Education firm Apax Holdings reports record loss

In the final quarter alone, its losses were VND110 billion. The losses mounted despite the fact revenues rose by a healthy 35% to VND1.335 trillion.

Financial expenses tripled to more than VND203 billion, with interest costs accounting for 80%. It meant on average the company had to pay over VND440 million in interest every day.

The fourth quarter was a difficult period with Apax English, the language center chain run by affiliate company Apax Leaders, facing severe criticism for its quality from customers and employees complaining about failure to pay salaries.

The Apax Holdings share hit the floor for more than a dozen sessions in a row after chairman Nguyen Ngoc Thuy, aka Shark Thuy, announced in late 2022 a plan to restructure the language center.

He admitted that Egroup, the parent company of Apax Holdings, was facing severe difficulties, including from lack of cash flows due to Covid-enforced closure of educational institutions.

He warned it would take two or three years to recover.