Opening of a new school in Luleå postponed

Previously we announced that on 29 June 2018 Internationella Engelska Skolan (IES) signed a rental contract with Diös to open a school in Luleå during the 2019-20 academic year. The building is in Södra Hamnen, in central Luleå, and we proposed to open a compulsory school for grades four to nine.

Following dialogue with both the municipality (kommun) and the county administration (Länsstyrelsen) with a view to resolving the outstanding issues, IES, in consultation with Diös has concluded that it is no longer possible to open a school as planned in this building. We have now started to look for a better suited property, which could also house a larger school for grades F-9. In the meantime we have postponed the opening of Internationella Engelska Skolan Luleå.

Jörgen Stenquist, Vice CEO of IES, said: “It is disappointing that we have not been able to find a solution which would allow us to open a school in Autumn 2019. We do however have a good partnership with Diös and strong support from the municipality in Luleå. We will continue to work intensively together to find a new location as soon as possible. We remain committed to our ambition to be a part of Luleå’s endeavours to continue to develop as an attractive and growing university town.”

Johan Lång, business manager for Diös Luleå, added “Internationella Engelska Skolan is our tenant at several places throughout Sweden and we look forward to finding a solution for them in Luleå too.”

For more information please contact:

Emma Rheborg, Head of Communication and IR, IES
Telephone: +46 768 511 540
E-mail: emma.rheborg@engelska.se

Internationella Engelska Skolan i Sverige Holdings II AB discloses the information provided herein pursuant to the EU’s Market Abuse Regulation and the Securities Markets Act. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the above contact, on 16 January 2018 at 08:30 CET.

About Internationella Engelska Skolan  

Internationella Engelska Skolan, IES, is one of the leading free school operators in Sweden with some 25,600 students at 36 schools at the beginning of the academic year 2018/19, and some 1,850 students at its wholly owned schools in Spain. IES Sweden operates schools for students in grades 1-12. Its main focus is grades 4-9, what is often called “middle school.” Within the compulsory school system in Sweden, IES is the leading independent operator, with nine of the ten largest free schools. IES’s results on the national tests in grade 9 are far above average in Sweden.

Internationella Engelska Skolan was founded in 1993 and is in its 26th year of operation. Throughout this period, its schools have been defined by the three core convictions of its founder, Mrs. Barbara Bergström:

• A safe and orderly environment, where teachers can teach and students learn.
• To command the English language—the key to the world.
• High academic expectations and targets.

Up to half of the teaching in IES schools in Sweden is in English, by native English speaking teachers. Over 800 teachers with qualified foreign teaching degrees are currently teaching in IES schools. They are mainly recruited from Canada, USA, UK and South Africa.

IES’s student base in Sweden is in high growth. Over the past ten years, total operating income has increased organically by an average of 19% per year. In the most recent financial year 2017/18, which concluded on 30 June 2018, total operating income was MSEK 2,347.9, an increase of some 15% year on year. As of 30 September 2018, there were approximately 185,000 applications in the waiting list to secure a place for the current and forthcoming years.

Internationella Engelska Skolan has been listed on Nasdaq Stockholm Mid Cap, with the ticker ENG, since September 2016. The largest (indirect) shareholders of IES are TA Associates of the US, which has close affiliations to leading universities and foundations in the US, and IES’s founder Barbara Bergström. At the end of September 2018, the 10 largest shareholders also included Paradigm Capital, investment company Öresund, Swedbank Robur fonder, the Third Swedish National Pension Fund, SEB fonder and AMF Försäkring & Fonder (owned jointly by LO, The Swedish Trade Union Confederation and the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise).

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