Raffles Education

Raffles Education: Counter surged up almost 20% yesterday. TYCOON Oei Hong Leong has become a substantial shareholder of Raffles Education. Mr Oei bought 11.55m shares in an open market purchase at 32.6c apiece, raising his direct 3.51% stake to 4.86%. Including a deemed stake of 1.28%, his holding is now 6.14%. Raffles Education, the largest private education group in Asia Pacific, last month reported a net loss of $76.8m for its fiscal year ended June 30, from a net profit of $41.9m previously. Turnover for the fiscal year fell 10 per cent from $146.4 million to $131.1 million, owing to lower enrolment of students in China and reduced contribution from Zhongfa College after the disposal of a 50 per cent stake in Value Vantage. Recall that on Aug 28, Mr Oei called off his offer to buy Hanwell's 29.89% stake in Intraco at 70c/share, because of a failure to secure undertakings of support from Hanwell's major shareholders. Before the negotiations broke down, Mr Oei said he would make a general offer for Intraco if the Hanwell deal was completed. Separately, Msian Prime Minister Najib on Tue launched the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 Preliminary Report which outlines 11 strategic and operational shifts to transform the country's education system. The govt is allocating 16% of its budgetary spending, amounting to over US$10b, to education alone as Prime Minister Najib seeks his own mandate from the people in the key national polls that must be held by April next yr.