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21st Century Education Announces 2019 Annual Results
Revenue and Student Numbers Continue to GrowConsolidated Strengths Enhanced as Digitalization DeepensResults Highlights: The Group achieved a strong performance in 2019, with revenue increasing by 16.0% over the same period of 2018 to RMB234.2, profit increasing by 19.2% over the same period of 2018 to RMB82.8, and the number of students increasing by 5.4% over the same period of 2018 to 32,228 people. The Board recommends a final dividend of HK$2.2 cents per share. During the Year, the Group actively promoted the strategic layout of "content + technology" and investment and cooperation projects. The output capability of vocational education and quality-oriented education was continuously improved. The digital expansion of education business was progressing smoothly. Meanwhile, multiple acquisition projects have been consolidated into the financial statement during the Year. The Group will exert great efforts to develop vocational education and quality-oriented education, while attach greater importance to content development, specialty construction and the improvement of teaching quality and operational efficiency, thus to enhance the core competitiveness of the Group. HONG KONG, April 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A large private education service provider in China - China 21st Century Education Group Limited ("21st Century Education" or the "Company", together with its subsidiaries, collectively referred to as the "Group") is pleased to announce the audited comprehensive consolidated results of the Group for the twelve months ended 31 December 2019 (the "2019" or "the Year"). For the year ended 31 December 2019, the Group's revenue achieved RMB234.2 million, representing an increase of 16.0% compared with the same period of 2018, of which the revenue from vocational education was RMB141.0 million; the gross profit was RMB121.3 million, representing an increase of 18.6% compared with same period of 2018; the profit for the year was RMB82.8 million, representing an increase of 19.2% compared with the same period of 2018; the Group recorded 32,228 students enrollment, representing an increase of 5.4% compared with the same period of 2018. The Board recommends a final dividend of HK$2.2 cents per share. Benefiting from the Group's standardized management and efficient operation, the Group has achieved significant growth in operating indicators such as student numbers, and key financial indicators such as profit. The Number of Students Continued to Grow, while the Core Business Developed Steadily The Group owned 21 schools in 2019 and 15 schools in the same period of 2018. In 2019, the Group recorded 32,228 students enrollment, including 16,772 full-time students and 15,456 part-time students, representing an increase of 5.4% compared with 30,567 students in the same period of 2018. The Group's tutorial schools under quality-oriented education segment delivered approximately 469,298 tutoring hours to approximately 7,620 students, with a 65.1% student renewal rate for those who still chose to study after completing the first curriculum. Besides, there were 620 partner schools under the New Gaokao business of Peijian Tutorial School under the quality-oriented education segment of the Group, providing 11,580 students with competition tutoring services on five subjects; among them, 1,159 students won the provincial first prize at the five-subject competition. Shijiazhuang Institute of Technology under the Group works to build a modern vocational education system, which adopts the "TOP" talent training model (TOP means "Technique-Occupation-Personality"), to continuously cultivate and deliver application-oriented talents for society. During the Year, the Group partnered with over 40 of the top 500 enterprises, established 14 order-based classes and organized 6 on-site training programs, which significantly enriched teaching practice of the Group. The employment rate of graduates was 95.3% in 2019. During the Year, the average tuition fee for vocational education of the Group was RMB6,418, and the average tuition fee for quality-oriented education was RMB16,574; The percentage of teachers of the Group with a bachelor's degree or above was 94.7%, while 81.1% in the same period of 2018. Strategically Lay out "Content + Technology", Accelerated the Digital Expansion of Education Business With years of experience in the education industry, the Group has acquired the capability of management output for the two major segments of vocational education and quality-oriented education. In 2019, the Group's vocational education segment provided the west campus of Sifang College with accommodation service for 3,017 students; the "Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Preschool Education Alliance" under the Group's quality-oriented education segment had 1,046 cooperative members, and provided service guidance and training services for over 1,100 teachers. We continuously improve our research and development capabilities to meet the needs of different customers. In 2019, The Group started the external promotion of the aesthetic education program jointly developed with Hebei Youth Calligraphers Association through the practices in internal kindergartens, with nearly 12,000 books sold in the whole year. The Group completed sports courses with the efforts of research and development team with the background of sports and preschool education, including children's football, children's basketball, etc., with a service coverage of nearly 60 kindergartens. In 2019, the Group further accelerated the expansion of its traditional offline education business into the digital field. Science and technology empower the Group to establish content layout in two major segments of vocational education and quality-oriented education. During the Year, the Group successively developed five technology products: middle and high-end family education platform - "Parents Cloud - based Classroom", Gaojiaoyun management platform under vocational education segment - "Sousou Smart School", Youjiaoyun management platform under quality-oriented education segment - "Enlightening Homeland", online live broadcast tool - "Live Classroom", and intelligent education evaluation platform - "Grand Educational Evaluation", which basically met most of the needs of the target group. In the future, the Group will continue to promote the digital expansion of its core business and enhance its comprehensive competitiveness. Investment and Acquisition Projects Processed Steadily, while Core Competitiveness was Enhanced Multidimensionally On 28 February 2019, the Group invested RMB2,000,000 in Beijing Ying Yu New Media Interaction Technology Co., Ltd. * to acquire 2% of its equity interest. On 5 September 2019, a subsidiary of the Group acquired 51% equity interests in Zhejiang Peijian Technology Co., Ltd.* ("Zhejiang Peijian"), and had been consolidated into the comprehensive consolidated results of the Group since 22 November 2019. On September 6, 2019, another subsidiary of the Group acquired 70% of equity interests in Hangzhou Yimai Enterprise Management Consultancy Co., Ltd.* ("Hangzhou Yimai"), and had been consolidated into the comprehensive consolidated results of the Group since 25 September 2019. Zhejiang Province was one of the pioneer provinces for the New Gaokao (or college entrance examination) Revolution in 2014. This has enriched Zhejiang Peijian and Hangzhou Yimai with extensive experience in New Gaokao. These acquisition projects will improve the development of the Group's businesses in relation to New Gaokao under the culture and education business sector, optimize the Group's regional layout and coordinate with existing resources of the Group. On the other side, the Group entered into cooperation agreement with the Dundalk Institute of Technology in Ireland, Great Britain, Zhonghai Ruanyin Investment Management Co., Ltd.*, and Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.* to continuously enhance the core competitiveness of the Group. Centering on the overall national objective for education modernization, the Group will exert great efforts to develop vocational education and quality-oriented education, and sustain a diversified industrial layout in the future. The Group will attach greater importance to content development, specialty construction and teaching quality, take advantage of various technologies to empower customers to learn more efficiently and effectively, and gradually achieve commercial output. Meanwhile, the Group will be more active to keep abreast of and establish our presence in overseas education business as appropriate. The Board of Directors of China 21st Century Education Group Limited believes: "As China's economy improved steadily in 2019, the government emphasized more on enhancing the development of the education industry as well as the education system. During the Year, the Group seized the opportunity to expand its business coverage stably, improve the teaching quality and enhance the service quality with technology, and has achieved excellent results. The Group also achieved continuous growth in the number of schools and students as well as its revenue and won a number of honorary awards. In the future, the Group will attach greater importance on content research and specialty construction, advance professional vocational education and quality education simultaneously and diversify its business layout. The Group will improve the teaching environment and experience as well as learning efficiency and results with the use of technology in order to realize quality, efficient, sustainable development and bring greater return for the shareholders of the Company." - END - About China 21st Century Education Group Limited (1598.HK): China 21st Century Education Group Limited is the first large established private education service provider based in the area of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Province with access to the capital market of Hong Kong. The Company focuses on the operation and content incubation of the education industry, and adhering to the corporate mission of "promoting the development of the education industry with contents and technologies", the Company has addressed itself to improving the efficiency and customer experience of education operation by virtue of technologies empowerment. The Company's business covers pre-school education, K-12 primary and secondary school after-school tutoring, higher education, continuing education and internet education, and has diversified revenue sources and a board coverage of the customer base. For further information, please refer to the company's website at http://www.21centuryedu.com *For identification purpose only
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NetDragon Announces Fiscal Year 2019 Financial Results, Record High Revenue and Profit
HONG KONG, March 31, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited ('NetDragon' or the 'Company'; Hong Kong Stock Code: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, today announced its financial results for fiscal year 2019. NetDragon's management team will hold a conference call and webcast at 10:00am Hong Kong time on 1 April 2020 to discuss the results and recent business developments. Mr. Dejian Liu, Chairman of NetDragon, commented: "2019 was a special year to NetDragon as we achieved record high revenue and profit while celebrating our 20th anniversary. We recorded revenue of RMB5,793.1 million, up 15.0% year-over-year, and net profit attributable to shareholders of RMB807.2 million, up 48.0% year-over-year. "Our gaming business maintained its strong growth momentum with 39.4% year-over-year revenue growth, as mobile games and PC games sustained remarkable growth with 46.8% and 38.3% increase in revenue year-over-year respectively. The business has proven to deliver consistent and sustainable growth, as our revenue has grown at a CAGR of 35.3% in the past five years, while segmental profits have increased more than sevenfold during this period. Our performance in 2019 was driven by across-the-board revenue growth coming from all of our major IPs, including Eudemons Online, Heroes Evolved and Conquer Online. Over the past many years, NetDragon has built a unique set of technologies, knowhow and operational capabilities across multiple genres and markets, which will provide the foundation for us to drive our gaming business forward with sustainable growth." "Our education business also delivered solid performance as our subsidiary Promethean continued its global market leadership position[1] in K-12 interactive classroom technologies with the largest market share in international markets. We had a strong second half as we continued to see robust growth in our core regions, particularly in the US and European markets, as well as new markets including Egypt. On the product side, we are delighted that our Red Dot Design Award-winning ActivPanel Elements Series has been well received since its shipment commenced in the second quarter." "While our Promethean offerings continue to enable us to expand our ecosystem within the classroom environment, we are making strong progress with our online learning community platform Edmodo, which has seen unprecedented increase in active users and new registered users since the outbreak of the coronavirus, as teachers and students around the world embrace Edmodo as an easy-to-use, effective and reputable platform that will ensure the continuity of learning in a fun and engaging manner. In particular, Edmodo has recently been chosen by the Ministry of Education in the Arab Republic of Egypt to be the designated online learning platform for the K12 education system in Egypt for immediate rollout to over 22 million students and over 1 million teachers in the country to provide distance learning support in the period of school suspension." "In China, we continued to deliver strong progress with our strategy to drive user adoption. The number of monthly actively installed base of our flagship platform 101 Education PPT has surpassed 1 million, representing a sizable user base of teachers to drive learning activities in the classroom environment. Our One-Stop Learning platform, which enables teachers and students to communicate, teach and learn after school, has seen MAU increase by more than 20 times since the coronavirus outbreak. With our fast-scaling coverage of active users in both classrooms and at home, we are well on track to build our ecosystem towards monetization." [1] Based on report issued by Futuresource Consulting dated 17 February 2020, incorporating actual shipment volumes (excluding China) of the Company. Fiscal Year 2019 Financial Highlights Revenue was RMB5,793.1 million, representing a 15.0% increase year-over-year. Revenue from the gaming business was RMB3,299.6 million, representing 57.0% of the Company's total revenue and registering a 39.4% increase year-over-year. Revenue from the education business was RMB2,395.4 million, representing 41.3% of the Company's total revenue and registering a 6.6% decrease year-over-year. Excluding phase-two of the Moscow tender win in 2018 (with phase 3 of such tender release planned in 2020), revenue from the education business registered a 12.0% increase year-over-year. In the second half, revenue from education business increased by 28.5% half-over-half and 14.0% year-over-year respectively. Gross profit was RMB3,855.3 million, representing a 26.5% increase year-over-year. Cash inflow from operating activities was RMB1,175.8 million, representing a 69.4% increase year-over-year. Core segmental profit[2] from the gaming business was RMB1,923.3 million, representing a 51.3% increase year-over-year. Core segmental loss[2] from the education business was RMB524.5 million, representing a 36.2% increase year-over-year. The increase was due to a number of factors including consolidation of Edmodo for the full year period, US tariff on Promethean products, and cyclical nature of the Moscow tender as noted above. EBITDA was RMB1,245.2 million, representing a 49.6% increase year-over-year. Non-GAAP operating profit[3] was RMB1,060.7 million, representing a 62.7% increase year-over-year. Profit attributable to owners of the Company was RMB807.2 million, representing a 48.0% increase year-over-year. The company declared a final dividend of HK$0.25 per share (2018: HK$0.15 per share), subject to approval at the coming Annual General Meeting. [2] Core segmental profit (loss) figures are derived from the Company's reported segmental profit (loss) figures (presented in accordance with Hong Kong Financial Reporting Standard ("HKFRS") 8) but exclude non-core/operating, non-recurring or unallocated items including government grants, fair value change and finance cost of financial instruments, intercompany finance cost, impairment loss (net of reversal), impairment of goodwill and intangible assets and fair value change of convertible preferred shares. [3] To supplement the consolidated results of the Company prepared in accordance with Hong Kong Financial Reporting Standards ("HKFRSs"), the use of non-GAAP operating profit measure is provided solely to enhance the overall understanding of the Company's current financial performance. The non-GAAP operating profit measure is not expressly permitted measure under HKFRSs and may not be comparable to similarly titled measure for other companies. The non-GAAP operating profit of the Company excludes share-based payments expense, amortisation of intangible assets arising on acquisition of subsidiaries and impairment of goodwill and intangible assets. Segmental Financial Highlights FY2019 FY2018 Variance (RMB '000) Gaming Education Gaming (Restated) Education(Restated) Gaming Education Revenue 3,299,626 2,395,398 2,367,405 2,565,556 39.4% -6.6% Gross Profit 3,165,500 713,009 2,262,355 766,057 39.9% -6.9% Gross Margin 95.9% 29.8% 95.6% 29.9% +0.3 ppt +0.1 ppt Core Segmental Profit (Loss)[2] 1,923,262 (524,458) 1,271,564 (384,929) 51.3% 36.2% Segmental Operating Expenses - Research and development (557,561) (491,261) (458,932) (449,332) 21.5% 