STI targets 9 new campuses

MANILA, Philippines - STI Holdings Inc. is embarking on an aggressive expansion program involving the construction of nine new campuses across the country in the next three years.

 In a statement, STI said it is looking at another banner year in 2013 as it acquires new schools and builds new and bigger campuses to sale up its presence.

STI chairman Eusebio H. Tanco said the core of the company’s investment strategy lies in the acquisition of new properties where it could expand existing schools.

Just recently, STI announced the acquisition of a 39,880-square meter property at the corner of ROTC Rd. and Ortigas Ave. Ext. in Cainta. The lot, valued at P291.1 million, will be developed into a new campus for 5,000 students and a new head office for the STI Education Services Group.

STI also acquired a 15,000-sqm property at the corner of Samson and Caimito roads in Caloocan which will be the site of the future Academic Center Caloocan.

Apart from this, STI will also build a campus on a 2,000-sqm lot in Ayala Center Cebu.

The company also plans to put up new academic centers in Las Pinas, Cubao, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Calamba and Lucena in the next three years.

With the expansion program underway, STI expects to add 41,000 students, bringing its total student population to 100,000 by 2015 from the current 68,000.

STI is also looking to acquire two more schools, one of which has a population of 100,000 students.

The expansion is expected to further strengthen the company’s financial position. In the six months ending September 2012, STI posted a net income of P283 million compared with only P193 million in the same period last year.

Last Dec.5, STI declared about P99 million in cash dividends which will be payable to qualified stockholders by yearend.

 Funding for the company’s ambitious expansion will come from proceeds from a recent follow-on offering of shares amounting to P2.7 billion.

STI, the holding company for the education business of Tanco, owns all wholly owned and franchised STI schools, Philippine Women’s University (PWU) (40 percent), Jose Abad Santos Memorial School and iAcademy.