PHINMA Corp. aims to further expand its education business through potential acquisitions of schools in Metro Manila, Cavite, and Davao, its president said.
“We’re looking for schools in Cavite, Davao, and one more in Metro Manila,” PHINMA Corp. President and Chief Operating Officer Chito B. Salazar, Jr. told reporters last week.
PHINMA Corp. has business interests in the education sector through its unit PHINMA Education Holdings, Inc.
Mr. Salazar, who also serves president and chief executive officer of PHINMA Education, said the company is eyeing to close the talks on the planned acquisition in Metro Manila by the third quarter.
Other expansion moves of PHINMA Education include a branch in San Pablo, Laguna, the entry of PHINMA University of Pangasinan into Tarlac and La Union provinces, and the introduction of PHINMA Araullo University into Gapan, Nueva Ecija.
“We’re really expanding aggressively,” he said.
On international expansion, Mr. Salazar said that PHINMA Education is looking to enter Vietnam to go along with the company’s presence in Indonesia. The company manages Horizon Karawang in West Java.
“We’re probably seriously looking at Vietnam by the end of this year. If ever we purchase it, maybe it would be late 2025 already,” he said.
“We’re looking at schools that are tertiary and probably at about three to five thousand students today. That’s what we’re looking at for us to grow,” he added.
Mr. Salazar said that PHINMA Education is expected to have 50,000 students in Indonesia within the next five years and 400,000 students within the next 10 to 15 years.
In contrast, PHINMA Education expects to have 350,000 students in its Philippine school network within the next five years.
PHINMA Education recorded an 18% increase in enrollment for the first semester of school year 2023-2024 at 146,546 students across the Philippines and Indonesia.
PHINMA Corp. has allocated a capital expenditure budget of P4.5 billion for 2024, with almost half earmarked for its education business.
In 2023, the conglomerate saw a 6.5% jump in its net income to P1.63 billion as consolidated revenues surged by 20% to P21.27 billion.
PHINMA Corp. shares were last traded on April 26 at P20.45 per share. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
