ChinaEdu Reports First Quarter 2013 Results

BEIJING, June 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ChinaEdu Corporation (NASDAQ: CEDU) ("ChinaEdu" or the "Company"), a leading online educational services provider in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013.[1]

First Quarter 2013 Highlights  

• Total net revenue for the first quarter of 2013 was $19.2 million, a 4.9 percent increase from $18.3 million in the corresponding period in 2012. Total net revenue was within the Company's  guidance range for the quarter.
• Net revenue from online degree programs was $15.2 million, an increase of 2.6 percent from $14.8 million in the corresponding period of 2012.
• Net income attributable to ChinaEdu was $1.9 million, an increase of 11.6 percent from $1.7 million in the corresponding period of 2012.
• Adjusted net income attributable to ChinaEdu[2] was $2.4 million, an increase of 10.6 percent from $2.2 million in the corresponding period of 2012.
• Net income attributable to ChinaEdu per diluted ADS[3] was $0.144, an increase of 43.6 percent from $0.100 in the corresponding period of 2012.
• Adjusted net income attributable to ChinaEdu per diluted ADS[4] was $0.186, an increase of 43.2 percent from $0.130 in the corresponding period of 2012.
• The number of revenue students[5] enrolled in online degree programs during the Fall 2012 semester increased by 5.1 percent year-over-year to approximately 207,000 students.

Julia Huang, executive chairman of ChinaEdu commented, "We are pleased with the start of 2013. During the year, we will remain dedicated to technological innovation, continually increasing ways in which emerging technology can be applied to our teaching and learning methods. We will continue to focus investment on the areas of our business that provide steady returns and demonstrate consistent cost control with ever-improving efficiency in spending."

Financial Results for the First Quarter Ended March 31, 2013

Net Revenue

Total net revenue for the first quarter of 2013 was $19.2 million, a 4.9 percent increase from $18.3 million in the corresponding period in 2012.

Net revenue from online degree programs for the first quarter of 2013 was $15.2 million, a 2.6 percent increase over $14.8 million in the corresponding period in 2012. The increase in net revenue from online degree programs was primarily related to organic growth in revenue students enrolled in online degree programs, and continued expansion and optimization of the Company's learning centers network. Enrollment for the 2012 Fall semester online degree programs was approximately 207,000 revenue students, a 5.1 percent increase from approximately 197,000 revenue students enrolled in the Fall semester in 2011.

By the end of the first quarter of 2013, ChinaEdu's learning centers network was providing recruiting services for 23 universities with 122 operational learning centers, of which 54 were proprietary centers[6] and 68 were contracted centers[7]. This compares to 105 operational learning centers as of March 31, 2012, of which 55 were proprietary and 50 were contracted centers.

Net revenue from non-degree programs, including online tutoring programs, private primary and secondary schools and international curriculum programs in the first quarter of 2013 was $4.0 million, a 14.3 percent increase from $3.5 million in the first quarter of 2012. Of that, approximately $0.3 million was attributable to increased enrollment and increased tuition at our private school in the city of Anqing.

Cost of Revenue

Total cost of revenue for the first quarter of 2013 was $7.5 million, an increase of 2.3 percent, from $7.3 million in the corresponding period of 2012.

Cost of revenue for online degree programs in the first quarter of 2013 was $5.2 million, an increase of 6.1 percent compared to $4.9 million in the corresponding period of 2012. The increase in cost of revenue was primarily related to staff costs increasing by $0.1 million and service station fees increasing by $0.2 million.

Cost of revenue for non-degree programs in the first quarter of 2013 was $2.3 million, a decrease of 5.4 percent from $2.4 million in the first quarter of 2012. The decrease in cost of revenue for non-degree programs was primarily related to the decrease of depreciation and amortization costs associated with our international curriculum programs.

Gross Profit and Gross Margin

Gross profit for the first quarter of 2013 was $11.7 million, compared to $11.0 million in the corresponding period of 2012. Gross margin increased slightly to 61.0 percent, compared to 60.1 percent for the corresponding period in 2012.

Gross margin for online degree programs was 65.9 percent, a slight decrease from 67.0 percent in the first quarter of 2012. The slight decrease was primarily due to an overall increase in the percentage of total net revenue contributed by the Company's learning centers network. The learning centers network's sales and service based model results in a slightly higher cost of sales, whereas the joint venture model is more operationally driven. In general, more revenue generated from our learning centers network results in lower gross margin for our overall online degree programs.

Gross margin for online tutoring programs increased to 64.3 percent from 54.7 percent in the first quarter of 2012, mainly due to increased net revenue as well as decreased lease and service costs.

Gross margin for private schools in the first quarter of 2013 increased to 32.7 percent, compared to 27.6 percent in the corresponding period in 2012. The increase of gross margin was primarily due to increased net revenue at our private school in Anqing.

Operating Expenses

Total operating expenses were $7.5 million in the first quarter of 2013, an increase of 1.5 percent, from $7.4 million in the corresponding period in 2012. As a percentage of net revenue, total operating expenses decreased to 39.1 percent, compared to 40.4 percent in the corresponding period in 2012. The increase in total operating expense was the result of the following:

• General and administrative expenses for the first quarter of 2013 were $4.1 million, a decrease of 1.3 percent from $4.2 million in the corresponding period in 2012. As a percentage of net revenue, general and administrative expenses decreased to 21.3 percent from 22.7 percent in the same period in 2012. The decrease in general and administrative expenses was primarily the result of a one-time early lease termination fee in the first quarter of 2012 that was related to a leased property used by our international curriculum programs.
• Selling and marketing expenses were $1.6 million in the first quarter of 2013, a decrease of 2.4 percent compared to $1.7 million in the corresponding period in 2012. As a percentage of net revenue, selling and marketing expenses decreased to 8.5 percent from 9.2 percent in the same period in 2012.
• Research and development expenses for the first quarter of 2013 were $1.8 million, an increase of 13.0 percent compared to $1.6 million in the corresponding period in 2012. As a percentage of net revenue, the research and development expense was 9.2 percent in the first quarter of 2013, increasing from 8.6 percent in the same period of 2012. The increase in research and development expenses relative to net revenue was primarily due to increased staff costs associated with the company's investment in technology upgrades.

