If one just Googles the title of the article, access is actually free. Here it is (thanks @Islay for sharing):
Folkestone Education Trust wary of rising childcare costs
The country's biggest listed owner of childcare properties, Folkestone Education Trust, has warned that the rising cost of living is taking a toll on occupancy, as parents count their pennies.
Despite the warning, FET booked a healthy 9.6 per cent rise in full year distributable income to $37.8 million, on the back of rising rental returns and increased income through acquisitions and development.
Statutory profit rose even faster, by 14.5 per cent to $122.3 million, boosted by property revaluations.
Looking ahead to fiscal 2018 , FET, led by Nick Anagnostou, expects to deliver a 6.3 per cent increase in distributions to 15.1¢ per unit. For 2017, the trust produced a total distribution of 14.2¢, a 6 per cent rise on the previous year.
Those results were enough to cheer investors, who added 10¢, or 3.8 per cent, to the stock which closed at $2.74
Nevertheless, the Mr Anagnostou and his team are keeping a wary eye on government funding and living costs which play a strong role in childcare expenditure.
"The rising cost of living, combined with low wage growth in recent years and the increasing cost of childcare may force some parents into a purely financial decision regarding their childcare activities," the trust said.
"We expect to see some parents withdraw from services as a result."
Offsetting that, increased government funding for middle and lower income earners will become available after July next year, when the existing limits are removed for families earning less than $185,000.
Another factor to weigh as the cost of living rises, is the possibility that more families may seek a second income, thereby potentially increasing demand for childcare. However some families may just simply forgo childcare.
"These factors have led to marginally softer occupancy levels in the latter part of the year for some, the impact varying between locations and operators," the trust said.
The childcare trust has been busy in its portfolio management, divesting some assets to recycle capital into its development program at a "positive yield arbitrage".
Those developments have included an innovative turn toward the construction of new centres using prefabricated facilities.
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