Regardless, the problem is that there aren't any real economies...

Regardless, the problem is that there aren't any real economies of scale by buying more and more centres. The more you own, the greater the probability of current centres underperforming too. Once a specific centre does build a good reputation in the community and is operating at capacity, you quickly hit a profit ceiling because you can't just continue to increase fees exponentially above the rest of your competitors. The Government's childcare subsidy is capped at a certain price, so all you do is push up the out of pocket costs to the customer. It's a sector where innovation also doesn't really lead to increased profits... Maybe until someone invents robotic early childcare educators and as a society we become comfortable with that idea!