9.3% - Selling and marketing (385,921) (508,088) (232,099) (440,704) 66.3% 15.3% - Administrative (306,434) (254,866) (295,989) (239,497) 3.5% 6.4% Gaming Business Our gaming business revenue increased by 39.4% year-over-year to RMB3,299.6 million. Mobile games revenue surged by 46.8% year-over-year, while PC games revenue growth remained strong at 38.3% year-over-year. We also performed well in the overseas markets and recorded 66.4% increase in revenue year-over-year. As a result of strong top line growth and positive operating leverage, gaming business's core segmental profit jumped by 51.3% year-over-year. In particular, our flagship IP Eudemons recorded 39.2% year-over-year increase in revenue of the PC and mobile versions combined. During the year, we successfully carried out a series of major marketing initiatives including cross-industry collaboration with Nezha IP and renowned celebrities to enhance the market influence of Eudemons. On the back of our marketing activities and new expansion packs, we managed to increase gamers' loyalty and activities, while at the same time optimizing spending, resulting in significant revenue growth as well as a 38.8% year-over-year increase in monthly active players. Our other two major IPs, namely Heroes Evolved and Conquer Online, also recorded solid revenue growth of 32.5% and 66.3% year-over-year respectively. In particular, Conquer Online achieved record high revenue after its sixteenth year of history, as we stepped up our effort in enhancing the contents and user experience with multiple expansion packs launched during the year. Heroes Evolved also performed exceptionally well, with its growth attributable to a combination of introduction of new playing methods and effective marketing and promotion campaigns including IP crossovers with two popular anime, OVERLORD and Rakshasa Street, which led to a substantial increase in gross billings. Looking forward, we are well-positioned to drive consistent, long-term revenue and profit growth for our gaming business by building on the success of our technology knowhow and our IP portfolio to launch new premier quality games of different genre, grow the user base and engagement of our existing games, launch new IP and seek to work with our partners on IP collaboration. Currently, we have a robust pipeline with games of different categories and genres under development or in testing stage, including Vow of Heroes, Eudemons II, Eudemons Legends, Heroes of Ages, Heroes Evolved Thrones and Battle of Giants. Education Business Our revenue from the education business was RMB2,395.4 million, down 6.6% year-over-year. Excluding revenue from the large Moscow tender in 2018 (which we exclude for more comparable presentation due to cyclical nature of the tender), revenue from the education business increased by 12.0% year-over-year. Our subsidiary Promethean continued its market leadership by maintaining its number 1 market share position in our key geographical regions including the US and a large number of European countries, resulting in strong growth momentum during the year, particularly in the second half of 2019 on the back of our new ActivPanel Elements Series product launch as shipment of this product started in the second quarter. ActivPanel Elements Series is Promethean's next-generation interactive panel, featuring unmatched ease-of-use, security and manageability. This ground-breaking innovation has earned our team a winner of the prestigious Red Dot Design Award during the year, as well as excellent feedback from customers. Overall, Promethean's unit volume of panel shipment increased by 11.1% year-over-year, while revenue increased 20.0% sequentially from first half to second half of 2019, as a result of the positive reception of our new product launch. We also see strong traction among emerging markets. In January 2019, we signed an MOU with The Ministry of Education of Egypt with the goal to deliver to Egypt a total of 265,000 sets of intelligent classrooms equipped with our education products including Promethean panels as well as software platforms. Building on our success in Egypt with a unique country coverage model, we are expanding our "country strategy" into other countries as we have initiated discussions on multiple country-level opportunities. While Promethean expands our ecosystem within the classroom environment, we have made strong progress in extending our presence into the "home" with our online learning community platform Edmodo, which has seen unprecedented increase in active users and new registered users since the outbreak of the coronavirus. The remarkable increase in adoption, with DAU currently over 4 million, is due to Edmodo's clear differentiation with its freemium model, emphasis on sharing and community building, as well as its globally reputable brand as a reliable and secured platform for online and mobile learning. Recently, Edmodo was also selected as a UNESCO-recommended distance learning platform, due to its wide reach, strong user base and evidence of positive impact on learning. And in March 2020, Edmodo became Egypt's designated national K-12 online learning platform, as we work towards deployment of Edmodo across the whole of Egypt to create for a positive transformation of education at a country level. Meanwhile, we are also starting to lay the foundation to monetize our user base with a SaaS model as we soft launched AskMo, an online homework help service, in the fourth quarter. In China, our strategy focus is to both expand user coverage and work towards monetization via a SaaS model. We have started large-scale penetration of our Promethean offerings with multiple tender wins in Fuzhou during the year. Our platform user adoption in the classroom environment has also continued to pick up traction, as the number of monthly active installed base of our flagship software platform 101 Education PPT has exceeded 1 million. Separately, our One-Stop Learning platform, which enables teachers and students to communicate, teach and learn after school, has seen MAU increase by more than 20 times in China since the coronavirus outbreak. With our fast-scaling coverage of active users in both classrooms and at home, we are well on track to build our ecosystem towards monetization. In December 2019, we signed a partnership agreement to partner with National Center for Educational Technology (NCET) to rollout the NCET VLAB Teaching Service System, a virtual laboratory platform, nationwide to high schools across China, which is expected to generate revenue based on a SaaS model at the school level. Last but not least, as schools continue to shut down around the world due to the outspread of coronavirus, NetDragon is upholding its corporate social responsibility by offering online learning tools, resources and platforms to teachers, students and parents worldwide to support "continuous learning amid school suspension". As noted above, our education platforms have seen significant surge in user traffic and activities, and we are committed to serving teachers, students and parents during this challenging period, and to enhance their teaching and learning experience not just during the outbreak, but also when school learning comes back to normal. Looking forward, we are excited with the outlook of our education business in 2020, thanks to rising traction in tender business, surge in user traffic, as well as growing online monetization opportunities. We believe the unique differentiation of the ecosystem that we have built, as well as our technologies, will enable us to fulfil our mission to transform education at a global scale. Management Conference Call NetDragon's management team will hold a conference call and webcast at 10:00am Hong Kong time on 1 April 2020 (Wednesday) to discuss the results and recent business developments. Details of the live conference call are as follows: International +852 2112 1700 Mainland China 4008 428 383 HK (China) +852 2112 1700 US 1 877 301 4670 UK 0800 068 8163 Passcode 6237526# A live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Investor Relations section of NetDragon's website at http://www.netdragon.com/investor/ir-webcasts.shtml. Participants in the live webcast should visit the aforementioned website 10 minutes prior to the call, then click on the icon for "2019 Results Conference Call" and follow the registration instructions. About NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) is a global leader in building internet communities with a long track record of developing and scaling multiple internet and mobile platforms that impact hundreds of millions of users. These include China's number one online gaming portal, 17173.com, and China's most influential smartphone app store platform, 91 Wireless, which was sold to Baidu for US$1.9 billion in 2013 as the largest Internet M&A transaction in China. Established in 1999, NetDragon is one of the most reputable and well-known online game developers in China with a history of successful game titles including Eudemons Online, Heroes Evolved and Conquer Online. In recent years, NetDragon has also started to scale its online education business on the back of management's vision to create the largest global online learning community, and to bring the "classroom of the future" to every school around the world. For investor enquiries, please contact: NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited Ms. Maggie ZhouSenior Director of Investor RelationsTel.: +852 2850 7266 / +86 591 8390 2825Email: maggie@nd.com.cn Website: ir.netdragon.com CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF PROFIT OR LOSS AND OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019 2019 2018 RMB'000 RMB'000 Revenue 5,793,075 5,037,539 Cost of revenue (1,937,823) (1,990,298) Gross profit 3,855,252 3,047,241 Other income and gains 137,323 118,189 Impairment loss under expected credit loss model, net of reversal (26,491) (11,717) Selling and marketing expenses (915,754) (697,871) Administrative expenses (883,083) (853,180) Development costs (1,075,400) (922,867) Other expenses and losses (305,356) (150,308) Share of losses of associates (4,936) (1,370) Share of loss of a joint venture (3,370) (1,717) Operating profit 778,185 526,400 Interest income on pledged bank deposits 3,181 3,607 Exchange loss on secured bank borrowings and convertible preferred shares (1,052) (10,030) Fair value change on convertible preferred shares 110,697 60,659 Net loss on disposal of property held for sale - (68) Finance costs (24,742) (12,415) Profit before taxation 866,269 568,153 Taxation (163,214) (91,349) Profit for the year 703,055 476,804 Other comprehensive income (expense) for the year, net of income tax: Item that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss: Exchange differences arising on translation of foreign operations 5,517 4,332 Item that will not be reclassified to profit or loss: Fair value gain (loss) on equity instrument at fair value through other comprehensive income 878 (9,366) Other comprehensive income (expense) for the year 6,395 (5,034) Total comprehensive income for the year 709,450 471,770 Profit (loss) for the year attributable to: - Owners of the Company 807,212 545,573 - Non-controlling interests (104,157) (68,769) 703,055 476,804 Total comprehensive income (expense) for the year attributable to: - Owners of the Company 813,456 541,430 - Non-controlling interests (104,006) (69,660) 709,450 471,770 RMB cents RMB cents Earnings per share - Basic 152.68 102.42 - Diluted 152.17 102.27 CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION AS AT 31 December 2019 2019 2018 RMB'000 RMB'000 Non-current assets Property, plant and equipment 1,918,697 1,657,417 Right-of-use assets 467,250 - Prepaid lease payments - 293,228 Investment properties 95,090 77,281 Intangible assets 675,737 824,991 Interests in associates 54,655 23,591 Interests in a joint venture 12,346 15,716 Equity instruments at fair value through other comprehensive income 4,514 1,493 Loan receivables 9,573 12,850 Prepayments and deposits 57,829 45,564 Contract assets - 2,389 Deposits made for acquisition of property, plant and equipment 11,486 7,698 Goodwill 313,328 390,640 Deferred tax assets 47,317 38,169 3,667,822 3,391,027 Current assets Properties under development 469,070 536,848 Properties for sales 20,640 - Inventories 237,478 267,420 Prepaid lease payments - 6,636 Loan receivables 27,354 16,078 Trade receivables 689,360 450,435 Other receivables, prepayments and deposits 328,369 320,360 Contract assets 18,333 29,775 Amounts due from a related company 849 140 Amounts due from associates 2,262 2,105 Amount due from a joint venture 279 751 Amount due from a director 400 - Tax recoverable 6,689 1,126 Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss 1,492 - Restricted bank balances 15,089 15,089 Pledged bank deposits 145,787 156,168 Bank deposit over three months - 68,632 Bank balances and cash 2,125,637 1,483,352 4,089,088 3,354,915 Current liabilities Trade and other payables 980,522 783,040 Contract liabilities 529,497 412,462 Lease liabilities 54,603 - Provisions 69,867 59,936 Amounts due to a related company 105 982 Amounts due to associates 257 720
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Column - 4D Bioprinting: A Technology for the Future
While the number of patients waiting for organ transplantation is continuously increasing, the number of organ donors is always far less than that. For replacing the insufficiency of organ donors, three dimensional (3D) printing technology began to be used in the bioindustry. Through 3D bioprinting, bones, ears, exoskeleton, blood vessels, tissues, and organs can be produced. The bioindustry fields utilizing the technology are body transplantation, anatomical model, and pharmaceutical industry research. In general, 3D printing types include laser, inkjet, and extrusion, and among these, inkjet-based printers are the most used for bioprinting. The process of inkjet-based 3D bioprinting is as follows: (1) Create blueprints of the tissue or organ. (2) Extract stem cells from the patient and differentiate them into cells of a specific tissue or organ. (3) Fill the printer's bioink with the differentiated cells, vascular cells, and other necessary media. (4) Put the bioprinted result in a bioreactor to look at the reaction. (5) Transplant into the patient. Since it is the transplantation of organs made by culturing cells extracted from the patient's body, rather than human-to-human transplantation, side effects and secondary infections can be significantly reduced. Other advantages include that it is possible to produce a personalized organ, saving time as a result, and available regardless of location. However, as the human body constantly changes, the tissues or organs that are transplanted in the body must also be able to transform itself according to environmental factors. Four-dimensional (4D) bioprinting is a technology currently being developed to satisfy this aspect. 4D printing is the first technology known in 2013 by Prof. Skylar Tibbits of MIT Self-Assembly Lab in the United States, and in 2014, Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) selected 4D printing as one of the top 10 promising technologies. ▲ 4D printing is creating something that can be self-assembled through a 3D printer. 4D printing is about creating a "smart material" that can be self-transformed or self-assembled by various energy sources such as temperature and humidity even after the production through a 3D printer. In other words, the concept of time (one dimension) has been added to 3D (three-dimensional) printing. In terms of self-assemblable, 4D printing is a necessary technology, especially in the bioindustry. This is because, in general, natural biomolecules recognize other biomolecules and make changes such as synthesis and migration. To be specific, in the process of cell formation, polymers (including nucleic acids, proteins, polysaccharides, lipids, etc.) are made from simple precursors, and then larger and more complex structures such as macromolecular systems and organelles are formed. The polymers contain the information necessary for them to be self-formed into macromolecular systems. A typical example is when a single DNA strand recognizes the opposite single DNA strand, and the two join to form a double-stranded DNA. Another example could be the case when many proteins and ribonucleic acid molecules self-assemble to form ribosomes. Moreover, the cases where the antibody recognizes and binds to a specific antigen and the fiber synthesis of flagella protein are also great examples of self-assembly. Stimulants that activate self-assembly include physical stimulants such as temperature, humidity, light, magnetic field, electric field, chemical stimulants such as pH and ionic concentration, and biological stimulants such as glucose and enzymes. A number of elements can be used as a stimulator of 4D bioprinting results. 4D printing has tremendous potential as it can be used in various fields such as tissue regeneration in the bioindustry (making and transplanting scaffold proteins necessary for tissue regeneration), medical device manufacturing, drug administration, and medical diagnosis. Besides, the advantages of 4D bioprinting are that the size of the initial product can be reduced as much as possible to minimize the scar at the site of transplantation, and new complex structures can be created using lower-level molecules. However, as there are a wide variety of stimulants and directions, 4D bioprinting technology is still only at an early stage. This is because all possibilities caused by biosynthetic and molecular biology principles must be considered, and side effects and secondary problems such as secondary infection must be identified. Last year, a Korean bio company released the first 4D bioprinter product to which human organ regeneration technology was applied, and showed demonstrations such as printing artificial skin. I hope that it was a successful first step in 4D printing technology. Also, in the future, we all hope that the number of patients leaving the world waiting for donors would be zero as artificial organ transplant treatments significantly improve.
