Keen students enrol to bring Taaleem ‘record’ revenues

Taaleem

• 31 schools in UAE
• Enrolment up 26.6%
• Building four new schools

Revenues at the UAE schools operator Taaleem grew by 11.5 percent to a record AED258.7 million ($70.4 million) in the first quarter of the 2023-2024 academic year ending November 30, compared to the same period in 2022-2023, it said on Friday. 

Taaleem, which listed on Dubai Financial Market stock exchange in November 2022, also posted a 60.5 percent year-on-year rise in net profits, to AED81.6 million ($22 million).

It recorded total student enrolment of 35,715 for the academic year, up 26.6 percent, and another record for the company.  

Taaleem attributed the strong performance to “enrolment growth, [acquisition of] additional schools, interest gains on cash reserves and low debt position”.

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Enrolment growth was fuelled by a 38.9 percent year-on-year increase in students in its government partnership division – Taaleem operates schools on behalf of the Abu Dhabi, Dubai and UAE federal governments – and an 11.2 percent increase within its premium, top fee-paying schools portfolio.  

Taaleem also secured contracts to manage five new government schools over the year, bringing the total number of public schools to 21 out of a portfolio of 31 K-12 schools across the UAE. Its last acquisition, in May 2022, was of Jebel Ali School, one of the oldest in Dubai, with 26 schools at the time.

The company is building four new private schools over the next two years as it seeks to “provide educational excellence to an increasing number of students across the UAE,” said Alan Williamson, chief executive of Taaleem.    

Taaleem’s chairman, Khalid Al Tayer, said: “Our record results demonstrate this commitment as we invest in expansion, innovation and improvements for the benefit of our students and our communities.”