[UPDATED] New Oriental Education and Technology,
a supplier of private education to China's aspirational middle classes,
has reported a strong set of results, its first as a publicly-quoted
company.
The Beijing-based company listed on the NYSE last month and canny investors have spotted its potential as a good way to play China's rise as a knowledge-based economy. Its share price is currently 70% up on its IPO price.
As described in this EngagingChina story, New Oriental specialises in language courses and preparing students for entrance tests like GMAT that are needed to get into US universities.
Demand for its services is growing strongly and the number of enrolled students in its first fiscal quarter increased by more than 25% to more than 337,000 over the year-earlier period.
Over the same period, net income doubled to 165m yuan while net revenues rose more than 31% to 429m yuan
The first quarter is traditionally New Oriental's strongest as it coincides with the summer break. For its next fiscal quarter, year-on-year growth is expected to be between 16% and 24%.
UPDATE: New Oriental may have some competition soon. Kaplan, the US education firm, last week entered into a deal to licence its English Language courses to Beijing New Beijing New Channel Education and Cultural Development.