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Ibaraki Prefectural Gov't Touts Tourist Spots with Flowers Blooming in Spring, Unveils New Facility for Visitors
MITO, Japan, March 31, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ibaraki Prefectural Government has wrapped up tourist attractions -- especially for visitors from abroad -- featuring flowers blooming in spring, and unveiled a new tourist facility that has just opened in the prefecture this spring. As the best season for viewing cherry blossoms and nemophila flowers sets in from April through May, the facility, a new hotel for cyclists, opened in March. Photos: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/release/202003278538?p=images Tourist attractions: "Ushiku Daibutsu (Great Buddha)" and "shibazakura (pink moss)" featuring a beautiful world of the big statue overlooking a carpet of colorful shibazakura. The garden with "Ushiku Daibutsu" (120 meters tall), the world's biggest standing bronze statue, is a spot famous for flowers, and visitors can enjoy viewing flowers for all four seasons such as sakura cherry blossoms, hydrangeas and cosmos. Every year in April, shibazakura bloom brilliantly, creating a beautiful landscape together with the Great Buddha. Best season for viewing: from early April through mid-April (in average year) Location: Ushiku Daibutsu, Ushiku City, Ibaraki Prefecture Inquiry: Ushiku Daibutsu (2083 Kunocho, Ushiku City, Ibaraki Prefecture) Website: https://daibutu.net/ (in Japanese) "Shidare-zakura (weeping cherry trees) on Hitachi Fudoki no Oka," forming a tunnel of weeping cherry blossoms that create a breathtaking beauty. Hitachi Fudoki no Oka, equipped with Japan's largest lion mask-shaped observatory, is a popular spot for cherry blossoms. There are about 500 cherry trees in the park, and visitors can enjoy viewing "Somei Yoshino" cherry trees (the most common type of cherry blossom known for its pale pink flowers), shidare-zakura and botan-zakura (double cherry blossoms) for about one month from early April. Notably, the combination of shidare-zakura and botan-zakura in mid-April makes the landscape even more colorful. Best season for viewing: around mid-April (in average year) Location: Hitachi Fudoki no Oka, Ishioka City, Ibaraki Prefecture Inquiry: Hitachi Fudoki no Oka (1646 Someya, Ishioka City, Ibaraki Prefecture) Website: http://business2.plala.or.jp/fudoki/index.html (in Japanese) "Nemophila flowers on Hitachi Seaside Park (in Hitachinaka City), offering spectacular blue scenery of nemophila flowers filling up the hill. About 5.3 million nemophilas bloom in the 4.2-hecter field of the "Miharashi no Oka (vantage hill)" in the park. The facility has received enthusiastic reviews from visitors not only from elsewhere in Japan but also from abroad. Usually, the best season lasts about two weeks. Everyone is welcomed to visit there and enjoy the magnificent blue scenery created by nemophilas. Next, the best season for viewing kochia balls (summer cypress) begins in mid-July. Best season for viewing: from mid-April through early May (in average year) Location: Hitachi Seaside Park, Hitachinaka City, Ibaraki Prefecture Inquiry: Hitachi Seaside Park (605-4 Onuma-aza, Mawatari, Hitachinaka City, Ibaraki Prefecture Website: https://hitachikaihin.jp/ct.html (in traditional Chinese) "Hoshino Resort BEB5 Tsuchiura": The hotel perfect for bicycle riders opened in Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Prefecture, on March 19, 2020 "Hoshino Resort BEB5 Tsuchiura," catering to cyclists, opened in the building of Tsuchiura Station on the JR Joban Line (in Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Prefecture) on March 19. Visitors can check in and check out the hotel together with their bikes, and there are guest rooms into which cyclists can bring their bikes with them. The hotel, therefore, is designed to help cyclists enjoy their trips to the fullest. "Tsukuba Kasumigaura Ring Ring Road", which is directly connected to the hotel, was just designated last autumn as a "National Cycle Route," one of the leading cycling roads in Japan. The 180-km flat cycling road has a wide variety of courses so that everyone from beginners to experienced cyclists can enjoy. Anyone can visit there even empty-handed as an excellent bike rental service is also available. In the station building, moreover, there is a bike maintenance facility and the like, providing an amazing environment for cycling. Visitors can enjoy cycling as much as they want in Ibaraki, only one hour away from Tokyo. Facility name: Hoshino Resort BEB5 Tsuchiura (Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Prefecture) Opened: March 19 (Thursday), 2020 Website: https://hoshinoresorts.com/zh_tw/hotels/beb5tsuchiura/ (in traditional Chinese) Regular flights between Taipei (Taoyuan) and Ibaraki are in operation: Ibaraki Airport, 80 km from central Tokyo, handles Tigerair Taiwan's regular flights between Taipei (Taoyuan) and Ibaraki, making it possible for people to reach Ibaraki on a direct flight from Taipei. Prospective travelers are encouraged to use Ibaraki Airport to visit the northern Kanto region (Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma prefectures) that is filled with charms such as nature and hot springs even though it is so close to the Tokyo metropolis. Flight information2 round trips every week (Thursdays and Sundays)Oct. 27, 2019-March 28, 2020Taipei to Ibaraki09:50 14:00Ibaraki to Taipei15:00 18:05 (Thursday)15:00 17:55 (Sunday)*As departure and arrival time may change, please confirm through the airline company's website and other sources. Proposals to travel from Ibaraki Airport Proposal 1: "Kairaku-en" -- one of the three greatest gardens in Japan and a famous spot for plum blossoms Kairaku-en, one of Japan's three greatest gardens, is known as a famous spot for plum trees. Some 3,000 plum trees of about 100 varieties bloom during the "Mito Plum Blossom Festival" held from Feb. 15 through March 29. Proposal 2: Visit Tochigi Prefecture and Gunma Prefecture Ibaraki Airport provides the best access to Tochigi Prefecture -- Japan's top producer of strawberries -- and Gunma Prefecture famous for its Kusatsu Onsen (Kusatsu Hot Spring) resort. Reservations can be made through Tigerair Taiwan's official website:https://www.tigerairtw.com/zh-tw/ (in traditional Chinese) Tourist information on Ibaraki Prefecture is available on the Ibaraki tourism website:https://tc.ibarakiguide.jp/ (in traditional Chinese) Useful travel tips at Ibaraki Airport Lowest car rental rates: from 1,000 yen a day For someone who stays at an accommodation facility in Ibaraki Prefecture for at least one night, the car rental rate for the first 24 hours is 1,000 yen. A special campaign is currently underway to offer the rate of 7,000 yen for the first 72 hours.http://www.ibaraki-airport.net/zz/news/rent-a-car-plus2019.html (in traditional Chinese) A direct one-way bus service to Tokyo is available (until March 31) A direct connection bus service between Tokyo Station and Ibaraki Airport is in operation. Customers who travel to Ibaraki by plane can use the one-way bus service to Tokyo Station for 500 yen. Also, bus services to other locations in Ibaraki Prefecture are available:http://www.ibaraki-airport.net/zz/access/bus/html (in traditional Chinese) Ibaraki Airport's official website:http://www.ibaraki-airport.net/zz/index4.html (in traditional Chinese) Basic data on Ibaraki Prefecture and access information Population: 2.871 million Total land area: 6,097 square meters Prefectural capital: Mito City Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/%E8%8C%A8%E5%9F%8E%E8%A7%80%E5%85%89-323890404428705/ (in traditional Chinese) Website: http://tc.ibarakiguide.jp/ (in traditional Chinese) Introduction video: https://tc.ibarakiguide.jp/about/videos.html (in traditional Chinese) Travel plans using public transportation (bound for Mito Station): From Tokyo Station: about 75 minutes by JR Joban Line limited express; about 120 minutes by expressway bus From Narita Airport: about 120 minutes by expressway bus From Ibaraki Airport: about 40 minutes by expressway bus Travel plans using cars (to Mito city center): From Tokyo Metropolitan area: about 90 minutes on Joban Expressway (E6) From Narita Airport: about 90 minutes on Shin-Kuko Expressway (E65), Higashi-Kanto Expressway (E51), Metropolitan Intercity Expressway (C4) and Joban Expressway (E6) From Ibaraki Airport: about 40 minutes on Higashi-Kanto Expressway (E51) and Kita-Kanto Expressway (E50)
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New Compensation Program Helps Purchasers Combat Toxic E-waste
STOCKHOLM, March 31, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Thousands of tonnes of toxic e-waste is illegally dumped in vulnerable regions every year. A new addition to TCO Certified Edge will help solve the problem. By choosing to buy certified IT products, purchasers can make sure that an equivalent amount of e-waste is collected and recycled in a safe way. New compensation program helps purchasers combat toxic e-waste. Photo credit: Closing the Loop E-waste is an enormous human health and environmental problem. When it's not handled in a responsible manner, hazardous substances may be released into the environment and potentially end up in the food we eat and the water we drink. TCO Development, the organization behind the global sustainability certification TCO Certified, now gives purchasing organizations the opportunity to take responsibility for the e-waste they generate. When they buy an IT product certified according to the TCO Certified Edge criterion, E-waste Compensated, an equivalent amount of e-waste is collected in a country lacking in safe recycling systems. The environment is protected from hazardous substances and, due to social requirements, fair job opportunities are created locally. The collected e-waste is then transported to a recycling plant compliant with strict environmental criteria. "Through TCO Certified Edge, E-waste Compensated, we want to give purchasers and the IT industry a powerful tool for combatting e-waste," says Andreas Rehn, Development Manager, at TCO Development. Closing the Loop, a circular service provider, is the first approved collector within the framework of TCO Certified Edge, E-waste Compensated. "E-waste is often seen as a problem, but it also represents opportunities for green procurement. Shifting e-waste to where it can be recycled in a responsible manner, can give those valuable resources a second life, keeping them in the loop of the circular economy," says Joost de Kluijver, founder of Closing the Loop. TCO Certified Edge is a supplemental certification to TCO Certified. The new criterion E-waste Compensated is launched on March 31. From this date, organizations can use the criterion in their IT procurement. TCO Certified Edge, E-waste Compensated About TCO CertifiedTCO Certified is the world-leading sustainability certification for IT products. Our comprehensive criteria are designed to drive social and environmental responsibility throughout the product life cycle. Covering 11 product categories including computers, mobile devices, display products and data center products, compliance is independently verified, both pre and post certification. ContactCassandra Julin+46 702 866 861 press@tcodevelopment.com Press Room Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1135810/TCO_Development.jpg Related Links :https://tcocertified.com
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What to expect from China in 2020?
