Masterskill's RM400m nursing campus

TheEdgeDaily Masterskill (M) Sdn Bhd, which operates Southeast Asia's largest private nursing and health college, will build a RM400 million campus in the country to realise its ambition of growing the homegrown brand into a niche player on the global stage.
Its chief executive officer Edmund Santhara said the company has identified a 32ha piece of land in Cyberjaya as a possible site for the proposed University College of Health Sciences Malaysia (UniHealth), which will be developed over three phases beginning next year.
"No final decision (on the site) has been made yet because we are also considering offers of land from Perak and Sabah for the project. The first phase will cost RM250 million and is scheduled for completion in 2009.
"When fully completed, UniHealth can accommodate 15,000 students. We hope to get university college status soon. By 2010, we would like to approach the government to privatise its training centres to us," he told a group of Malaysian journalists at a briefing in Bali on Nov 11.
Edmund said Masterskill also is eyeing a listing on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia by September 2008 and is establishing a string of partnerships with big international names over the next two years.
"A reputable foreign company is keen to invest some RM100 million in Masterskill. They see us as an international vehicle that will provide synergy to their business," he said.
Masterskill is 95% owned by Alloy Media Sdn Bhd, a company controlled by the family of MTD Capital Bhd executive chairman Datuk Dr Nik Hussain Abdul Rahman with the balance 5% by Edmund.
Masterskill started with just 61 students in 2001 but the Masterskill College of Nursing and Health in Cheras, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, now has a student population of 4,720.
Masterskill chairman Datuk Dr Mohd Yahya Nordin is just as bullish about the company's prospects, saying it is well-positioned to tap into the global market, which suffers from a perennial shortage of nurses.
"There is already a platform for us to make Malaysia a centre of excellence for higher education. It's time to tap into the Middle East market," said Yahya, who joined Masterskill early this year after retiring as Higher Education Ministry secretary-general.
He was referring to the Memorandum of Understanding on higher education signed between Saudi Arabia and Malaysia this year.
Masterskill, one of four nursing colleges accorded full accreditation by the government, would be taking in its first batch of 250 foreign students next year, including from Bangladesh and India, Yahya said.
Edmund said it has also identified a partner to operate a campus in the Middle East, adding that the move to go global would see the foreign component of sales contributing to 5% of group revenue in the next three years.
"By 2010, there is a possibility of external operations contributing more than the local business because we will be charging in US dollars (for foreign operations)," he said.
Masterskill expects to launch a 4+0 pharmacy, nursing and physiotherapy programme in affiliation with La Trobe University by February next year, making the college the Australian university's first such partner outside Australia. It is also looking into franchising its own programmes in Bangladesh and Indonesia.
On the company's performance, he said Masterskill's profits had increased. He said Masterskill generated a revenue of RM18 million in 2005 but made an after-tax profit of only RM1 million because it had to settle a lot of accumulated debts.
For 2006, it has forecast an after-tax profit of about RM14 million on the back of RM45 million in revenue, while the projections for 2007 are RM110 million in revenue and between RM25 million and RM28 million in after-tax profit.
"We have not declared any dividends yet, and the profits have been reinvested to grow the business. The whole idea is to grow until it gets listed," he said.