CIRA Education’s net income more than triples in FY 2025/26 as its universities fill up

Our friends at CIRA Education more than tripled their normalized net income to EGP 966.9 mn in FY 2025/26 as revenue rose 33% to EGP 5.1 bn, according to the EGX-listed schools and universities operator’s earnings release (pdf). Most of the growth came from higher education, where enrollment jumped 50% to 38.8k students and pushed available-seat utilization to 95% from 67%, while the K-12 network grew to 30 schools across nine governorates.

The drivers: Tuition, 91% of group revenue, rose 32% to EGP 4.6 bn. Higher-education revenue climbed 37% to EGP 3.6 bn, or 71% of the total, while K-12 revenue rose 23% to EGP 1.5 bn. Margins held up less evenly: normalized EBITDA grew 32% to EGP 2.4 bn on a broadly steady 47.1% margin, but gross margin narrowed to 58.9% from 60.1% as the newest campuses and schools ramp up.

Not all of the bottom-line jump will repeat. Operating income rose 38.5%, and net finance costs fell 15.4% as the group repaid debt — both should likely carry into next year. Normalized net income also carries a one-off EGP 132.3 mn bargain-purchase gain. Strip it out and growth is still about 188%, by our math. Cash tells the cleaner story: normalized cash earnings, which exclude the gain, rose 109% to EGP 1.16 bn, and net debt fell to EGP 5.02 bn from EGP 5.77 bn.

IN CONTEXT- Demand for private schooling has stayed defensive through the inflation cycle, and CIRA’s results are probably the clearest public read we have on the sector. A year ago, revenue stood at EGP 3.9 bn and normalized net income at EGP 290 mn, so the bottom line is now growing faster than the top line as newer campuses fill up.

What’s next: Enrollment for the academic year 2026/27 passed 84k students, beating CIRA’s 80k target and edging it toward the 100k-student milestone it flagged at its 2018 listing. The Damietta flagship — the Advanced Sci-Tech International Hub — remains on track for a September 2027 first phase, and Al Ahly Capital agreed to buy Elsewedy’s 40% of the Cairo Masr joint venture while CIRA keeps its 60%. CIRA also settled its Damietta land dues with the New Urban Communities Authority, which it says will trim future financing costs.