Opinion By Dr. Li Haitao, Dean's Distinguished Chair Professor of Finance, Associate Dean for Chinese MBA, Cheung Kong Graduate School of BusinessBEIJING, March 31, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2019, China's economy seemed stable, but encountered headwinds, resulting in China's real GDP growth dropping by 0.6 percentage point from the previous year. In 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak has presented a major threat to China's economic growth as the epidemic continues to spread globally, impacting the demand for goods and services and the resumption of industrial production. Nonetheless, we believe this will have a limited impact on China's overall economic growth, since the government will implement supportive fiscal policy, and if the epidemic lasts, accommodative monetary and industrial policies should be sufficient to stabilize economic growth. Thus, in 2020, we believe that China has numerous highlights to look forward to, in the fields of finance, consumer goods, manufacturing and technology. In 2020, China's financial system reform remains underway. We foresee China to focus on issues such as the integration of the dual tracks of the interest rate system, defusing financial risks, deepening capital market reform and promoting the opening-up of China's financial markets. The central bank has been continuously cutting the reserve requirement ratio since 2018, which we expect will be more clearly reflected in pricing in 2020. That is, transmission channels for capital prices will be opened as the dual tracks of the interest rate system are integrated, reducing the real economy's costs of financing. Once implementation of new asset management regulations are completed in 2020, it is expected that existing assets will be handled more flexibly. Rapid growth of disposable income has given the Chinese population increasingly strong purchasing powers for high-end consumer goods and services. According to Bain & Company, China's overall luxury market was worth about 23 billion Euros in 2018, and will sustain a compound annual growth of 9-10% until 2030. After years of uninterrupted development, "Made in China" has undoubtedly contributed to China's reputation. Despite ongoing concerns over outward relocation of manufacturing due to the escalation of China-US trade frictions, China still offers a manufacturing solution that is second to none. The new-energy automobiles sector should remain one of Chinese manufacturing's key sectors in 2020. In China's A-share market, technology was undoubtedly one of the best-performing sectors in 2019. There are reasons to believe that China may lead the global popularization of 5G, it ranks first worldwide in 5G patent applications with a 34% market share. China has also become a leader in fintech and related fields, with the rapid spread of digital payment, supported by the continuous promotion of Internet giants like Alibaba and Tencent, and the construction of infrastructure such as QR code payment systems.
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RYB Education, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2019 Financial Results
BEIJING, March 31, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- RYB Education, Inc. ("RYB" or the "Company") (NYSE: RYB), a leading early childhood education service provider in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2019. Fourth Quarter 2019 Operational and Financial Summary Number of students enrolled at directly operated facilities was 30,806 as of December 31, 2019, compared with 23,627 as of December 31, 2018. Net revenues increased by 12.7% to $50.7 million, compared with $45.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2018. Gross profit increased by 24.8% to $9.9 million, compared with $7.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2018. Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders of RYB for the fourth quarter of 2019 was $0.2 million, compared with $0.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2018. Adjusted net income attributable to ordinary shareholders[1] of RYB for the fourth quarter of 2019 was $1.1 million, compared with $1.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2018. Cash used in operating activities was $9.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, compared with $9.5 million cash used in operating activities for the fourth quarter of 2018. Full Year 2019 Financial Summary Net revenues were $182.3 million, compared with $156.5 million for 2018. Gross profit was $26.7 million, compared with $25.6 million for 2018. Net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders of RYB for 2019 was $2.4 million, compared with $1.8 million for 2018. Adjusted net income attributable to ordinary shareholders[2] of RYB for 2019 was $1.4 million, compared with $5.1 million for 2018. "Looking back at the fourth quarter of 2019, in the face of many challenges in the overall market, we continued to focus on growing our core businesses whilst improving the educational quality of our offerings and services, increasing operational efficiencies, and achieving higher levels of customer satisfaction. We also further advanced the online-merge-offline process across our facilities," said Ms. Yanlai Shi, Co-founder, Director and Chief Executive Officer of RYB. "Throughout the year, we carried out our brand portfolio strategy in response to the diverse needs of students and families and actively supported new regulatory policies of early childhood education. Additionally, we continued to make smooth progress integrating new business operations across multiple geographies and enriching our suite of diversified products and services." "Over the past two months, China has fought with tremendous courage against the coronavirus pandemic. As a responsible corporate citizen, we have proactively monitored the health status of our children, families and staff members, secured and provided healthcare supplies to our facilities in coronavirus impacted regions, and compiled a RYB Handbook on COVID-19 and distributed to all the facilities within our network. During the same time, we have also worked diligently to provide our students and families with resources for continuous co-parenting support that facilitate learning and parent-child interaction. In an effort to maintain educational continuity for families and teachers affected by facility closures, we have provided free access via our self-developed mobile app and collaborating third party platforms to an entire library of home education content. For example, in early February, we launched a series of online educational content comprising of ten learning modules for our kindergartens. This approach has proven to be very popular, attracting over 100,000 participating students. For franchise play-and-learn centres, we also offered a 99-day free access to education content on the iLove app, which attracted over 300,000 registered users to date. Other parts of the efforts also include additional online training for our teaching staff during this time. Going forward, we will continue to execute our growth strategy by focusing on our core operations, advancing our digital transformation, and developing new and innovative ways to serve children and families," concluded Ms. Shi. Mr. Hao Gu, Chief Financial Officer of RYB, said, "In the fourth quarter of 2019, the number of students enrolled at our directly operated facilities reached 30,806 and our net revenues grew 12.7%, approaching the high end of our guidance. At the same time, our prudent cost control achieved satisfactory results. Our gross profit in the fourth quarter increased by 24.8% compared with the same period last year, while operating income were $3.3 million, versus an operating loss of $0.13 million for the fourth quarter of 2018. For the full year 2019, the Company achieved a solid increase of 16.5% in revenues, and a positive operating cash flow of $13.0 million compared with $0.8 million during 2018." "The health and welfare of the children and families we serve is always our highest priority. Toward this end, over the past couple of years we have invested in initiatives that have enhanced teacher training and upgraded our operating systems. Today we have a solid professional foundation in place that allows us to respond effectively to unexpected developments, like the coronavirus outbreak. Despite the suspension of some of our operations as a result of the outbreak, we remain confident of the resilience of our business. By further integrating technology into our offerings we are executing our company-wide digital strategy to drive innovation and pave the way for a wider spectrum of products and services, increased revenue streams, better cost structures, improved efficiencies and long-term profitable returns," concluded Mr. Gu. Fourth Quarter 2019 Financial Results Net Revenues Net revenues for the fourth quarter of 2019 increased by 12.7% to $50.7 million, from $45.0 million for the same quarter of 2018. Service revenues for the fourth quarter of 2019 increased by 21.3% to $46.6 million, from $38.5 million for the same quarter of 2018. The increase was primarily contributed by student enrolment gains in directly operated facilities in ramp-up period and from directly operated facilities in Singapore that were acquired during the second quarter of 2019. Franchise services revenue also increased due to the expansion of franchise network and an increase in average franchise fee. Product revenues for the fourth quarter of 2019 decreased by 37.4% to $4.1 million, from $6.5 million for the same quarter of 2018. The decrease was primarily due to a decrease in the amount of merchandise sold through the Company's franchise network. Cost of Revenues Cost of revenues for the fourth quarter of 2019 was $40.9 million, a 10.2% increase from $37.1 million for the same quarter of 2018. Cost of revenues for services for the fourth quarter of 2019 was $39.1 million, compared with $33.6 million for the same quarter of 2018. The increase was primarily due to higher staff compensation and operating cost, such as rental and material consumption as the Company continued to moderately expand its facilities network, including directly operated facilities in Singapore acquired during the second quarter of 2019. Cost of products revenues for the fourth quarter of 2019 was $1.8 million, compared with $3.5 million for the same quarter of 2018. The decrease was generally in line with the decrease in product revenues. Gross Profit and Gross Margin Gross profit for the fourth quarter of 2019 increased by 24.8% to $9.9 million, compared with $7.9 million for the same quarter of 2018. Gross margin for the fourth quarter of 2019 was 19.4%, compared with 17.6% for the same quarter last year. Operating Expenses Total operating expenses for the fourth quarter of 2019 were $6.5 million, compared with $8.0 million for the same quarter of 2018. Excluding share-based compensation expenses, operating expenses were $5.6 million, a decrease of 17.6% from $6.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2018. Selling expenses for the fourth quarter of 2019 were $0.7 million, compared with $0.7 million for the same quarter of 2018. General and administrative ("G&A") expenses for the fourth quarter of 2019 were $5.9 million, a 20.2% decrease from $7.3 million for the same quarter of 2018. Excluding share-based compensation expenses, G&A expenses were $5.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2019, compared with $6.1 million for the same quarter of 2018. The decrease in G&A expenses excluding share-based compensation expenses was primarily driven by our stringent cost control measures. The share-based compensation expenses included in G&A expenses were $0.9 million for the quarter. Operating Income/loss Operating income for the fourth quarter of 2019 was $3.3 million, compared with $0.1 million of operating loss for the same quarter last year. Adjusted operating income[3] was $4.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2019, compared with $1.1 million for the same quarter of 2018. Net Income/loss Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders of RYB for the fourth quarter of 2019 was $0.2 million, compared with $0.6 million for the same quarter of 2018. Adjusted net income attributable to ordinary shareholders of RYB, which excludes the impact of $0.9 million of share-based compensation expense for the fourth quarter of 2019, was $1.1 million, compared with $1.1 million for the same quarter of 2018. Basic and diluted net income per American depositary share ("ADS") attributable to ordinary shareholders of RYB for the fourth quarter of 2019 were both $0.01, compared with basic and diluted net income per ADS attributable to ordinary shareholders of RYB of $0.02, for the same quarter of 2018. Each ADS represents one Class A ordinary share. Adjusted basic and diluted net income per ADS attributable to ordinary shareholders[4] of RYB for the fourth quarter of 2019 were both $0.04, compared with $0.04 and $0.03 for the same quarter of 2018. EBITDA[5] for the fourth quarter of 2019 was $6.7 million, compared with $4.3 million for the same period of 2018. Adjusted EBITDA[6] for the fourth quarter of 2019 was $7.6 million, compared with $5.5 million for the same quarter of 2018. [1] Adjusted net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders is a non-GAAP financial measure, which is defined as net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders excluding share-based compensation expenses and changes of redeemable non-controlling interests. See "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" and "Reconciliations of GAAP and non-GAAP results" included elsewhere in this earnings release. [2] Adjusted net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders is a non-GAAP financial measure, which is defined as net income (loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders excluding share-based compensation expenses and changes of redeemable non-controlling interests. See "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" and "Reconciliations of GAAP and non-GAAP results" included elsewhere in this earnings release. [3] Adjusted operating income is a non-GAAP financial measure, which is defined as operating income excluding share-based compensation expenses. [4] Adjusted basic and diluted net income per ADS attributable to ordinary shareholders is a non-GAAP financial measure, which is defined as basic and diluted net income per ADS attributable to ordinary shareholders excluding share-based compensation expenses. [5] EBITDA is defined as net income excluding depreciation, amortization and income tax expenses. [6] Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure, which is defined as net income excluding depreciation, amortization, interest expenses, income tax expenses, and share-based compensation expenses. Operating Cash Flow Cash used in operating activities was $9.3 million during the fourth quarter of 2019, compared with $9.5 million of cash used in operating activities during the fourth quarter of 2018. Full Year of 2019 Financial Results Net Revenues Net revenues for the full year of 2019 were $182.3 million, compared with $156.5 million for 2018. Services revenues for the full year of 2019 were $166.2 million, compared with $139.2 million for 2018. The increase was primarily contributed by increased tuition fees due to a student-mix shift, enrolment increase at directly operated facilities and contribution from acquired facilities in Singapore. Product revenues for the full year of 2019 were $16.1 million, compared with $17.3 million for 2018. The decrease was primarily due to a decrease in the amount of merchandise sold through the Company's franchise network. Cost of Revenues Cost of revenues for the full year of 2019 was $155.5 million, compared with $130.9 million for 2018. Cost of services revenues for the full year of 2019 was $147.7 million, compared with $121.5 million for 2018. The increase was primarily due to an increase in staff compensation and higher operating cost, such as rental and material consumption as the Company continued to moderately expand its facilities network. Cost of products revenues for the full year of 2019 was $7.9 million, compared with $9.3 million for 2018. Gross Profit and Gross Margin Gross profit for the full year of 2019 was $26.7 million, compared with $25.6 million for 2018. Gross margin for the full year of 2019 was 14.7%, compared with 16.4% for 2018. Operating Expenses Total operating expenses for the full year of 2019 were $26.6 million, compared with $28.7 million for 2018. Excluding share-based compensation expenses, operating expenses were $22.6 million, compared with $22.1 million for 2018. Selling expenses were $2.8 million for the full year of 2019, compared with $2.2 million for 2018. G&A expenses for the full year of 2019 were $23.8 million, compared with $26.4 million for 2018. Excluding share-based compensation expenses, G&A expenses were $19.9 million for the full year of 2019, compared with $19.9 million for 2018 despite network expansion thanks to our stringent cost control measures. Operating Income/loss Operating income for the full year of 2019 was $0.2 million, compared with operating loss of $3.0 million for 2018. Adjusted operating income for 2019 was $4.1 million, compared with $3.7 million for 2018. Net Income/loss Net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders of RYB for the full year of 2019 was $2.4 million, compared with $1.8 million for 2018. Adjusted net income attributable to ordinary shareholders of RYB, which excludes the impact of share-based compensation