• Prestariang announced that it has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional (PTPTN) to utilise EduCloud, an integrated education platform (IEP) owned by Prestariang, as the digital platform for the management of digital ID, student borrowers’ engagement and job matching. The collaboration aims to drive engagement and employability of student borrowers.

• Prestariang and PTPTN agree to set out the working relationship, the terms and conditions of the collaboration, and subsequently forge a definitive legally binding agreement between both parties by 30 April 2018. The MoU will expire on 31 December 2018, if no definitive agreement is effected.

• The first phase of the collaboration would entail up-skilling and re-skilling existing PTPTN borrowers through a "place and train" model — first, match student borrowers with a job in accordance to industry requirements and subsequently provide training to enhance their potential and employability. The programme, called Job Matching, would incentivise PTPTN borrowers to engage EduCloud to seek valuable trainings/courses.

• Some of Prestariang’s partners which would support the Job Matching programme include Amazon Web Services, Alibaba Cloud, CXS Analytics, Encap, Mastercard, Microsoft, OpenLearning, Skillsoft, UniMy and others. The partners would serve to offer their industry courses and job opportunities.

• While we are mildly positive on the development, management has not guided on its financial implications. Intuitively, the collaboration would allow Prestariang to leverage PTPTN's large borrowers base to increase UniMy's student intakes and offer paid training courses through the platform. According to New Straits Times, there are 2.8 million PTPTN borrowers currently, and we understand the number increases by circa 200K yearly.

• However, we wish to caution that the execution of such projects can be challenging, as we draw reference to Prestariang's previous job placement website, Talent Xchange. The project has not brought meaningful contribution to the group thus far, and the website gives the appearance of being migrated to the PTPTN Job Matching website.

• Maintain BUY with fair value of RM2.20/share.

Source: AmInvest Research - 9 Mar 2018