Sasbadi Annual Report 2019

MANAGEMENT DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS (continued) PAGE 13 As a gesture of appreciation to our management team and employees, we have announced an offer of options to eligible employees under ESOS for their hardwork and dedication. In addition, the Group provides a healthy working environment, practices a conducive work culture, upholds good work ethics, and fosters good working relationships among our employees. The Group has also put in place succession planning and provides training and career development opportunities to our employees. Prospects Based on the Economic Outlook 2020 report by the Ministry of Finance, Malaysia’s real gross domestic product ("GDP") is expected to grow by 4.8% in 2020 underpinned by resilient domestic demand. Private sector expenditure continues to be the primary driver of growth with private investment and consumption growing 2.1% and 6.9%, respectively. Meanwhile, public sector expenditure is expected to rebound to positive growth of 0.8% largely driven by an acceleration of projects towards the tail-end of the Eleventh Malaysia Plan coupled with the revival of strategic projects. The economy will continue to operate under conditions of full employment with an unemployment rate of 3.3%, while inflation remains benign. Notwithstanding the above, we anticipate that the retail market conditions will continue to remain challenging for FYE 31 August 2020. For FYE 31 August 2020, the Group hopes to pursue further growth through our English upskilling products. The Group has recently been appointed as the Preferred Partner of Cambridge Assessment English ("CAE") Linguaskill and Exclusive Partner for New York City ("NYC") English in Malaysia. Both CAE Linguaskill and NYC English are aligned to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages ("CEFR"). Both these products aim to contribute to a new revenue stream for the Group by targeting a new segment i.e. the adult market. We expect the demand for English upskilling products to increase due to the fast changing and competitive nature of the job market. Being fully digital and highly functional, both products would be able to meet the diverse demands of the market today. We also expect to see significant improvement for our direct selling business during the FYE 31 August 2020. The Group will continue to pursue growth through product enhancement and business plan refinement. In addition, our flag-ship product, i-LEARN Ace, has been enhanced with new features to meet the dynamic needs of students and teachers today. We also plan to extend these new features to our Indonesian partner who are licensing the i-LEARN Ace engine for their market. We believe that the 5G technology on the horizon will be a catalyst to new oppoprtunities for our digital business. The Group will continue to focus on growing the non-academic print publication segment and hopes to ride on the wave of the ongoing 10-year National Reading Decade 2021-2030 programme launched by the Minister of Education with the aim of transforming Malaysia into a Reading Nation by 2030. We will also continue to pursue growth through the rights licensing and book export market as the Group sees much potential in these relatively untapped markets, as well as continue to monitor the changes in the market closely to make timely responses by leveraging on our readily available resources. Premised on the above and barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Group is optimistic about our prospects and performance for FYE 31 August 2020. Dividend Policy The Board of Directors did not recommend any payment of final dividend for FYE 31 August 2019. Sasbadi English for Careers' booth at myStarJob.com Fair 2019 on set-up day Sasbadi English for Careers' booth at the myStarJob.com Fair 2019 Test takers posing with their Linguaskill from Cambridge results with Sasbadi staff ANNUAL REPORT 2019