expenses and changes of redeemable non-controlling interests, for the full year of 2019 was $1.4 million, compared with $5.1 million for 2018. Basic and diluted net losses per ADS attributable to ordinary shareholders of RYB for the full year of 2019 were both $0.09 compared with basic and diluted net loss per ADS attributable to ordinary shareholders of RYB of both $0.06 for 2018. Each ADS represents one Class A ordinary share. Adjusted basic and diluted net income per ADS attributable to ordinary shareholders of RYB for the full year of 2019 were both $0.05, compared with $0.18 and $0.16, respectively, for 2018. EBITDA for the full year of 2019 was $12.9 million, compared with $8.8 million for 2018. Adjusted EBITDA for 2019 was $16.8 million, compared with $15.6 million for 2018. Balance Sheet As of December 31, 2019, the Company had total cash, cash equivalents and term deposits of $68.7 million, compared with $104.1 million as of December 31, 2018. The decrease in cash balance was primarily driven by acquisition related payments and capital expenditures. Charitable Causes Associated with the Coronavirus Outbreak in China RYB is fully committed to carrying out its corporate social responsibilities. On January 29, 2020, we announced a donation of RMB 1 million and 10 infrared thermometers to support Wuhan and other cities in Hubei Province, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in China. For remote and continuous education, we have started offering an abundance of online content and offerings free of charge to children and families across the country. Conference Call Management will host an earnings conference call at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, March 31, 2020 (8:00 p.m. Beijing Time on March 31, 2020). Listeners may access the call by dialing: United States (toll free): 1-888-317-6003 International: 1-412-317-6061 China (toll free): 400-120-6115 Hong Kong (toll free): 800-963-976 Participant Elite Entry Number: 4141218 Participants should dial-in at least 10-15 minutes before the scheduled start time and ask to be connected to the earnings conference call. A telephone replay will be available approximately one hour after the call until April 7, 2020 by dialing: United States (toll free): 1-877-344-7529 International: 1-412-317-0088 Replay Access Code: 10141137 Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available at http://ir.rybbaby.com. About RYB Education, Inc. Founded on the core values of ''Care'' and ''Responsibility,'' "Inspire" and "Innovate," RYB Education, Inc. is a leading early childhood education service provider in China. Since opening its first play-and-learn center in 1998, the Company has grown and flourished with the mission to provide high-quality, individualized and age-appropriate care and education to nurture and inspire each child for his or her betterment in life. During its two decades of operating history, the Company has built "RYB" into a well-recognized education brand and helped bring about many new educational practices in China's early childhood education industry. RYB's comprehensive early childhood education solutions meet the needs of children from infancy to 6 years old through structured courses at kindergartens and play-and-learn centers, as well as at-home educational products and services. For more information, please visit http://ir.rybbaby.com Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures We use EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted operating income, adjusted net income, and adjusted basic and diluted net income per ADS, each a non-GAAP financial measure, in evaluating our operating results and for financial and operational decision-making purposes. EBITDA is defined as net income excluding depreciation, amortization, and income tax expenses; adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income excluding depreciation, amortization, income tax expenses, and share-based compensation expenses; adjusted operating income is defined as operating income excluding share-based compensation expenses; adjusted net income attributable to ordinary shareholders is defined as net income attributable to ordinary shareholders excluding share-based compensation expenses and changes of redeemable non-controlling interests; and adjusted basic and diluted net income per ADS attributable to ordinary shareholders are defined as basic and diluted net income per ADS attributable to ordinary shareholders excluding share-based compensation expenses and changes of redeemable non-controlling interests. We believe that EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted operating income, adjusted net income, and adjusted basic and diluted net income per ADS, help identify underlying trends in our business that could otherwise be distorted by the effect of certain expenses that we include in income from operations and net income. We believe that EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted operating income, adjusted net income, and adjusted basic and diluted net income per ADS, provide useful information about our operating results, enhance the overall understanding of our past performance and future prospects and allow for greater visibility with respect to key metrics used by our management in its financial and operational decision-making. EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted operating income, adjusted net income, and adjusted basic and diluted net income per ADS, should not be considered in isolation or construed as an alternative to net income or any other measure of performance or as an indicator of our operating performance. Investors are encouraged to review the historical adjusted financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures. EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted operating income, adjusted net income, and adjusted basic and diluted net income per ADS, presented here may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. Other companies may calculate similarly titled measures differently, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures to our data. We encourage investors and others to review our financial information in its entirety and not rely on a single financial measure. Safe Harbor Statement This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "confident" and similar statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: the Company's brand recognition and market reputation; student enrolment in the Company's teaching facilities; the Company's growth strategies; its future business development, results of operations and financial condition; trends and competition in China's early childhood education market; changes in its revenues and certain cost or expense items; the expected growth of the Chinese early childhood education market; Chinese governmental policies relating to the Company's industry and general economic conditions in China. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. For investor and media inquiries, please contact: In China:RYB Education, Inc.Investor RelationsTel: 86-10-8767-5752 E-mail: ir@rybbaby.com The Piacente Group, Inc.Ross WarnerTel: +86 (10) 6508-0677E-mail: ryb@tpg-ir.com In the United States:The Piacente Group, Inc. Brandi PiacenteTel: +1-212-481-2050E-mail: ryb@tpg-ir.com UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (in thousands of U.S. dollars) As of December 31, 2019 December 31, 2018 Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents 68,728 104,084 Term deposits 1,005 - Accounts receivable, net 2,804 876 Inventories 7,256 4,811 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 13,159 11,243 Loan receivables-current 1,149 582 Amounts due from related parties 349 - Total current assets 94,450 121,596 Non-current assets: Restricted cash 710 746 Property, plant and equipment, net 50,142 45,896 Intangible assets 17,700 4,491 Goodwill 52,687 25,096 Long-term investment 5,237 4,805 Deferred tax assets 18,161 16,195 Other non-current assets 13,604 24,048 Loan receivables-noncurrent - 582 Operating lease right-of-use assets 83,403 - Total assets 336,094 243,455 Liabilities Current liabilities: Prepayments from customers, current portion(including prepayments from customers of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of $5,904 and $6,647 as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively) 5,904 6,647 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities(including accrued expenses and other current liabilities of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of $47,825 and $54,443 as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively) 56,472 60,429 Income taxes payable(including income taxes payable of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of $14,364 and $11,298 as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively) 14,929 11,685 Operating lease liabilities, current portion (including operating lease liabilities of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of $13,068 and $nil as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively) 16,399 - Deferred revenue, current portion(including deferred revenue of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of $30,266 and $29,578 as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively) 31,993 29,578 Long-term debt, current portion (including long-term debt of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of nil and nil as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively) 87 - Total current liabilities 125,784 108,339 Non-current liabilities: Prepayments from customers, non-current portion (including prepayments from customers of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of $2,508 and $3,582 as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively) 2,508 3,582 Deferred revenue, non-current portion (including deferred revenue of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of $4,206 and $5,567 as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively) 5,531 6,915 Other non-current liabilities (including other non-current liabilities of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of $9,167 and $8,541 as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively) 11,034 8,541 Deferred income tax liabilities(including deferred income tax liabilities of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of $1,271 and $1,110 as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively) 3,384 1,110 Operating lease liabilities, non-current portion (including operating lease liabilities of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of $68,509 and nil as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively) 71,012 - Amounts due to related parties (including amounts due to related parties of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of $124 and nil as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively) 124 - Total liabilities 219,377 128,487 Mezzanine equity Redeemable non-controlling interests 8,801 1,628 Equity Ordinary shares 29 29 Treasury stock (12,000) - Additional paid-in capital 139,843 135,881 Statutory reserve 4,060 3,362 Accumulated other comprehensive income/(expense) 141 (122) Accumulated deficit (33,553) (30,421) Total RYB Education, Inc. shareholders' equity 98,520 108,729 Non-controlling interest 9,396 4,611 Total equity 107,916 113,340 Total liabilities, mezzanine equity and total equity 336,094 243,455 UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (in thousands of U.S. dollars, except share, ADS, per share and per ADS data) Three Months EndedDecember 31, Year Ended December 31, 2019 2018 2019 2018 Net revenues: Services 46,641 38,463 166,183 139,216 Products 4,094 6,541 16,100 17,282 Total net revenues 50,735 45,004 182,283 156,498 Cost of revenues: Services 39,094 33,573 147,669 121,549 Products 1,783 3,531 7,865 9,315 Total cost of revenues 40,877 37,104 155,534 130,864 Gross profit 9,858 7,900 26,749 25,634 Operating expenses Selling Expenses 680 696 2,808 2,233 General and administrative
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Reading Eggs Offers 30 Days Free Access to Ease the Pain of School Shutdowns and Day Care Centers Nationwide
Starting immediately, parents can access Reading Eggs for 30 days at no cost to help assist children learning at home due to the COVID-19 outbreak. NEW YORK, March 31, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- From March 27, Blake eLearning's Reading Eggs, the multi-award winning online reading program for ages 2–13 will be offering 30 days free access to children all across the country. For parents facing both school and day care shutdowns, home education has suddenly become their only option. And with so many parents homeschooling their children for the first time, Reading Eggs aims to make that transition a bit easier for families. Designed by experienced elementary school teachers, the learn-to-read program has been used by over 10 million children worldwide. For over a decade their mission has been to make learning easy and fun for young learners, which is especially important for families facing unprecedented challenges as COVID-19 continues to change the way we live. Times like these are precisely when parents and caregivers require additional support. To make at-home learning easier during these uncertain times, Reading Eggs offers a multitude of home learning resources such as printable worksheets, detailed lesson plans, and progress reports to let parents know how their children are performing. The 30 days of free access also provides parents access to Mathseeds, the award-winning online math program that teaches core math and problem-solving skills for children aged 3–9. Both award-winning programs are filled with colorful characters, exciting activities, games, and rewards to keep children motivated to learn and continue building essential reading and math skills from home. With online learning more necessary than ever, trusted and high-quality educational resources like Reading Eggs and Mathseeds are essential in every parent's at-home toolkit. Reading Eggs and Mathseeds are available on desktop, iOS, and Android devices, so kids can play anytime, anywhere. To start your free 30 days access to Reading Eggs, please visit: https://readingeggs.com/home-learning/ For further information and media interviews please contact: Name: Mee Vin MakEmail: Support@readingeggs.com Related Links :https://readingeggs.com/https://readingeggs.com
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Huitao Technology Announces Entering into Cooperation Agreement with Color China Entertainment to Provide Online Music Courses
BEIJING, March 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Huitao Technology Co., Ltd. (Nasdaq CM: HHT) (the "Company", "we" or "HHT"), a company engaged in the businesses of producing advanced ready-mix concrete materials and providing education services, announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, CACM Group NY, Inc. ("CACM") has entered into a Cooperation Agreement (the "Agreement") with Color China Entertainment Co., Ltd. ("Color China"), who will provide online music courses to the Company's online education platform which is being deployed. Such cooperation will allow the Company's platform to give students all over the world a chance to connect with renowned music artists. As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves every day, school education has become an unresolved challenge for worldwide students and educators alike. Our online education platform is expected to offer new learning opportunities where students can have access to high-quality education straight from their homes. Registered in Hong Kong, Color China is an integrated media company operating in multiple segments of the entertainment sector, with massive media assets in music production, songwriting, musical instruments and performing arts. Color China is planning to open a global learning center in New York to launch a virtual entertainment community for online learning and aims to become the world's leading music course provider with a combination of online and offline courses, as well as impact on celebrity-fan dynamic. "We are pleased to partner with Color China to roll out the new online learning initiative as we share the same vision and excitement to move our strategy forward together. With our collective resources, the collaboration will help bring our online course offerings to the next level and benefit our students over the long-term," said Mr. Yang (Sean) Liu, the Chief Executive Officer of HHT. Mr. Xin (Muze) Wu, Chairman of Color China commented, "We are honored to join HHT's efforts to build a powerful online education platform and provide a wide range of online music courses. The signing of the Agreement is a significant milestone in developing a competitive online learning platform for our students. We are confident the partnership will strengthen our capability to grow and expand our market share." About Huitao Technology Co., Ltd. The Company is a holding company whose primary business operations are conducted through its wholly-owned subsidiaries CACM Group NY, Inc., Xin Ao Construction Materials, Inc. ("Xin Ao"), Beijing Ao Hang Construction Materials Technology Co., Ltd., Sunway Kids International Education Group Ltd. ("Sunway Kids"), Brave Millennium Limited, Chengdu Hengshanghui Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. and its variable interest entities, Beijing Xin Ao Concrete Group and Chengdu Hengshanghui Education Consulting Co., Ltd. Xin Ao engages in the production of advanced construction materials for large scale infrastructure, commercial and residential developments, primarily focused on engineering, producing, servicing, delivering and pumping a comprehensive range of advanced ready-mix concrete materials for highly technical, large scale, and environmental-friendly construction projects. Sunway Kids engages in the early childhood education service business, providing a well-structured system to day cares and preschools in China, including AI and robotic technologies, intellectual campus administration software as a service (SaaS) system and personalized education planning. The Company also anticipates providing an after-school tutoring program in New York via Baytao, a newly formed joint venture and provide online learning via a platform being built by CACM. For more information, please visit http://www.china-acm.com. