he is getting from his business now to two different schools in Cape Town.

[Analyst]: Yes. In view of these options that you are considering, I thought that Stadio should also think of considering other avenues, say, so it is a second avenue of income through perhaps grants from industry, private persons. I just read yesterday about the one great South African entrepreneur who donated millions that he is getting from his business now to two different schools in Cape Town. I do not know which schools. Anyway, there are people who are willing to make donations, especially if you can present to them a good plan, which is to the benefit of our country and its people. This second avenue could also be private donations and from industry, but also, one must think of research outcomes. I think at the moment, Stadio perhaps under-considered by the National Research Foundation with fees from research publications.

[Analyst 7]: Yes. In view of these options that you are considering, I thought that STADIO should also think of considering other avenues, say, so it is a second avenue of income through perhaps grants from industry, private persons. I just read yesterday about the one great South African entrepreneur who donated millions that he is getting from his business now to two different schools in Cape Town. I do not know which schools. Anyway, there are people who are willing to make donations, especially if you can present to them a good plan, which is to the benefit of our country and its people. This second avenue could also be private donations and from industry, but also, one must think of research outcomes. I think at the moment, STADIO perhaps under-considered by the National Research Foundation with fees from research publications.

Speaker #3: I don't know which schools. But anyway, there are people who are willing to make donations, especially if you present to them a good plan—which is to the benefit of our country and its people.

Speaker #3: The second avenue could also be, yeah, like private donations and from industry. But also, one must think of research outcomes. I think at the moment, Stadio perhaps is under-considered by the National Research Foundation, with fees from research publications.

Speaker #3: But one should also think of patents—developing patents. Especially where we are, in the sense of our situation, waiting for university status, Stadio should not wait and say, well, we must tackle universities in their domain of developing patents. Through our, especially, postgraduate studies and staff who are appointed at Stadio, who are able to develop these things.

[Analyst]: One should also think of patents, developing patents, and especially where we are in a sensitive situation, waiting for university status. Stadio should not wait and say, "Well, we must tackle universities in their domain of developing patents through our especially postgraduate studies and staff who are appointed at Stadio, who are able to develop these things." That could be eventually, in a few years' time, could make a difference of millions of rands extra for the revenue of Stadio.

[Analyst 7]: One should also think of patents, developing patents, and especially where we are in a sensitive situation, waiting for university status. STADIO should not wait and say, "Well, we must tackle universities in their domain of developing patents through our especially postgraduate studies and staff who are appointed at STADIO, who are able to develop these things." That could be eventually, in a few years' time, could make a difference of millions of rands extra for the revenue of STADIO.

Speaker #3: And yeah, that could eventually, in a few years' time, make a difference of millions of rands extra for the revenue of Stadio.

Speaker #1: Nope, spot on. These are really things that we look at at the moment. As I've indicated up to now, Stadio is still a very young business.

Chris Vorster: No. Spot on. These are really things that we look at at the moment. As I've indicated up to now, Stadio is still a very young business. The focus of the executive team was more in establishing a higher education institution of quality, making sure that we invest in systems and in our curriculum. We have now reached the point to looking all these additional activities that can bring in additional income to the business. I must say, we already have donors supporting the institution, as well as corporates making bursaries available to our students. These things are already in place. But yes, there's a lot of potential still to grow in that area, and it is definitely something that we are focusing on and working on. Based on our research, with Professor Singh being in the room, I think we've done a lot of work in that regard.

Chris Vorster: No. Spot on. These are really things that we look at at the moment. As I've indicated up to now, STADIO is still a very young business. The focus of the executive team was more in establishing a higher education institution of quality, making sure that we invest in systems and in our curriculum. We have now reached the point to looking all these additional activities that can bring in additional income to the business. I must say, we already have donors supporting the institution, as well as corporates making bursaries available to our students. These things are already in place. But yes, there's a lot of potential still to grow in that area, and it is definitely something that we are focusing on and working on. Based on our research, with Professor Singh being in the room, I think we've done a lot of work in that regard.

Speaker #1: The focus of the executive team was more on establishing a higher education institution of quality, making sure that we invest in systems and in our curriculum.

Speaker #1: But we have now reached the point to look at all these additional activities that can bring in extra income to the business. I must say, we already have donors supporting the institution, as well as corporates making bursaries available to our students.

