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| Edited By: Dimpy Kalra |Source: DNA |Updated: Aug 21, 2019, 06:30 AM IST
Zee Learn is a large, diversified education company with a significant presence in most segments of the education sector catering to the entire lifecycle of people's learning needs, says Ajey Kumar, managing director, Zee Learn. In a chat with Dimpy Kalra, Kumar said, "Zee Learn's consolidated total revenue has grown 5.2 times from Rs 132 crore to Rs 549 crore between FY14 and FY19."
FY15 to FY19, Zee Learn's consolidated total revenue grew from Rs 132 crore to Rs 549 crore, which is 4.2 times and at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 43%. In the same period, the consolidated Ebitda grew from Rs 30 crore to 158 crore, which is 5.2 times and at a CAGR of 53%. We have posted very good results consistently for almost every quarter. Profitability in our core business has constantly increased due to high operating leverage and the Ebitda margin is now 52%. We have also graduated from being present only in core education to supplementary education as well, thus becoming a truly holistic education player. The Indian education sector is a $180 billion market right now and continues to grow in double-digits, and hence there is good scope for further growth in our business.
Zee Learn is a large diversified education company. We have a significant presence in most segments of the education sector and cater to the entire lifecycle of people's learning needs. For the younger children, we have around 2,000 pre-schools and daycare centres under the brand names like Kidzee, Mount Litera Junior, Mount Litera World Pre School and Anukram. We also have digital offerings like Kidzee App and Kidzee Tabs to ensure that the learning for these children extends beyond the school as well. For the grown-up children, we have around 130 K12 high schools under the brand name Mount Litera Zee Schools, which is among the largest K12 chains in India. We have offerings in the test preparation area with around 160 centres and cater to students preparing for engineering, medical, MBA and CA through our Lakshya, Chitale classes and MT Commerce brands.
We have offerings in 8th-12th tutorial classes with around 100 centres in around 50 cities and cater to students of state boards, CBSE and ICSE through our Mahesh Tutorial, MT Science, MT Commerce, Sri Gayatri and Aryan brands. We have offerings in training and manpower area with our Liberium brand and offer innovative and customised solutions to corporates. We have offerings in the area of vocational and skilling with brands like Zee Institute of Creative Arts (ZICA), Zee Institute of Media Arts (ZIMA), Zee Institute of Design Arts (ZIDA), Teachers Training and we also work with various government ministries for skilling projects. In the higher education area, we are associated with the leading state private university in Dehradun called Himgiri Zee University.
We have around 4 lakh students studying with us in 2,500 schools/centres in 800 cities and have a very strong pan-India presence. We have around 50,000 teachers, trainers and staff associated with us across the country.
In the core education sector, our Kidzee and Mount Litera Schools use our excellent proprietary curriculum called Illume and Litera Octave. These ensure excellence in both academics and extra-curricular activities, holistic development of the children and make them truly global citizens while being in close touch with their roots. In the supplementary education sector, our brands like Mahesh Tutorial, Lakshya, MT Commerce, MT Science, etc, use the highly innovative Robomate App and R+ notebook digital platforms to ensure that each child becomes self-sufficient and can realise his true potential. As a result of our path-breaking pedagogy and delivery model, we have been consistently awarded multiple awards like India's Most Attractive Pre School Brand, India's Leading Education Brand, Franchisor of the Year, Brand Excellence in Education, etc.
At the time when we started with the school business then we had 7-8 schools of our own and they were created at an investment of around Rs 800 crore. Now, we want to be an asset-light company and that's why our board has passed an enabling in-principle resolution to divest the real estate assets of Rs 800 crore and we have started the work and will complete it soon. We have a debt of around Rs 400 crore and the money collected from this disinvestment will be used in bringing down our debt levels to zero. Our ultimate goal is to be debt-free. The remaining money will be used in two-three different areas like we will strengthen our pre-school and day-care centre brand Kidzee, and take it to new places by tying up with new people. Secondly, we will also focus on our manpower and training Liberium company, which is an attractive segment because less capital is required in it and return on capital employed is more. Last but not the least, it is a time of digitisation and our 100% of our business is digitised but we like to invest more on our digital portfolio like Kidzee app, Kidzee tab, Robomate, R+ notebook etc to connect with our students who can't attend the school due to any reason. This will strengthen our financial positions and help us in moving ahead in our business.
We have made a medium-term plan for 2023 and have projected a good growth, organically, and are hopeful that we will be able to achieve it. As part of the plan, we should organically be at a turnover of Rs 1,950 crore from Rs 550 crore and the Ebitda will rise to Rs 750 crore from Rs 160 crore. Also, by FY23, our schools/centres should increase from 2,500 to 4,500, our presence should go up from 800 to 1,200 cities and our student numbers from 4 lakh to 10 lakh.