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements made herein are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "estimate", "plan", "outlook", and "project" and other similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. Such forward-looking statements include timing of the proposed transaction; the business plans, objectives, expectations and intentions of the parties once the transaction is complete, and HHT's estimated and future results of operations, business strategies, competitive position, industry environment and potential growth opportunities. These forward-looking statements reflect the current analysis of existing information and are subject to various risks and uncertainties. As a result, caution must be exercised in relying on forward-looking statements. Due to known and unknown risks, our actual results may differ materially from our expectations or projections. All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors. Other than as required under the securities laws, the Company does not assume a duty to update these forward-looking statements. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements: there is uncertainty about the spread of the COVID-19 virus and the impact it will have on HHT's operations, the demand for the HHT's products and services, global supply chains and economic activity in general. These and other risks and uncertainties are detailed in the other public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") by HHT. Additional information concerning these and other factors that may impact our expectations and projections will be found in our periodic filings with the SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019. HHT's SEC filings are available publicly on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. HHT disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/huitao-technology-announces-entering-into-cooperation-agreement-with-color-china-entertainment-to-provide-online-music-courses-301031526.html
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JinkoSolar increases philanthropic efforts by donating one million face masks to 20 more countries
SHANGHAI, March 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- JinkoSolar announced that it will increase its philanthropic efforts during the global coronavirus pandemic by donating one million face masks to 20 more countries across North America, Europe and Asia. "Delivering fast is not easy, but we'll get it done!" said Kangping Chen, CEO of JinkoSolar. Coming after the announcement of a promised donation of one million face masks on Monday, 50,000 masks for the US was on the way. "The first shipment of masks to the US is taking off from Shanghai," Mr. Chen said. Earlier last month, two founders of JinkoSolar, David Lee and Kangping Chen, donated 5 million RMB to medical staff on the front lines. This was the first personal donation from a renewable energy entrepreneur. JinkoSolar has stepped up its support to donate millions of face masks for countries at a time when the number of cases has been rising. JinkoSolar invited Dr. Tianlin Gao, who had been working nonstop for 55 days at Wuhan No.3 Hospital, the center of Coronavirus outbreak, to share lessons, experiences as well as protective advice with its global employees, partners, customers and investors. The company plans to publish the audio record in its Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jinkosolar-increases-philanthropic-efforts-by-donating-one-million-face-masks-to-20-more-countries-301031578.html
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JinkoSolar donates 1,000,000 masks worldwide in the battle against virus outbreak
SHANGHAI, March 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (the "Company," or "JinkoSolar") (NYSE: JKS), one of the largest and most innovative solar module manufacturers in the world, today announced that it will donate one million face masks and other protective equipment items to several countries severely affected by Covid-19 including Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Britain, Switzerland, South Korea, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Turkey, Portugal and Norway. The first batch of 50,000 has been packaged and shipped out on March 29th through green passage for export aid equipment under the assistance of local governments, Red Cross and other charity organizations. This mass donation from JinkoSolar complements its ongoing efforts to support those countries hit by the coronavirus outbreak. The donations come at a time when governments are struggling to procure enough masks to supply hospitals, health care workers and others in critical and vulnerable professions. JinkoSolar said it will deliver these already-prepared one million masks to health care institutions in those epicenter regions in the coming week and would not decline direct requests for aid from hospitals. This move follows the company's 12 million RMB donations to China Red Cross in Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Shanghai to set up a special funding to fiscally support medical and health care workers who had been working in the frontier line curing infected patients and saving lives. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jinkosolar-donates-1-000-000-masks-worldwide-in-the-battle-against-virus-outbreak-301031528.html
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Preply Raises $10 million as Online Language Learning Comes Into Its Own
LONDON, March 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Online learning platform, Preply, today announces an additional USD $10 million of funding, doubling the total raised in its' previous rounds. The funding will be invested to grow the Preply network of 10,000 verified tutors teaching 50 languages to tens of thousands of students in 190 countries worldwide. The round was led by London-based Hoxton Ventures, with participation from European investors Point Nine Capital, All Iron Ventures, The Family, EduCapital, and Diligent Capital. A number of individual angel investors also participated including Arthur Kosten of Booking.com; Gary Swart, former CEO of Upwork; David Helgason, Founder of Unity technologies; and Daniel Hoffer, Founder of Couchsurfing. Preply Co-founders: Serge Lukyanov (Head of Design), Dmytro Voloshyn (CTO) and Kirill Bigai (CEO) As life goes virtual for people all over the world, teachers and students globally have flocked to online language learning. The company witnessed a record number of daily hours booked on the platform this week. The number of tutors registering on Preply has rocketed in regions such as the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Over the past seven days, some countries have seen the number of tutor registrations triple, compared to the same period in February, and the number of hours students are booking on the platform has doubled in many parts of the globe. Preply was founded in 2013 by the Ukrainian-based team of Kirill Bigai (CEO), Serge Lukyanov (Head of Design) and Dmytro Voloshyn (CTO). The company now employs 125 staff of 25 nationalities in Kyiv and Barcelona with revenues having grown tenfold in the last three years. Preply's pioneering innovation was to use machine-learning to increase the efficiency of pairing tutors with learners, wherever they are in the world, making smarter connections and cracking the code of effective language learning. To date, two million classes have been taken with teachers of 160 nationalities. The vast majority of learners are using Preply for professional purposes such as moving abroad or to advance their careers. Others are using it recreationally - helping their child learn a new language, for example, or indulging a passion to master a new skill. Through Preply, the unparalleled global supply of tutors means that if you're in Berlin, for example, and want to learn Japanese, you can easily find a language expert at a time and price point that's convenient for you. This solves the 'rush hour challenge' that occurs with live teaching; most learners prefer taking classes before or after work which means that there are limited number of slots or tutors available. The average price of a lesson on Preply is $15 to $20 per hour. For tutors, Preply has provided a uniquely flexible and secure way to generate income while no longer being limited by locale. With no need to host students at home, or waste time travelling, tutors can operate at maximum efficiency from anywhere in the world. As education moves increasingly online, many of our tutors report having honed a new suite of skills, including relying less on body language and adjusting fully to making a human connection online, rather than in-person. From a payment perspective, one definitive advantage of the platform for tutors is that they are always paid straight after the lesson, never having to waste time chasing payment or risk not being paid at all. Students enter their bank account details when they register and tutors can take money out of their Preply account at any time. All earnings are broken down in a comprehensive personal performance dashboard so tutors can analyse their business in a meaningful way. Using the new funding, the company plans to scale the marketplace, mainly in North America, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the UK. There are plans to roll out an array of new tools, assessments and homework. Using Preply's wealth of data-learnings, tutors will be able to smart-track progress and help learners achieve their goals most quickly and comprehensively. Preply wants to engage and enable tutors to develop alongside the platform, giving them the opportunity to explore training and lessons plans so they can streamline their income and maximize their classes. The new funding will also give Preply the opportunity to develop its mobile offering, streamlining the Android and iOS app to make it more efficient and user-friendly. In addition, the company aims to deepen roots in the U.S. and open an American office by the end of the year. Preply's European genesis and global tutor supply plays a significant role in its ability to compete in this strategic region. Kirill Bigai, CEO of Preply, comments on the company's ambitions, "The new funding allows us to bring a more in-depth, immersive and convenient experience to both tutors and learners all over the world. Today, we are laser focused on language learning, but ultimately, I envision a future where anyone can learn anything using Preply." Rob Kniaz of Hoxton Ventures, comments "Getting to know Kirill and the team at Preply we were most impressed with their tremendous growth already in the US market as well as the size of the global market in online language tutoring. We believe the team has vast opportunity ahead of it, especially in the English-learning segment of the market where Preply already demonstrates market leadership." All images and logos can be found here.
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Amerigo Education Responds to COVID-19 Impact
The Leading US Boarding Program Provider Takes Protective Measures to Safeguard Students' Health and Safety in the U.S. CHICAGO, March 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Amerigo Education, the leading provider of comprehensive boarding programs for international students, today shared its strategies to help protect students' health and wellbeing during the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19.) Amerigo started taking proactive steps when the epidemic first surfaced in China back in late January, including placing students in quarantine as needed and providing health guidance and precaution protocols across all Amerigo campuses. As the situation escalated, Amerigo implemented comprehensive protective measures and started daily and real-time communications with parents to provide complete transparency. In light of potential travel restrictions across the globe, it also introduced two new programs, Start Anywhere and Get Ahead, providing students with flexibility while staying on track with their academic endeavors during these highly unusual and challenging times. Consistent, Efficient and Immediate Support for Students 24/7 "This is a time of unprecedented uncertainty, and we are doing everything we can to ensure our students are fully supported and being taken care of by our well-trained staff," said Craig Pines, CEO of Amerigo. "All Amerigo campuses are staffed 24/7 by members of our residential team, who have rapidly implemented necessary health guidelines and protocols advised by medical experts, stocked up on essential campus supplies, established campus activity guidelines and implemented best practices on personal hygiene. We aspire to provide the best support to help our students preserve their mental and physical health during this challenging time." An ample supply of disinfectants and sanitizers in an Amerigo campus Students practice social distancing on Amerigo campus The impact of COVID-19 has resulted in school closures across the U.S., including all Amerigo campuses. Amerigo anticipated this necessary step would be taken and acted to ensure all student residences remain open and fully staffed. All Amerigo students have been shifted to an online learning environment, where they continue their studies in a safe environment for the completion of the spring term. Amerigo also supplements the online coursework with its own academic support, university guidance program and English language learning support. All the Amerigo staff has been working around the clock to keep the learning experience productive and positive for students. Amerigo students continue to work on their studies in an online learning environment from their dorm rooms Quickly Adapting Amid the Pandemic, with Students' Best Interest at Heart In the midst of uncertainties brought by COVID-19, Amerigo continues to adapt quickly, with students' best interest at heart. When one of the Amerigo students was unable to return to the U.S. after going back to Wuhan for Chinese New Year, Amerigo quickly developed a customized study plan to ensure this student could complete his/her remaining studies and receive credits to remain on track for graduation. To alleviate concerns regarding travel and/or visa restrictions in the coming months, Amerigo introduced two new programs to provide students with flexible options for studying abroad. The Start Anywhere Program gives Amerigo students who are unable to travel to the U.S. for the start of the Fall 2020 school term the option to begin their coursework online, where in addition to a full academic curriculum, they will receive English language learning and university advising as if they were on-campus in the U.S.. More information about Start Anywhere can be found here: https://bit.ly/2xrQZKk Get Ahead, which is a 4-to-6 week-long program offered as part of Amerigo's Summer Academy, will allow students to spend their summer break in the U.S. alongside fellow Amerigo students and staff members. For students who wish to remain in the U.S. over the summer to avoid potential travel restrictions, the program helps students keep up with their studies through advanced courses and university preparation. For more information about Get Ahead, please click here: https://bit.ly/39jsQmL Transparent, Real-time and Direct Communications with Parents The health and safety of Amerigo students remains the highest priority for the entire Amerigo community. To further address parents' concerns regarding their children's safety, Amerigo started publishing daily communications related to the dynamic and stressful situation caused by COVID-19. It now provides daily updates including local advisories, the latest campus safety protocols, information on student health insurance, spring break arrangements and information for students considering traveling back to their home countries. The feedback from parents has been very positive, with one of parents sharing the following comments: "We really appreciate the effort Amerigo makes to help keep our children safe and healthy. Receiving daily updates from you really helps reassure us in this very difficult time. We hope all the Amerigo staff and teachers stay safe and healthy while they take care of our children!" Parents shared positive feedback in chat groups with Amerigo Having an open and direct communication channel with parents has always been essential for Amerigo. Amerigo believes that a joint effort with parents creates the most supportive learning environment for students, especially for adolescents studying abroad. In addition to sending out monthly student scorecards to parents with updates on students' learning progress, extracurricular participation and acculturation, Amerigo also creates and maintains chat groups with parents to provide real-time updates and address parent concerns. About Amerigo Amerigo supports international students at high performing, private U.S. high schools by utilizing a holistic approach that emphasizes excellent academic outcomes within a nurturing boarding environment. The company provides supplemental academic support, English language development, university guidance, mentorship and cultural immersion to prepare international students with the skills, values and care required to succeed in high school, at the university level and beyond. For more information, visit amerigoeducation.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/amerigo-education-responds-to-covid-19-impact-301030793.html
