MindChamps PreSchool
First launched as an educational research centre in Sydney, Australia, in 1998, MindChamps PreSchool established its global headquarters in Singapore in 2002 and subsequently listed on the SGX in November 2017. With steady growth over the years, there are now more than 80 centres globally.
According to its latest annual report, the single largest shareholder in MindChamps is co-founder David Chiem Phu An, who is the executive chairman and CEO, holding a 52.3% stake.
The other substantial shareholder in Mindchamps is Cuscaden Peak Investments, a joint venture between Mapletree Investments and CLA Real Estate Holdings. Cuscaden Peak’s 19.6% stake was inherited from the days when it was the pre-privatised Singapore Press Holdings.
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In the recent 1HFY2025 ended June 30 results, MindChamps saw a revenue growth of 10% y-o-y to $32.2 million. The higher revenue was attributed to higher sales of franchise licences. Meanwhile, net profit surged 6% y-o-y to $2.6 million, driven by higher gross profit and lower administrative and marketing expenses.
On the outlook front, MindChamps noted that Singapore’s operating environment remains favourable, underpinned by strong government support and policy enhancements announced in the recent 2025 state budget, which includes the introduction of third-child benefits, SG60 Baby Gift and enhanced Child LifeSG credits.
MindChamps will also continue investing in quality enhancement and curriculum innovation while ensuring fee structures remain competitive and sustainable. The company will also strengthen its efforts in teacher retention and recruitment to bolster the early childhood education (ECE) workforce.
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Besides Singapore and Australia, MindChamps is eager to expand in the US as well. In its 1HFY2025 earnings commentary, the company points out that the US early childhood education market is experiencing similar global trends of staff shortages and cost escalations. “However, expanding federal and state-level funding, such as the Preschool Development Grants and universal Pre-K initiatives, offers promising opportunities for market entry and partnership,” says MindChamps.
Overall, the company is upbeat about its growth prospects. Citing research by The Business Research Company, published in January, MindChamps notes that the global early childhood education market is projected to expand from $282.46 billion last year to $310.14 billion this year, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 9.8%. “This growth underscores the increasing recognition of early education’s importance worldwide,” the company says.
Overseas Education
Listed on the SGX since 2013, Overseas Education is the holding company of the entity that owns and runs Overseas Family School (OFS), a leading foreign system school in Singapore that was previously at the prime Paterson Road before shifting to a new campus at Pasir Ris in 2017.
OFS offers a multifaceted, fully integrated inquiry-based programme comprising the International Early Years Curriculum, the International Primary Curriculum and the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum to children aged two to 18 of expatriate families. As indicated in its FY2024 annual report, student enrolment remained stable at 2,411, compared with 2,402 students in FY2023.
According to the latest annual report, Overseas Education’s largest shareholder is co-founder Wong Lok Hiong, who owns a 33.6% stake and serves as the company’s CEO and executive director.
In the recent 1HFY2025 results, Overseas Education’s revenue declined 5% y-o-y to $41.6 million. The top line was impacted by a lower-than-expected number of new students enrolled during the period.
Meanwhile, profit after tax declined by close to 78% y-o-y to $1.2 million. The steep drop was attributed to higher personnel, upkeep and maintenance costs.
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Overseas Education sees a more volatile, uncertain global economic environment amid high geopolitical tensions. This might create a challenging and competitive operating environment and affect the international school landscape.
Nonetheless, it is “cautiously optimistic that the inflow of expatriate families and student enrolment will continue to improve alongside Singapore’s policies to attract foreign investments, talent and create new jobs in Singapore.”
Raffles Education
Listed on the SGX since 2000, Raffles Education was a popular counter as investors bought into its narrative of capturing Singapore’s growth story as a regional education hub. Under the leadership of chairman and CEO Chew Hua Seng, Raffles Education was particularly known for its range of design courses catering to the growing needs of the creative economy.
Today, the company provides a range of education services through a network of 16 educational institutions across nine countries in Asia Pacific and Europe: Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand and China.
The company, through its Hong Kong-listed subsidiary, Oriental University City Holdings (HK), leases education facilities to eight educational institutions, offering a wide variety of vocational and technical courses, catering to a student population of close to 10,000.
According to the latest annual report, Chew owns a 37.8% stake in the company. Other notable shareholders include Ow Chio Kiat, who owns a 1.8% stake in the company. Ow is the executive chairman of both Stamford Land Corporation and Singapore Shipping Corporation.
Goi Seng Hui, who owns a 1.3% stake in Raffles Education, is another notable shareholder. Better known as the executive chairman of food manufacturer Tee Yih Jia Food Manufacturing, Goi is also executive chairman of GSH Corporation, PSC Corporation and Tat Seng Packaging Group. He also owns a substantial stake in cocoa company JB Foods, whose share price has gained around two-thirds since the start of the year.
For the full year ended June 30, Raffles Education’s revenue was marginally down 1% y-o-y to $111.7 million. However, the company reversed into the black with a net profit after tax of $4.4 million, compared with a net loss of close to $24 million a year earlier.
The turnaround was due to lower finance costs, higher foreign exchange gains and a lower net fair value loss on investment properties.
Looking ahead, Raffles Education cited ongoing economic and geopolitical uncertainty, including US-imposed tariffs and retaliatory tariffs imposed by affected countries, which will influence the company’s recruitment of international students.
Furthermore, the challenging global education landscape, with increasing competition and restrictive policies in the countries in which it operates, will continue to affect the company. The management team will continue to streamline and restructure its operations for better cost management.
Raffles Education shares saw a spike in trading interest in recent weeks. On Oct 30, the company announced that Chew plans to convert some $15.5 million in loans extended to the company into shares at 6.44 cents each. The conversion, according to Raffles Education, is part of its broader debt management efforts. Upon completion of the conversion, the company’s share capital will expand by around 14.5%.
“The conversion of the outstanding debt into equity is expected to reduce the group’s overall financial leverage, alleviate its repayment obligations, and significantly improve its cash flow position. This, in turn, will allow the company to reallocate resources to other strategic initiatives, operational investments, and business expansion opportunities,” the company says.
In conjunction, the company plans to pay a special dividend of 0.4 cents from cash savings following the conversion. To help conserve cash, Chew and his parties in concert have chosen to receive their entitlement in scrip dividend shares. This deal is subject to the approval of other Raffles Education shareholders at an EGM to be called.
