Child Care News
Investors cautious on Sterling's strategy
The Australian - Amanda Saunders - March 4, 2014Fund managers combing the prospectus for the $200 million IPO of childcare centre company Sterling Early Education have expressed caution about the size of the multiples paid for the centres, with one describing the strategy as risky. Sterling, which is aiming to raise $200 million with a...
$300m childcare wage fund diverted to staff training
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - March 4, 2014A $300 million fund originally for increasing childcare workers' wages will be given to centre providers to spend at their discretion and at their leisure on the professional development of staff. The money, which was to have been spent by the middle of next year, will have the deadline...
Swap parental leave for childcare tax breaks: directors
Financial Review - Nassim Khadem - March 4, 2014Prime Minister Tony Abbott should divert funds from his $5.5 billion paid parental-leave scheme and make childcare tax deductible instead, leading company directors said. Directors have also criticised the government over plans to relax reporting requirements for gender equality in the...
Rules bent to save childcare centres
The Australian - Natasha Bita - March 3, 2014HUNDREDS of childcare centres have failed to hire qualified teachers, forcing regulators to bend their rules to prevent centres closing this year. Nearly 700 centres - one in every 20 - have been exempted from national quality regulations, as primary schools poach qualified kindergarten...
Why investing in childcare makes good budget sense
NEWS.com.au - Jessica Irvine - March 1, 2014According to Gurria, children who live in countries with above average attendance at early childhood care centres go on to score higher in educational tests. "Early child hood care and education has very good results on the children themselves," he said. "But the most important...
Nannies on march into Kiwi homes
New Zealand Herald - Morgan Tait - March 1, 2014In-home childcare enjoying steady growth as subsidies cut cost and research points to benefits for tots. Once a luxury for the rich and famous, having a nanny is becoming an affordable childcare option for New Zealand families. Convenience, government subsidies, increased variety and...
Sterling moves ahead with IPO
NEWS.com.au - Amanda Saunders - February 28, 2014Childcare centre roll-up Sterling Early Education will price in early March at $2 to $2.30 a share, after its bankers moved to accelerate the group's listing. As earnings season draws to a close, advisers Macquarie Bank have jetted to Asia for a roadshow to drum up interest, ahead of a...
Fundies study childcare roll-up Sterling
Financial Review - Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald and Gretchen Friemann - February 28, 2014Fund managers have started trawling through Sterling Early Education's initial public offering documents and expect a brief list of questions for management when they do the rounds in Sydney and Melbourne next week. Top of the list is roll-up risk. Sterling is a childcare centre operator...
Arena REIT ups guidance as childcare facilities shine
Financial Review - Nick Lenaghan - February 28, 2014Recently floated property trust Arena REIT has upgraded its distribution guidance for 2014 as it eyes emerging opportunities in the childcare sector. Lower finance costs, rental growth, and revaluations combined to lift the property trust's 2014 interim statutory net profit by 87 per cent...
Childcare push to divert wage funds
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas and Justine Ferrari - February 27, 2014MORE than one in four childcare providers awarded wage increases for their workers by the previous government have asked the Abbott government for the funds to be used for professional development instead. But none of them is yet to get the money. Assistant Education Minister...
Demand high for childcare centres on secure leases
Financial Review - Larry Schlesinger - February 27, 2014Private investors continue to pour funds into childcare centres on secure leases, with more than $12 million worth of the asset class changing hands this week at portfolio auctions conducted by Burgess Rawson. Yields ranged from 6.6 per cent for a centre in Tarneit in Melbourne's outer...
Audit cold on Abbott's parent leave
Financial Review - Alan Moran - February 27, 2014The Commission of Audit has criticised the government's proposed paid parental leave scheme as excessive at a time when fiscal restraint is needed. The Australian Financial Review understands the commission's interim report, delivered to the government 13 days ago, supports the concept of...
Thirty years on and government still tackling over-regulation
Financial Review - Alan Moran - February 27, 2014We currently have yet another inquiry (conducted by the Productivity Commission) into childcare, one of the notable failures among the 1984 activities targeted for regulatory review. The Productivity Commission estimates that childcare costs have doubled in real terms over the past...
Adelaide City Council says childcare shortage is 'a myth' and will not open its own centre
AdelaideNow - Tim Williams - February 26, 2014THE widespread belief that there is a lack of childcare places in the city is more perception than reality, an Adelaide City Council report says. At the request of Councillor Anne Moran, the council looked into becoming a childcare operator as part of a bid to diversify its business. It found...
'Dramatic impact' of childcare pay rises
The Australian - Ewin Hannan and Patricia Karvelas - February 26, 2014CHILDCARE centre operators have warned that increasing the pay of their employees could have a "dramatic impact" on jobs and potentially flow into other industries. Employers told the Fair Work Commission, which is considering an equal pay claim by two big unions, that even if the tribunal...
