JM Education Group LEAPs to an 17.8% premium at close in debut

KUALA LUMPUR: JM Education Group Bhd, which made its debut on the Bursa Malaysia’s new Leading Entrepreneur Accelerator Platform (LEAP) market today, closed at an 8 sen or 17.8% premium over its 45 sen issue price.
The group’s share price opened at 50 sen, a 5 sen or 11.1% premium above its issue price of 45 sen. The counter ended the day at 53 sen, with some 181,000 shares changing hands.

JM Education, the third listing on LEAP, provides educational counselling and student placement services to local and overseas educational institutions. To date, it has signed student recruitment services agreements with 141 local and overseas educational institutions.
It also provides Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes through its wholly owned unit, Miraj Academy Sdn Bhd.
Speaking at a press conference after the listing ceremony, managing director Teh Cheong Hua said the group is looking at growing its TVET segment either organically or through ventures with other parties.
“We think that there is growth potential in this area. But we need more time to get the right trainers and programmes in order to grow this segment.
“We are open to working with other foreign TVET providers who are interested in penetrating the Malaysian market. These providers could be from China or Australia. They can team up with us and explore the local training opportunities,” he added.
Currently the group’s TVET segment contributes only about 20% to its total revenue; the education counselling segment contributes the rest.
On prospects, Teh said the group is still seeing good demand for overseas as well as local studies, noting it will use part of the RM3.06 million proceeds raised from the offering to open two more branches in Johor within 24 months.
The group currently has nine branches located in Penang, Perak, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Johor, Sabah and Sarawak. For the overseas market, Teh said the group mainly focuses on educational institutions in Australia, the UK and the US.
Based on its 2016 financial results, overseas markets contributed 76.5% to its revenue, local markets 5.7%, and the local TVET segment the remaining 17.8%.
Meanwhile, Teh said the group will also use the proceeds raised to repay loans, launch new programmes and upgrade its training facilities. The group had placed out 6.8 million shares at 45 sen each to raise RM3.06 million.
Between 2014 and 2017, the group successfully sent 4,000 students to more than 100 institutions in various countries, while Miraj Academy trained 300 graduates.