No merit to tycoon Oei Hong Leong's EGM request, says Raffles Education

Raffles Education Corp's board will not convene an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) for shareholders to vote on billionaire Oei Hong Leong's proposed resolutions.

Mr Oei had again sought to remove Raffles Education founder Chew Hua Seng as chairman and chief executive in an EGM requisition notice sent last week.

Raffles Education said it obtained legal advice, and was advised that the request was without merit.

It said in a bourse filing late on Wednesday, based on the Companies Act and the firm's own memorandum and articles of association, that the proposed resolutions concerned subjects outside the province of the shareholders at the general meeting.

Also, the notice was issued after local courts dismissed Mr Oei and his firm's lawsuit against Mr Chew on an alleged handwritten agreement that was cited in one of the resolutions earmarked for the proposed EGM.

"In the circumstances", the board is not required to convene an EGM for the purposes of voting on the proposed resolutions, Raffles Education said.

Separately, the private education provider fell into the red with a net loss of $16.4 million for the 12 months to June 30, compared with a net profit of $40.2 million in the previous year.

The challenging global education environment, volatility, increasing competition and the pandemic continued to weigh on the group's performance.

In particular, foreign student numbers since January have taken a hit from border restrictions and lockdowns. This uncertainty will continue to impact the group, Raffles Education said yesterday.

Loss per share stood at 1.19 cents, compared with earnings per share of 2.92 cents a year earlier.

Revenue inched up 3 per cent to $100.5 million, largely thanks to higher turnover from South-east Asia. It was offset by lower revenue from Australia, due to the sale of an investment property in New South Wales last November.

No dividend was declared for the year, "due to the pandemic and on a prudence basis", Raffles Education said. There was also no dividend declared for the 2019 financial year.

Raffles Education shares closed down 0.9 per cent at 10.9 cents yesterday.

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