IBT Education has reported a five per cent drop in net profit to $14.1 million for the half-year to December 2005 but has forecast strong profit growth in the current six-month period. Perth-based IBT provides pre-university and university pathway programs for domestic and overseas students. It said its business achieved substantial growth last year, with student numbers (full-time equivalent) up five per cent to 7,087 and underlying revenue up 61 per cent to $108 million. This reflected growth from its existing colleges in Australia, the UK and Africa and the acquisition last year of CSM Knowledge and ACL Pty Ltd. Its earnings were adversely affected by start-up losses at the Sydney campus of Curtin University, managed and operated by IBT, and higher corporate costs. Its net profit was also affected by the amortisation of intangible assets. The company is pursuing a range of growth opportunities, including a Sydney city campus for Macquarie University and a new business in Hong Kong to recruit students in China on behalf of education institutions in Australia and the UK. It said its earnings in the current half-year would be helped by growth in student numbers and planned fee increases for all certificate and diploma courses.