Speaker #1: These things are already in place. But yes, there’s a lot of potential still to grow in that area, and it is definitely something that we are focusing on and working on.

Speaker #1: Based on our research, and with Professor Singh being in the room, I think we've done a lot of work in that regard. We are super proud of all our research outputs.

Chris Vorster: We are super proud of all our research outputs, and if I compare it with some of the South African public universities, I think we are really on par.

Speaker #1: And if I compare it with some of the South African public universities, I think we are really on par.

Speaker #2: With regards to blended learning, and in terms of how currently it's predominantly distance, how big do you expect blended learning to become in the mix?

[Company Representative] (Stadio Holdings): With regards to the blended learning and in terms of how currently it's predominantly distance, how big do you expect the blended learning to become in the mix? What kind of offering are you targeting towards this blended learning market in terms of faculty and post-grad, undergrad?

[Analyst 8]: With regards to the blended learning and in terms of how currently it's predominantly distance, how big do you expect the blended learning to become in the mix? What kind of offering are you targeting towards this blended learning market in terms of faculty and post-grad, undergrad?

Speaker #2: And then, what kind of offering are you targeting towards the blended learning market in terms of faculty and postgrad, undergrad?

Speaker #1: So, as I've indicated, if we look at the higher education demand currently in our country, a lot of that demand comes from your Quantile 3, 4, and 5 schools.

Chris Vorster: As I have indicated, if we look at the higher education demand currently in our country, a lot of that demand comes from your quintile 3, 4, and 5 schools. It is a very clear, distinct market. If we look at what is happening in this space at the moment, we see the biggest growth, I think, in higher education numbers coming exactly from that lower price point offerings. The sooner we start, the faster I think that will become a significant part of our business. There are options there not to start at zero. We look at potential, a kickstart in launching our blended learning. We foresee it in the future to become a material big part of our business, maybe even bigger than our current contact learning.

Speaker #1: So, it's a very clear, distinct market. If we look at what is happening in the space at the moment, we see the biggest growth, I think, in higher education numbers coming exactly from those lower price point offerings.

Speaker #1: And so, the sooner we start, the faster I think that will become a significant part of our business. There are options there not to start at zero.

Speaker #1: We look at potentially kickstarting the launch of our blended learning. But yeah, we foresee it in the future becoming a materially big part of our business.

Speaker #1: Maybe current contact learning.

Speaker #3: And just to follow through on the blended—sorry, just to follow through on that blended learning question. So, do you see it as being under Stadio or a totally new brand for this question?

[Analyst]: Just to follow through on that blended.

[Analyst 9]: Just to follow through on that blended.

Chris Vorster: Harry?

[Analyst]: Just to follow through on that blended learning question. Do you see it as being under Stadio or a totally new brand? First question, and do you think, or will it be isolated to new campuses and new catchment areas and no use of existing contact learning infrastructure to deliver it? Do you think that the market that you are going for is sufficiently different to not cannibalize your existing contact learning business?

[Analyst 9]: Just to follow through on that blended learning question. Do you see it as being under STADIO or a totally new brand? First question, and do you think, or will it be isolated to new campuses and new catchment areas and no use of existing contact learning infrastructure to deliver it? Do you think that the market that you are going for is sufficiently different to not cannibalize your existing contact learning business?

Speaker #3: And do you think, or will it be isolated to new campuses and new catchment areas and no use of existing content learning infrastructure to deliver it?

Speaker #3: And do you think that the market that you're going for is sufficiently different to not cannibalize your existing contact learning business?

Speaker #1: So yes, it is definitely a different market. Let me start there. We will not offer the blended offering at a campus such as this at our comprehensive campuses.

Chris Vorster: Yes, it is definitely a different market. Let me start there. We will not offer the blended offering at the campus such as this, at our comprehensive campuses. It would be a different look and feel on those campuses, not necessarily having to build them. These are more spaces that I think we look at the lease market. Will it be in the same brand as Zoox? Not 100% comfortable to say that yet. We look at different options, but we are very far down the line on pulling the trigger on this one, but it might be one or the other.

Speaker #1: It would be a different look and feel on those campuses—not necessarily having to build them. These are more spaces that I think we look at in a lease market.

Speaker #1: Will it be in the same brand, Zoox? Not 100% comfortable to say that yet. We look at different options. But we are very far down the line on pulling the trigger on this one.

