AcadeMedia’s interim report, July 2023 – March 2024

Third quarter (January – March 2024)

• Net sales increased by 10.0 percent and amounted to SEK 4,613 million (4,195). Organic growth, including bolt-on acquisitions, was 6.8 percent.
• Operating profit (EBIT) amounted to SEK 422 million (361).
• Adjusted operating profit, adjusted for items affecting comparability and effects of IFRS 16, amounted to SEK 327 million (277). Items affecting comparability were SEK -11 million (-6).
• Net profit for the period amounted to SEK 215 million (170).
• Earnings per share were SEK 2.05 (1.60) after dilution. Adjusted for IFRS 16, earnings per share were SEK 2.30 (1.85) after dilution.
• The number of children and students in preschool, compulsory school, and upper secondary school increased by 5.4% to an average of 104,421 (99,076) in the third quarter.
• In March 2024, Touhula was acquired in Finland. The acquisition includes 113 preschools with 7,800 children and a turnover of approximately EUR 100 million. 

First nine months (July 2023 – March 2024)

• Net sales increased by 10.0 percent and amounted to SEK 12,476 million (11,340). Organic growth, including bolt-on acquisitions, was 7.4 percent.
• Operating profit (EBIT) amounted to SEK 958 million (865).
• Adjusted operating profit, adjusted for items affecting comparability and effects of IFRS 16, amounted to SEK 682 million (631). Items affecting comparability were SEK -17 million (-22).
• Net profit for the period amounted to SEK 383 million (372).
• Earnings per share were SEK 3.64 (3.52) after dilution. Adjusted for IFRS 16, earnings per share were SEK 4.39 (4.19) after dilution.
• The number of children and students in preschool, compulsory school, and upper secondary school increased by 4.7% to an average of 102,155 (97,559) during the first nine months.
• In March, the voluntary share redemption programme ended. In total, the number of shares and votes decreased by 4,095,867. 

The complete report will be made available at

https://academedia.se/en/investors/reports-and-presentations/

Comments from CEO Marcus Strömberg

The third quarter of the financial year shows continued stable development and good growth. Continued quality initiatives and investments resulted in a net sales increase of 10.0 percent. International operations increased its turnover by 22 percent, with Finland now also included. The increase in school voucher funding in Sweden for 2024 averaged 4.5 percent and now better matches the high inflation we saw during 2023, although in many municipalities, school vouchers still do not compensate for cost increases. Growth, stable financial development, and further positive developments in the Adult Education Segment creates a solid base for the rest of the year.

Continued international expansion

During the quarter, AcadeMedia expanded into another country, Finland, through the acquisition of Touhula, with 113 units, 7,800 children, and a turnover of approximately EUR 100 million. We have long wanted to establish operations in Finland, and Touhula is one of the country’s leading preschool operators. In Finland, the number of children attending preschool is rising and more families are choosing private options.

AcadeMedia's international operations in Norway, Finland, Germany, and the Netherlands, as well as smaller operations in Poland and the UK, account for nearly 30 percent of AcadeMedia's total sales. Opportunities for further expansion are good; in Germany, demand for preschools is strong and the Group’s organic new starts continue to contribute to growth. During the quarter, the number of children in our preschools in Germany increased by 13 percent. Operations in several countries creates opportunity for sharing experiences across borders to further develop our business.

Leading provider of vocational education

AcadeMedia is Sweden's leading provider of vocational education where we especially have made efforts to support development of higher vocational education and apprenticeships in upper secondary schools. There is a major skills shortage in many sectors, and the lack of skilled workers will become increasingly acute in healthcare, social care, and industry. The fact that AcadeMedia's higher vocational education were allocated 30 percent more educational places in January than the year before is proof that our programmes are positively reducing the skills shortage in society.

Sweden’s Agency for Higher Vocational Education has announced that it has started an historical expansion and will grow 15 percent over the next three years. This, combined with an increase in number of applicants to higher vocational education programmes, bodes well for the future, in an area where AcadeMedia is actively working to strengthen its position.

Interest in upper secondary school vocational programmes is also growing, the proportion of students is increasing for the first time in more than ten years according to recent figures from Sweden’s National Agency for Education. A total of 38,300 students are currently in their first year of a vocational programme in Sweden − about 3 percent more than in the previous academic year. AcadeMedia operates upper secondary vocational education mainly within Praktiska, where the number of students increased by 6.6 percent during the academic year 2023/24.