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Amerigo Education Responds to COVID-19 Impact
The Leading US Boarding Program Provider Takes Protective Measures to Safeguard Students' Health and Safety in the U.S. CHICAGO, March 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Amerigo Education, the leading provider of comprehensive boarding programs for international students, today shared its strategies to help protect students' health and wellbeing during the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19.) Amerigo started taking proactive steps when the epidemic first surfaced in China back in late January, including placing students in quarantine as needed and providing health guidance and precaution protocols across all Amerigo campuses. As the situation escalated, Amerigo implemented comprehensive protective measures and started daily and real-time communications with parents to provide complete transparency. In light of potential travel restrictions across the globe, it also introduced two new programs, Start Anywhere and Get Ahead, providing students with flexibility while staying on track with their academic endeavors during these highly unusual and challenging times. Consistent, Efficient and Immediate Support for Students 24/7 "This is a time of unprecedented uncertainty, and we are doing everything we can to ensure our students are fully supported and being taken care of by our well-trained staff," said Craig Pines, CEO of Amerigo. "All Amerigo campuses are staffed 24/7 by members of our residential team, who have rapidly implemented necessary health guidelines and protocols advised by medical experts, stocked up on essential campus supplies, established campus activity guidelines and implemented best practices on personal hygiene. We aspire to provide the best support to help our students preserve their mental and physical health during this challenging time." An ample supply of disinfectants and sanitizers in an Amerigo campus Students practice social distancing on Amerigo campus The impact of COVID-19 has resulted in school closures across the U.S., including all Amerigo campuses. Amerigo anticipated this necessary step would be taken and acted to ensure all student residences remain open and fully staffed. All Amerigo students have been shifted to an online learning environment, where they continue their studies in a safe environment for the completion of the spring term. Amerigo also supplements the online coursework with its own academic support, university guidance program and English language learning support. All the Amerigo staff has been working around the clock to keep the learning experience productive and positive for students. Amerigo students continue to work on their studies in an online learning environment from their dorm rooms Quickly Adapting Amid the Pandemic, with Students' Best Interest at Heart In the midst of uncertainties brought by COVID-19, Amerigo continues to adapt quickly, with students' best interest at heart. When one of the Amerigo students was unable to return to the U.S. after going back to Wuhan for Chinese New Year, Amerigo quickly developed a customized study plan to ensure this student could complete his/her remaining studies and receive credits to remain on track for graduation. To alleviate concerns regarding travel and/or visa restrictions in the coming months, Amerigo introduced two new programs to provide students with flexible options for studying abroad. The Start Anywhere Program gives Amerigo students who are unable to travel to the U.S. for the start of the Fall 2020 school term the option to begin their coursework online, where in addition to a full academic curriculum, they will receive English language learning and university advising as if they were on-campus in the U.S.. More information about Start Anywhere can be found here: https://bit.ly/2xrQZKk Get Ahead, which is a 4-to-6 week-long program offered as part of Amerigo's Summer Academy, will allow students to spend their summer break in the U.S. alongside fellow Amerigo students and staff members. For students who wish to remain in the U.S. over the summer to avoid potential travel restrictions, the program helps students keep up with their studies through advanced courses and university preparation. For more information about Get Ahead, please click here: https://bit.ly/39jsQmL Transparent, Real-time and Direct Communications with Parents The health and safety of Amerigo students remains the highest priority for the entire Amerigo community. To further address parents' concerns regarding their children's safety, Amerigo started publishing daily communications related to the dynamic and stressful situation caused by COVID-19. It now provides daily updates including local advisories, the latest campus safety protocols, information on student health insurance, spring break arrangements and information for students considering traveling back to their home countries. The feedback from parents has been very positive, with one of parents sharing the following comments: "We really appreciate the effort Amerigo makes to help keep our children safe and healthy. Receiving daily updates from you really helps reassure us in this very difficult time. We hope all the Amerigo staff and teachers stay safe and healthy while they take care of our children!" Parents shared positive feedback in chat groups with Amerigo Having an open and direct communication channel with parents has always been essential for Amerigo. Amerigo believes that a joint effort with parents creates the most supportive learning environment for students, especially for adolescents studying abroad. In addition to sending out monthly student scorecards to parents with updates on students' learning progress, extracurricular participation and acculturation, Amerigo also creates and maintains chat groups with parents to provide real-time updates and address parent concerns. About Amerigo Amerigo supports international students at high performing, private U.S. high schools by utilizing a holistic approach that emphasizes excellent academic outcomes within a nurturing boarding environment. The company provides supplemental academic support, English language development, university guidance, mentorship and cultural immersion to prepare international students with the skills, values and care required to succeed in high school, at the university level and beyond. For more information, visit amerigoeducation.com. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200327/2761802-1-a?lang=0 Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200327/2761802-1-b?lang=0 Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200327/2761802-1-c?lang=0 Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200327/2761802-1-d?lang=0 Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200327/2761802-1-d?lang=0 Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20190621/2504708-1-LOGO?lang=0
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PHBS, CJBS, and Qianhai Authority Sign Memorandum of Intent for a Joint Initiative in Shenzhen
SHENZHEN, China, March 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Peking University HSBC Business School (PHBS), the University of Cambridge Judge Business School (CJBS), and Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone of Shenzhen ("Qianhai") signed a memorandum of intent (MOI) to jointly advance long-term collaboration in business and management on March 26, marking the formal launch of a cooperation project in Shenzhen Qianhai between the two universities. The online signing ceremony Hai Wen, Vice Chairman of Peking University Council and Dean of Peking University HSBC Business School; Christoph Loch, Dean of Cambridge Judge Business School; Ni Yong, Deputy Director of the Qianhai Administration Bureau, signed the MOI on behalf of the three parties in an online ceremony. According to the MOI, PHBS-CJBS cooperation in Qianhai holds potential including business education, academic research and entrepreneurship. Qianhai Administration Bureau will actively provide support for the cooperation, in terms of facilities, funds and other amenities. The PHBS-CJBS cooperation in Shenzhen has been developed over a long period. During University of Cambridge Vice-Chancellor Stephen Toope's visit to PKU in March 2019, the two universities signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly expand collaboration in such fields as archeology, business, education, entrepreneurship, linguistics, philosophy, and artificial intelligence, drawing on such disciplines as environmental science, medicine, astronomy, physics and humanities. In particular, the two universities strengthened their cooperation on education and research in Shenzhen. Also in 2019, PKU President Hao Ping and University of Cambridge Deputy Vice-Chancellor Sir Mark Welland visited Qianhai. As the first step of the cooperation, PHBS and CJBS took the lead in launching two non-degree executive education programmes focusing on innovation and international management. In the future, both business schools will leverage their academic strength and the geographical advantages of the Greater Bay Area, expanding international higher-education cooperation and research in Qianhai. PHBS, CBJS and Qianhai signs the MOI View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/phbs-cjbs-and-qianhai-authority-sign-memorandum-of-intent-for-a-joint-initiative-in-shenzhen-301031300.html
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Sunlands Technology Group Announces Unaudited Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2019 Financial Results
Q4 net revenues decreased by 3.4% year-over-yearQ4 gross billings (non-GAAP) decreased by 15.5% year-over-yearQ4 new student enrollments[1] decreased by 22.6% year-over-year BEIJING, March 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sunlands Technology Group (NYSE: STG) ("Sunlands" or the "Company"), a leader in China's online post-secondary and professional education, today announced its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2019. [1] New student enrollments for a given period refers to the total number of orders placed by students that newly enroll in at least one course during that period (including those students that enroll and then terminate their enrollment with us, excluding orders of our low-price courses). In June 2019, we introduced low-price courses, including "mini courses" and "RMB1 courses," to strengthen our competitiveness and improve customer experience. We offer such low-price courses mainly in the formats of recorded videos or short live streaming. Fourth Quarter 2019 Financial and Operational Snapshots Net revenues were RMB549.7 million (US$79.0 million), representing a 3.4% decrease year-over-year. Gross billings (non-GAAP) were RMB642.0 million (US$92.2 million), representing a 15.5% decrease year-over-year. Gross profit was RMB448.2 million (US$64.4 million), representing an 8.6% decrease year-over-year. Net loss was RMB139.5 million (US$20.0 million), representing a 24.0% decrease year-over-year. Net loss margin, defined as net loss as a percentage of net revenues, decreased to 25.4% from 32.3% in the fourth quarter of 2018. New student enrollments were 92,718, representing a 22.6% decrease year-over-year. As of December 31, 2019, the Company's deferred revenue balance was RMB3,228.8 million (US$ 463.8 million). Full Year 2019 Financial and Operational Snapshots Net revenues were RMB2,193.9 million (US$315.1 million), representing a 11.1% increase year-over-year. Gross billings (non-GAAP) were RMB2,358.5 million (US$338.8 million), representing a 26.6% decrease year-over-year. Gross profit was RMB1,797.6 million (US$258.2 million), representing a 9.4% increase year-over-year. Net loss was RMB395.2 million (US$56.8 million), representing a 57.4% decrease year-over-year. Net loss margin, defined as net loss as a percentage of net revenues, decreased to 18.0% from 47.0% in the full year 2018. New student enrollments were 363,013, representing a 31.0% decrease from the full year 2018. "In the fourth quarter of 2019, we continued to focus on our multi-pronged strategy for student acquisition and retention. Our efforts centered around the further development and differentiation of our products and services through the application of big data analytics and AI technology. This has allowed us to produce significant operational benefits to both our employees and students, facilitate our digital transformation, and further strengthen our data security and risk control capabilities," said Mr. Tongbo Liu, Chief Executive Officer of Sunlands. "In order to satisfy the diverse needs of our students, we also continued broadening our online course offerings, with more choices for master's-oriented and professional certificate programs. Our master's-oriented programs accounted for 19.8% of total gross billings in the fourth quarter of 2019, significantly higher compared with 7.8% in the same period a year ago. These initiatives, coupled with and our solid track record of pass rates, position us well to capture the strong long run growth opportunity in the online post-secondary and professional education market." Mr. Steven Yipeng Li, Chief Financial Officer of Sunlands, said, "Our net revenues were RMB549.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, in line with our guidance. Our gross billings and new student enrollments declined 15.5% and 22.6%, respectively, year-over-year, primarily as a result of slowing macroeconomic growth in China and adjustment of marketing strategies in view of challenges in student acquisition cost. During the fourth quarter, we continued to pursue a balanced approach to grow revenue and improve profitability, by executing our student acquisition strategy while continually streamlining our cost structure. Our administrative expenses, as well as sales and marketing expenses decreased by 30.9% and 10.2%, respectively, compared with the same quarter last year. Our cost efficiency improvement measures led to a reduction in net loss in the fourth quarter, to RMB139.5 million, 24.0% lower compared with a loss of RMB183.7 million in fourth quarter of 2018. Looking ahead into 2020, we are optimistic that our dedication to persistent product and service upgrades will continue to bring value to our customers, and ultimately our shareholders." Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter of 2019 Net Revenues In the fourth quarter of 2019, net revenues decreased by 3.4% to RMB549.7 million (US$79.0 million) from RMB568.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. The decrease was mainly due to the decrease of gross billings in 2019 compared with 2018. Cost of Revenues Cost of revenues increased by 29.3% to RMB101.5 million (US$14.6 million) in the fourth quarter of 2019 from RMB78.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2018, which was primarily due to an increase in our insurance-related costs as we began to offer a bundled service including an integrated online education service package with insurance coverage for tuition refund. Our insurance-related costs refer to the premium that we pay for the insurance in order to deliver such integrated online education service package purchased by students. Gross Profit Gross profit decreased by 8.6% to RMB448.2 million (US$64.4 million) in the fourth quarter of 2019 from RMB490.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. Operating Expenses In the fourth quarter of 2019, operating expenses were RMB599.0 million (US$86.0 million), representing a 14.4% decrease from RMB699.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. Sales and marketing expenses decreased by 10.2% to RMB476.1 million (US$68.4 million) in the fourth quarter of 2019 from RMB530.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. The decrease was mainly due to reduced marketing spending, reflective of disciplined, prudent cost management, and the decrease in expenses related to sales and marketing personnel. General and administrative expenses decreased by 30.9% to RMB98.6 million (US$14.2 million) in the fourth quarter of 2019 from RMB142.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. The decrease was mainly due to the decrease in office and compensation expenses. Product development expenses decreased by 9.9% to RMB24.3 million (US$3.5 million) in the fourth quarter of 2019 from RMB27.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. The decrease was primarily due to a decrease in the number of employees and compensation incurred related to our product and technology development personnel during the quarter. Net Loss Net loss for the fourth quarter of 2019 was RMB139.5 million (US$20.0 million), compared with RMB183.