Speaker #1: But it might be one or the other. Long term, I think Stardio will work towards when we receive university status, to try and keep as much of our business under the university brand.

Chris Vorster: Long term, I think Stadio will work towards when we receive university status to try and keep as much of our business under the university brand and maybe even consolidate some of our brands going down the line into the university and have the one Stadio University brand. But for the short term, it might even be an additional brand that we can bring into the business. But I think the long-term goal under university status would be more of a consolidation. Any more questions, ladies and gentlemen? Yes.

Chris Vorster: Long term, I think STADIO will work towards when we receive university status to try and keep as much of our business under the university brand and maybe even consolidate some of our brands going down the line into the university and have the one STADIO University brand. But for the short term, it might even be an additional brand that we can bring into the business. But I think the long-term goal under university status would be more of a consolidation. Any more questions, ladies and gentlemen? Yes.

Speaker #1: And maybe even consolidate some of our brands, going down the line, into the university and have the one Stardew University brand. But for the short term, it might even be an additional brand that we can bring into the business.

Speaker #1: But I think the long-term goal, under university status, would be more of a consolidation. Any more questions, ladies and gentlemen? Yes?

Speaker #2: Yes.

[Analyst]: Hi. I just wanted to know, how does the 80/20 distance learning, contact learning split change with this new blended opportunity?

[Analyst 10]: Hi. I just wanted to know, how does the 80/20 distance learning, contact learning split change with this new blended opportunity?

Speaker #4: Hi, I just wanted to know—how does the 80/20 distance learning versus contact learning split change with this new blended opportunity? Yeah.

[Analyst]: Yeah.

[Analyst 10]: Yeah.

Speaker #1: So, distance learning is still the core of Stadio. It's without a doubt our biggest focus. The new blended learning is actually a little bit of a combination of distance learning and face-to-face learning.

Chris Vorster: Distance learning is still the core of Stadio. It is without a doubt our biggest focus. The new blended learning is actually a little bit of a combination of distance learning and face-to-face learning. We do not really see it as a total separate market. It is actually an enhancement of the distance learning offering with some classes. We believe there is great potential, as I have said. There is a big market for it, especially school leavers. If I can share this with you, our studies have shown it is very tough for young school leavers to go straight into distance learning. Distance learning is a lot of independent learning. They are used to the schooling system of a teacher standing in front of the classroom teaching, and then to go all of a sudden having to do independent learning is tough for a lot of our school leavers.

Chris Vorster: Distance learning is still the core of STADIO. It is without a doubt our biggest focus. The new blended learning is actually a little bit of a combination of distance learning and face-to-face learning. We do not really see it as a total separate market. It is actually an enhancement of the distance learning offering with some classes. We believe there is great potential, as I have said. There is a big market for it, especially school leavers. If I can share this with you, our studies have shown it is very tough for young school leavers to go straight into distance learning. Distance learning is a lot of independent learning. They are used to the schooling system of a teacher standing in front of the classroom teaching, and then to go all of a sudden having to do independent learning is tough for a lot of our school leavers.

Speaker #1: So, we do not really see it as a totally separate market. It's actually an enhancement of the distance learning offering, with some classes. So, we believe there's great potential, as I've said.

Speaker #1: There's a big market for it, especially among school leavers. If I may share this with you, our studies have shown it's very tough for young school leavers to go straight into distance learning.

Speaker #1: Distance learning involves a lot of independent learning. They're used to the schooling system of a teacher standing in front of the classroom, teaching, and then to go all of a sudden to having to do independent learning is tough for a lot of our school leavers.

Speaker #1: So this blended learning is something in between distance learning offerings and a full campus experience like this. It's difficult, and maybe a bit vague in our explanation, due to the sensitivity of what we are busy with.

Chris Vorster: This blended learning is something in between a distance learning offering and a full campus experience like this. Difficult and maybe a bit vague in our explanation due to the sensitivity of what we are busy with. But yes, we really believe it is a market on its own. I think that is all the questions. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen, for the opportunity, and we look forward to seeing you soon again. Thank you.

Speaker #1: But yes, we really believe it's a market on its own. So, I think that's all the questions. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen, for the opportunity.

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Q2 2026 Stadio Holdings Ltd Earnings Call

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Stadio Holdings

Earnings