Media release – UTAS, 14 September 2023
Moody’s confirms University of Tasmania’s sound financial position
International ratings agency Moody’s has confirmed the University of Tasmania’s sound financial position in its latest credit opinion, affirming its Aa2 credit rating and forecasting a stable outlook.
In its credit analysis update, Moody’s Investors Service highlighted the University’s strong institutional framework, high levels of oversight by the state and national governments, and its distinctive research capabilities.
Moody’s noted the University’s ratings were “bolstered by its strong standalone credit profile which is underpinned by strong financial resources and liquidity metrics, as well as a moderate total adjusted debt burden”.
University Chief Financial Officer Ben Rose welcomed the news and said it reflected the institution’s strong financial management through what had been a challenging period for the higher education sector.
“With careful financial management we emerged from the pandemic in a sound financial position, enabling us to continue to deliver and invest in the teaching and research our community relies on, and the infrastructure that supports it,” Mr Rose said.
“Moody’s also highlighted the constraints we face that many other universities don’t: Tasmania’s demographics, our small catchment, and the high-cost, multi-campus operating model that is part and parcel of serving our community.”
As we continue to deliver improved facilities and infrastructure for students and staff, Moody’s highlighted our solid record of delivering major projects but noted the current inflationary pressures and supply side constraints, which is driving costs up.
The opinion stated our “success in delivering projects in recent years largely reflects clearly established frameworks to manage the various complexities of project monitoring and delivery, whilst preserving underlying educational offerings to students”.
Core strengths in research, particularly in the health, marine and maritime areas, support strong research revenues for the University relative to our peers, Moody’s noted.
Media release – Save UTAS Campus, 13 September 2023
SAVEUTASCAMPUS INC CHANGES DIRECTION
*SaveUTASCampus Inc has announced that it will shift its focus to saving the University of Tasmania. To mark that change the group will be known simply as SaveUTAS.
Co-chair Ms Angela Bird said the reasons for this change were that expert financial analysis provided to the Legislative Council inquiry by public policy analyst and economist, John Lawrence (http://tasfintalk.blogspot.com/ ) and retired senior Commonwealth public servant, Robert Hogan (https://theutaspapers.com/) showed that the future of UTAS was now at stake, not just the Hobart campus. The UTAS Council disclosed in its last council minutes that UTAS faces ‘financial challenges’, which according to experts could mean insolvency.
Ms Bird said, “Hundreds of millions have been wasted on an ill-conceived plan to sell off the campus. Instead of concentrating on teaching and research, UTAS management and hundreds of senior staff have worked for years on how to become Tasmania’s biggest property developer. The result has been a disaster.”
Ms Bird called on the Rockliff government to act now before it’s too late. The government has representatives on the UTAS governing Council, it provides funding to the university to the tune of $30M and it controls the legislation that controls UTAS. With the government’s approval UTAS took on a $350M loan, partly to fund the now stalled relocation plan.
Ms Bird said, “It is puzzling why Tascorp refused to lend UTAS $350M. The government needs to explain why Tascorp refused and why the government then approved UTAS taking on a massive loan on the open market through so called Green Bonds, when it must have known the risks”.
SaveUTAS Co-chair Angela Bird said, “now that UTAS has withdrawn its Sandy Bay redevelopment proposal, the big threat to the future of the university is how to maintain quality teaching and research following years of reputational damage and wasting hundreds of millions of dollars on a failed relocation project. The only option for UTAS is to sell the CBD properties which now lie vacant or rented out and put that money back into teaching and research and neglected maintenance. This would be the first step towards restoring UTAS’s reputation and its financial viability.”
Ms Bird said, “it is inconceivable that the Law and Business Schools should be forced into unsuitable accommodation in Melville St where UTAS is spending an eye watering $131M+, when they don’t want to move and already have perfectly good buildings”.