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. Basic and Diluted Net Loss Per Share Basic and diluted net loss per share was RMB20.46 (US$2.94) in the fourth quarter of 2019. Cash and Cash Equivalents and Short-term Investments As of December 31, 2019, the Company had RMB1,402.2 million (US$201.4 million) of cash and cash equivalents and RMB217.6 million (US$31.3 million) of short-term investments, compared with RMB1,248.8 million of cash and cash equivalents and RMB1,028.6 million of short-term investments as of December 31, 2018. Deferred Revenue As of December 31, 2019, the Company had a deferred revenue balance of RMB3,228.8 million (US$463.8 million), compared with RMB3,286.0 million as of December 31, 2018. Capital Expenditures Capital expenditures were incurred primarily in connection with purchases of buildings and IT infrastructure equipment necessary to support Sunlands' operations. Capital expenditures were RMB10.4 million (US$1.5 million) in the fourth quarter of 2019, compared with RMB263.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. Financial Results for the Year 2019 Net Revenues In 2019, net revenues increased by 11.1% to RMB2,193.9 million (US$315.1 million) from RMB1,974.0 million in the year of 2018. The increase was mainly driven by the growth in the number of students in 2019 compared to 2018. Cost of Revenues Cost of revenues increased by 20.0% to RMB396.3 million (US$56.9 million) in the year of 2019 from RMB330.4 million in 2018, which was primarily due to an increase in our insurance-related costs as we began to offer a bundled service including an integrated online education service package with insurance coverage for tuition refund. Our insurance-related costs refer to the premium that we pay for the insurance in order to deliver such integrated online education service package purchased by students. Gross Profit Gross profit increased by 9.4% to RMB1,797.6 million (US$258.2 million) from RMB1,643.6 million in 2018. Operating Expenses In the year of 2019, operating expenses were RMB2,257.3 million (US$324.2 million), representing a 15.5% decrease from RMB2,672.5 million in the year of 2018. Sales and marketing expenses decreased by 16.7% to RMB1,792.3 million (US$257.4 million) in 2019 from RMB2,152.8 million in 2018. The decrease was mainly due to reduced marketing spend, reflective of disciplined, prudent cost management, and a decrease in expenses related to sales and marketing personnel. General and administrative expenses decreased by 18.1% to RMB363.3 million (US$52.2 million) in 2019 from RMB443.7 million in 2018. Product development expenses increased by 33.8% to RMB101.7 million (US$14.6 million) in 2019 from RMB76.0 million in 2018. Net Loss Net loss for 2019 was RMB395.2 million (US$56.8 million), compared with RMB927.0 million in 2018. Basic and Diluted Net Loss Per Share Basic and diluted net loss per share was RMB57.81 (US$ 8.30) in 2019, compared with RMB147.27 in 2018. Capital Expenditures Capital expenditures were incurred primarily in connection with purchases of buildings and IT infrastructure equipment necessary to support Sunlands' operations. Capital expenditures were RMB25.5 million (US$3.7 million) in 2019, compared with RMB518.4 million in 2018. Outlook For the first quarter of 2020, Sunlands currently expects net revenues to be between RMB540.0 million to RMB560.0 million, which would represent a decrease of 4.3% to 0.7% year-over-year. The above outlook is based on the current market conditions and reflects the Company's current and preliminary estimates of market and operating conditions and customer demand, which are all subject to substantial uncertainty. Exchange Rate The Company's business is primarily conducted in China and all revenues are denominated in Renminbi ("RMB"). This announcement contains currency conversions of RMB amounts into U.S. dollars ("US$") solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from RMB to US$ are made at a rate of RMB6.9618 to US$1.00, the effective noon buying rate for December 31, 2019 as set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board. No representation is made that the RMB amounts could have been, or could be, converted, realized or settled into US$ at that rate on December 31, 2019, or at any other rate. Conference Call and Webcast Sunlands' management team will host a conference call at 7:30 AM U.S. Eastern Time, (7:30 PM Beijing/Hong Kong time) on March 27, 2020, following the quarterly results announcement. The dial-in details for the live conference call are: International: 1-412-902-4272 US toll free: 1-888-346-8982 Canada toll free: 1-855-669-9657 Mainland China toll free: 400-120-1203 Hong Kong toll free: 800-905-945 Hong Kong: 852-3018-4992 Please dial in 10 minutes before the call is scheduled to begin. When prompted, ask to be connected to the call for "Sunlands Technology Group." Participants will be required to state their name and company upon entering the call. A live webcast and archive of the conference call will be available on the Investor Relations section of Sunlands' website at http://www.sunlands.investorroom.com/. A replay of the conference call will be available 1 hour after the end of the conference call until April 3, 2020. International: 1-412-317-0088 US toll free: 1-877-344-7529 Canada toll free: 855-669-9658 Replay access code: 10140418 About Sunlands Sunlands Technology Group (NYSE: STG) ("Sunlands" or the "Company"), formerly known as Sunlands Online Education Group, is the leader in China's online post-secondary and professional education. With a one to many, live streaming platform, Sunlands offers various degree and diploma-oriented post-secondary courses as well as online professional courses and educational content, to help students prepare for professional certification exams and attain professional skills. Students can access its services either through PC or mobile applications. The Company's online platform cultivates a personalized, interactive learning environment by featuring a virtual learning community and a vast library of educational content offerings that adapt to the learning habits of its students. Sunlands offers a unique approach to education research and development that organizes subject content into Learning Outcome Trees, the Company's proprietary knowledge management system. Sunlands has a deep understanding of the educational needs of its prospective students and offers solutions that help them achieve their goals. About Non-GAAP Financial Measures We use gross billings and EBITDA, each a non-GAAP financial measure, in evaluating our operating results and for financial and operational decision-making purposes. We define gross billings for a specific period as the total amount of cash received for the sale of course packages, net of the total amount of refunds paid in such period. Our management uses gross billings as a performance measurement because we generally bill our students for the entire course tuition at the time of sale of our course packages and recognize revenue proportionally over a period. EBITDA is defined as net loss excluding depreciation and amortization, interest expense, interest income, and income tax expenses. We believe that gross billings and EBITDA provide valuable insight into the sales of our course packages and the performance of our business. These non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, their most directly comparable financial measure prepared in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of the historical non-GAAP financial measures to their respective most directly comparable GAAP measure has been provided in the tables included below. Investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation of the historical non-GAAP financial measures to their respective most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. As gross billings and EBITDA have material limitations as an analytical metric and may not be calculated in the same manner by all companies, it may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures used by other companies. In light of the foregoing limitations, you should not consider gross billings and EBITDA as a substitute for, or superior to, their respective most directly comparable financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. We encourage investors and others to review our financial information in its entirety and not rely on a single financial measure. Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements made under the "safe harbor" provisions of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "confident" and similar statements. Sunlands may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its reports filed with or furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Any statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Sunlands' beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements that involve factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such factors and risks include, but not limited to the following: Sunlands' goals and strategies; its expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of its brand and services; its ability to retain and increase student enrollments; its ability to offer new courses and educational content; its ability to improve teaching quality and students' learning results; its ability to improve sales and marketing efficiency and effectiveness; its ability to engage, train and retain new faculty members; its future business development, results of operations and financial condition; its ability to maintain and improve technology infrastructure necessary to operate its business; competition in the online education industry in China; relevant government policies and regulations relating to Sunlands' corporate structure, business and industry; and general economic and business condition in China Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Sunlands' filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release is current as of the date of the press release, and Sunlands does not undertake any obligation to update such information, except as required under applicable law. For investor and media enquiries, please contact: Yingying LiuIR DirectorTel: +86 182 5691 2232Email: ir@sunlands.com The Piacente Group, Inc. Brandi PiacenteTel: +1-212-481-2050Email: sunlands@tpg-ir.com Ross WarnerTel: +86-10-6508-0677Email: sunlands@tpg-ir.com UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Amounts in thousands, except for share and per share data, or otherwise noted) As of December 31, As of December 31, 2018 2019 RMB RMB US$ ASSETS Current assets Cash and cash equivalents 1,248,810 1,402,226 201,417 Short-term investments 1,028,564 217,640 31,262 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 124,908 180,881 25,982 Deferred costs, current 180,657 243,447 34,969 Total current assets 2,582,939 2,044,194 293,630 Non-current assets Property and equipment, net 559,511 545,675 78,381 Intangible assets, net 1,369 1,176 169 Right-of-use assets - 598,991 86,040 Deferred costs, non-current 146,610 205,488 29,517 Long-term investments 30,009 40,026 5,749 Deferred tax assets - 85,513 12,283 Other non-current assets 418,700 447,639 64,299 Total non-current assets 1,156,199 1,924,508 276,438 TOTAL ASSETS 3,739,138 3,968,702 570,068 LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' DEFICIT LIABILITIES Current liabilities Accrued expenses and other current liabilities (including accrued expenses and other current liabilities of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Sunlands Technology Group of RMB241,204 and RMB209,727 as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2019, respectively) 455,284 435,225 62,516 Deferred revenue, current (including deferred revenue, current of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Sunlands Technology Group of RMB1,765,085 and RMB1,162,938 as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2019, respectively) 1,765,085 1,670,076 239,891 Lease liabilities, current (including lease liabilities, current of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Sunlands Technology Group of nil and RMB22,659 as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2019, respectively) - 40,236 5,780 Payables to acquire buildings (including payables to acquire buildings of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Sunlands Technology Group of nil and nil as of December 31, 2018, and December 31, 2019, respectively) 61,540 61,540 8,840 Long-term debt, current (including long-term debt, current of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Sunlands Technology Group of nil and nil as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2019, respectively) 32,500 32,500 4,668 Total current liabilities 2,314,409 2,239,577 321,695 UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS-continued (Amounts in thousands, except for share and per share data, or otherwise noted) As of December 31, As of December 31, 2018 2019 RMB RMB US$ Non-current liabilities Deferred revenue, non-current (including deferred revenue, non-current of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Sunlands Technology Group of RMB1,520,940 and RMB1,096,482 as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2019, respectively) 1,520,940 1,558,694 223,892 Lease liabilities, non-current (including lease liabilities, non-current of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Sunlands Technology Group of nil and RMB358,467 as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2019, respectively) - 616,246 88,518 Deferred tax liabilities(including deferred tax liabilities of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Sunlands Technology Group of nil and RMB4,415 as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2019, respectively) - 87,954 12,634 Other non-current liabilities (including other non-current liabilities of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Sunlands Technology Group of RMB135 and RMB135 as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2019, respectively) 17,147 11,469 1,647 Long-term debt, non-current (including long-term debt, non-current of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to Sunlands Technology Group of nil and nil as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2019, respectively) 225,625 193,125 27,741 Total non-current liabilities 1,763,712 2,467,488 354,432 TOTAL LIABILITIES 4,078,121 4,707,065 676,127 SHAREHOLDERS' DEFICIT Class A ordinary shares (par value of US$0.00005, 796,062,195 shares authorized; 1,818,383 and 1,830,183 shares issued as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2019, respectively; 1,773,301 and 1,728,006 shares outstanding as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2019, respectively) 1
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CamScanner Provides Free Premium Service to Educational Institutions Until the End of June
SHANGHAI, March 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CamScanner, a document scanning and sharing app has made its premium service free to educational institutions until the end of June. From March 21 to June 30, 2020, users creating email accounts with domain name ending with .edu on CamScanner can enjoy premium service for free. For educational institutions whose email domain name does not end with .edu, users can contact CamScanner directly through its official Facebook or Twitter accounts to have their email address approved. In addition to regular functions, premium users can convert images to text with OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology and edit the OCR results, export and share them as text files. The premium service also includes auto uploading documents to Box, Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote, OneDrive and OneNote, with over 10G free cloud space. The situation of COVID-19 has impacted over half of world's student population and the number of people studying and working from home has surged. As a scanning app with over 400 million users in over 200 countries, CamScanner allows users to scan text and graphic using phone or tablet camera. It will also automatically enhance the scan results and users can instantly share the scanned document in PDF and image formats via email, social media platforms, wireless printer, fax, links and others. With CamScanner, students and teachers can easily convert print and handwritten materials into editable and searchable digital copies. The other highlighted feature of CamScanner - especially for students and teachers - is its smart cropping and auto enhancing function. CamScanner allows users to crop the edge and remove the background of captured documents to make graphics and texts look sharper and clearer. CamScanner also supports wireless printing. Users can fax documents right from the app to over 30 countries and regions. "We build CamScanner to solve problems of distance learning and working regarding document management. It seems more relevant during this global pandemic, but it is our mission and ethos that technology should transform every aspect of people's life and make it more efficient and easier," said Mr Miller, Marketing Director of CamScanner, Widely used around the globe, CamScanner has been recognized as the best business app by Apple Store for three consistent years. It supports over 40 languages. CamScanner is available for both Android and iOS devices. Users can contact CamScanner for the special offer application: https://w103.camscanner.com/apply/index?l=en-us About CamScanner CamScanner is a mobile scanning app, favored by office people and students for its high scanning quality and intelligent document management function. Besides, it is the perfect fit for those who want to digitize, scan, sync, share and manage various contents on all devices. All its features aim at providing users with extremely enjoyable experience through high-quality scans of their documents. Related Links :http://camscanner.com
