As South Africa's public universities turn students away each year for lack of space, one private operator is spending heavily to build the lecture halls the state cannot, and charging for every seat. Advtech, the JSE-listed group behind Varsity College, Vega and Crawford, told the market on 11 August that its first-half earnings should land 13% to 18% higher, describing the guidance as significantly higher earnings. In cents, that is 127 to 133 per share, against about 113 a year earlier, measured on normalised earnings, which strip out one-off transaction and corporate-action costs.
From strength to strength
The company is Africa's largest private education provider, spanning Varsity College, Vega, Rosebank College and The IIE on the tertiary side and Crawford, Trinityhouse and Pinnacle in schools. Last year set the pace: 2025 revenue rose 10% to R9.33 billion, operating profit 14%, and headline earnings per share 17% to 235.8 cents. Both arms are compounding, with tertiary revenue up 13% and schools revenue up 10% to R3.44 billion; the schools arm lifted operating profit 13% and the tertiary arm 14%, so both grew earnings faster than sales. The tertiary division houses Rosebank College, Varsity College, Vega and The IIE, and rising demand for private schooling and college places underpins the whole expansion.
Building for the next intake
To keep feeding that demand, Advtech put more than R1 billion into new campuses and facilities in 2025 alone, the backbone of its seat-count growth. In February it opened a 9,000-seat, R420 million campus in Sandton, home to Varsity College Sandton and the Vega School's Johannesburg base, which can eventually host 13,000 students, along with a 5,000-seat campus in Gqeberha that relocated its existing Nelson Mandela Bay operation. Next is a Durban mega-campus on 10 hectares, breaking ground in 2027 and opening its first phase in 2029 with room for 8,000 students and a 500-bed residence; a second phase in 2035 would take capacity to 10,500.
The half-year figures are unaudited guidance, with full audited results due on 24 August that will confirm where in the guided range it lands. The longer-term question is how long private education can keep compounding while the public system strains.
