Apple Products
The daycare programs in Australia have been a significant service provider in the case of the children below the age of five. Some of the centers are operated in the semi-Government mould or in the community based programs. In the latter half of the 1900s, the corporate sector took stock of the opportunity of the situation and entered the market. Some of the corporate houses operate in the market but they are not listed in the stock exchange. Some of the bigger names in the industry like ABC Learning has been enlisted in the stock exchanges and operate in the form of corporate chains. It has to be noted that ABC only got access to the stock exchange in 2001. Before that they operated like any other small corporate houses. However, the entry of ABC has revolutionized the industry like never before. At the time of listing of the ABC, there were other companies in the stock exchange like Future One, Peppercorn Management Group, Kids Kampus etc. ABC successfully acquired the companies and its size only grew bigger. The number of centers rose from 43 in 2001 to 1037 in 2008. At its peak point, ABC provided service to 100,000 children and employed 16,000 staffs. (ABC Learning Centers, n.d.). The growth in the number of learning centers can be understood by the graph below:
Source: Parliament of Australia, n.d.
More amazing has been its rise in the stock exchange. In 2001, the shares opened in the ASX at $2 which rose to $13.94. The growth of the ABC was also helped by the Governmental tools. The Government had the policy of “child-care benefit schemes” and fee subsidies that were given to the centers. Before that the income of the parents of the children were tested. The day care centers were eligible to get the benefits. Therefore, the centers like ABC got the amount from the Governments if the parents of the children were not able to pay the fees. (Child care benefit, n.d.). This essentially meant that the industry was recession proof as the cash flows were constant whether from the parents or that of the Government. The growth of the corporate chains in the day care centers accelerated the growth of the other sectors like that of the real estate that were related to the industry. The growing number of centers needed to be supported by the growth in the real estate sectors....
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