We continue to invest in and develop Swedish schools

In autumn 2025, AcadeMedia will open a new upper secondary school campus in a historic setting in central Malmö, through a reinvestment of approximately SEK 380 million including rental commitments. Three of our existing upper secondary schools, Designgymnasiet, LBS Kreativa Gymnasiet and Rytmus Musikgymnasium, will be able to grow and unite in a shared and creative campus accommodating 1,000 students. The campus will include music and design studios, a shared dining hall, café, indoor and outdoor stages for concerts and fashion shows, a staffed library and much more.

In Helsingborg, AcadeMedia operates five upper secondary schools and four compulsory schools. Praktiska Gymnasiet and Drottning Blankas Gymnasieskola have undergone major refurbishment in recent years and Innovitaskolan has also been refurbished. Newly refurbished school premises are an important investment in a good working environment for our students and staff.

Proportion of qualified teachers increasing

The Swedish National Agency for Education's statistics on the proportion of licensed and qualified teachers in compulsory and upper secondary schools 2022/23 show that the proportion of qualified teachers in AcadeMedia's schools is increasing. In AcadeMedia's compulsory schools, the proportion of qualified teachers increased by 5.4 percentage points to 67 percent and in upper secondary schools by 2.1 percentage points to 78.3 percent. The increase is positive, but the variations between different subjects and pedagogical profiles vary. AcadeMedia schools will continue to make dedicated efforts to increase the proportion of qualified teachers.

PISA 2022

PISA is an international study of reading, mathematics, and science skills of 15-year-olds. The findings from PISA 2022 show a decline in performance in most OECD countries, compared to PISA 2018, as well as in Sweden.

Researcher Gabriel Heller Sahlgren has conducted an in-depth analysis of Swedish results. The analysis shows that the declining results were, as in most countries, most likely due to the pandemic. There were also a number of other factors that influenced the results, including the presence of homework, which had positive impact, and students arriving late to class and truancy, which had negative impact.

The report shows that students in independent schools outperform students in municipal schools in PISA 2022, even after adjusting for the student’s background. It also found that the knowledge advantage in the independent schools compared to the municipal schools increased in recent PISA surveys. The independent school results barely dropped at all between 2018 and 2022.

We want to continue to give students the opportunity to find a form of education that gives them the best possible conditions for the future. We don't believe that everyone is moulded into the same shape. We are proud to contribute to diversity, where students and teachers can find the school where they feel they belong.

Marcus Strömberg
President and CEO 
AcadeMedia AB (publ) 

Presentation of the report
A web-cast telephone conference will be held at 09:30 CEST today, where CEO Marcus Strömberg, deputy CEO Katarina Wilson, and CFO Petter Sylvan will present the report.

To participate in the conference call please register via this link:

https://conference.financialhearings.com/teleconference/?id=50048284

After registration, you will be provided with telephone numbers and a conference ID to access the conference. You can ask questions verbally via the telephone conference.

To follow the presentation webcast on the following page: https://ir.financialhearings.com/academedia-q3-report-2024

The presentation material will be available before the conference begins on AcadeMedia web via:
https://academedia.se/en/about-us/investors/reports-and-presentations/

It will also be possible to access the recorded version of the webcast after it is finished on this page.

For more information, please contact:

Marcus Strömberg, CEO
Telephone: +46 8 794 4200
E-mail: marcus.stromberg@academedia.se

Petter Sylvan, CFO
Telephone: +46 8 794 43 40
E-mail: petter.sylvan@academedia.se

About AcadeMedia
AcadeMedia creates opportunities for people to develop. The 19,400 employees at our 730 preschools, compulsory schools, upper secondary schools, and adult education centres share a common focus on quality and development. Our 198,000 children and students are provided with a high-quality education, giving them the best conditions to attain both learning objectives and their full potential as individuals. AcadeMedia is Northern Europe ́s largest education company, with locations/facilities/presence in Sweden, Norway, Germany, Finland, and Netherlands. Our size gives us the capacity to be a robust, long-term partner to the communities we serve. More information about AcadeMedia is available on www.academedia.se.

This information is information that AcadeMedia AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above, at 08:00 CEST May 3, 2024.