Educational and Publishing Sector: Another Year of Stellar Results for Longhorn Publishers

Longhorn Publishers PLC had another year of stellar results, with group profit after tax for the year ended June 30 2019 rising by 1 %, to Kshs 185 million, from Kshs 183 million in 2018.

The company attributes this performance to commendable growth in Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania, as well as the positive response to the rollout of Kenya’s new competency-based curriculum (CBC), in which Longhorn has played a significant role in its implementation by having distributed 2 million textbooks to 23,000 public primary schools in Kenya.

Mr. Maxwell Wahome, the Group Managing Director of Longhorn Publishers, said: “The strategic focus on regional expansion has begun to bear fruit, with our investment in market specific content, particularly for Uganda and Tanzania, realizing a 41% revenue growth in these markets. In an increasingly digital world, we need to ensure all our children have access to learning materials. To improve access, we invested in a dedicated USSD code *864#. Currently, we have close to 50,000 active learners on our eLearning Platform. Now our digital content is accessible on both feature and smart phones.”

The new curriculum will reform Kenya’s education system so that Kenyan children can develop the critical thinking and problem-solving skills that will serve them well into their adult life. Longhorn will be releasing interactive digital content within the next 3 months to support the teachers and learners in better understanding the new curriculum.

Mr. Wahome noted, “Through capacity building workshops across the country, we were able to understand the needs of the teachers of the new CBC. This enabled us to develop and roll out new learning material that will support the goals of the new competency-based curriculum (CBC). The materials on Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) and the Primary Course Books were very well received, with a corresponding 2% growth in the company’s bottom line.”

Mr. Joseph Kiruri, the Chief Finance & Operations Officer of Longhorn Publishers PLC, added: “Despite revenues remaining flat, we were able to grow operating profit before tax from Kshs 358 million in 2018 to Kshs 360 million. We became more efficient in our operations and reduced our production cost. As a result, gross profit margins increased by 6% and operating expenses decreased by 3%.”

Following the announcement of the results, the company’s Board of Directors has recommended a final dividend payment of Kshs 142,548,000.00, equating to Kshs 0.52 per share; this is a 23% increase in payout from last year’s dividend of Kshs 115,000,00 or Kshs. 0.42 per share paid last year.

Mr. Wahome said that future growth in Africa’s educational and publishing sector will be based on developing new content and making it easier and more pleasant for the end user to access this content through various digital platforms. Longhorn Publishers PLC will continue to invest in improving the user experience on its digital platforms; a move aimed at growing the company’s digital subscriber base.

Mr. Wahome assured that Longhorn will continue to expand into new markets with a focus on Francophone Africa through strategic alliances. He said, “We have already started making investments in Cameroon and we expect to start generating returns in the year 2020.”

For more information about Longhorn Publishers PLC, please visit: www.longhornpublishers.com.

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