Income from Operations

Income from operations in the first quarter of 2013 was $4.2 million, an increase of 17.1 percent compared to $3.6 million in the corresponding period of 2012. Operating margin increased to 21.9 percent in the first quarter of 2013, compared to 19.6 percent in the corresponding period of 2012.

Adjusted income from operations, a non-GAAP measure defined as income from operations excluding share-based compensation, amortization of intangible assets, land use rights and intangible assets impairment, was $4.8 million in the first quarter of 2013, an increase of 15.1 percent compared to $4.1 million in the corresponding period of 2012.

Adjusted operating margin, a non-GAAP measure defined as the ratio of adjusted income from operations (non-GAAP) over net revenue, for the first quarter of 2013 increased to 24.8 percent, compared to 22.6 percent for the corresponding period of 2012.

Interest expense

Interest expense for the first quarter of 2013 was $0.3 million, and is primarily related to our loans with The Bank of East Asia, Limited.

Income Tax Expense

In the first quarter of 2013, income tax expense was $1.0 million and the effective income tax rate was 21.2 percent.

Net Income Attributable to ChinaEdu

Net income attributable to ChinaEdu, which is net income, excluding net income attributable to non-controlling interests, was $1.9 million in the first quarter of 2013, representing an increase of 11.6 percent from $1.7 million in the corresponding period of 2012. The increase was primarily due to an increase in gross profit across online tutoring programs and private primary and secondary schools, as well as effective expense control.

Net income attributable to ChinaEdu per basic and diluted ADS was $0.156 and $0.144, respectively, for the first quarter of 2013, compared to $0.106 and $0.100, respectively, for the corresponding period in 2012.

Adjusted net income attributable to ChinaEdu (non-GAAP) was $2.4 million in the first quarter of 2013, compared to $2.2 million in the corresponding period of 2012. Adjusted net margin, a non-GAAP measure defined as the ratio of adjusted net income attributable to ChinaEdu (non-GAAP) over net revenue, was 12.5 percent in the first quarter of 2013, compared to 11.9 percent in the corresponding period of 2012.

Adjusted net income attributable to ChinaEdu per basic and diluted ADS (non-GAAP) was $0.203 and $0.186 respectively, for the first quarter of 2013, compared to $0.138 and $0.130, respectively, for the corresponding period of 2012.

Deferred Revenue

As of March 31, 2013, deferred revenue was $10.6 million, consisting of current deferred revenue in the amount of $9.1 million and non-current deferred revenue in the amount of $1.5 million.

In general, Fall semester tuition for online degree programs is received during the fourth quarter but is recognized both in the fourth quarter of the current year and the first quarter of the following year.

Private school revenue is received in September, but amortized over 6 or 12 months while online tutoring program revenue can be received at program enrollment and is mostly amortized within 12 months.

Cash and Cash Equivalents and Term Deposits

As of March 31, 2013, the Company reported cash and cash equivalents and term deposits of $53.4 million, which primarily consisted of cash and cash equivalents, and term deposits with original maturity terms of greater than three months but less than one year.

Amounts Due from Related Parties

Amounts due from related parties, which represents cash owed to the Company by collaborative alliance partners, were $47.7 million as of March 31, 2013 compared to $48.7 million as of December 31, 2012.

Share repurchase

On December 31, 2012, the board of directors of ChinaEdu approved a plan to repurchase up to US$40.0 million worth of outstanding ChinaEdu ADSs. In the first quarter of 2013, the Company repurchased an aggregate of 19,724,739 ordinary shares equivalent for a total cash consideration and cancellation fee of RMB231.4 million (equivalent to US$37.3 million). The repurchased shares were all cancelled. Thus net income attributable to ChinaEdu per diluted ADS increased accordingly.

Second Quarter 2013 Guidance

ChinaEdu management expects total net revenue in the second quarter of 2013 to range from RMB124 million to RMB130 million or $20.0 million to $20.9 million, representing an 8 percent to 13 percent increase from RMB115 million or $18.1 million compared to the corresponding period in 2012.

Conference Call

ChinaEdu's management will hold an earnings conference call at 8:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time on June 20, 2013 (8:00 p.m. Beijing/Hong Kong Time on June 20, 2013).

Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows:

A live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the investor relations page of ChinaEdu's website at http://ir.chinaedu.net and a replay of the conference call may be accessed by phone until June 28, 2013.

Dial-in numbers for the replay are as follows:

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement the unaudited condensed consolidated financial information presented in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States of America ("GAAP"), the Company uses non-GAAP measures of income from operations and net income attributable to ChinaEdu, which are adjusted from results based on GAAP to exclude certain non-cash items of share-based compensation, amortization of intangible assets and land use rights and intangible assets impairment. Adjusted operating margin defined as the ratio of adjusted operating income from operation over net revenue. Adjusted net income attributable to ChinaEdu per basic and diluted ADS are a non-GAAP measure which are computed using adjusted net income attributable to ChinaEdu over the number of ADSs used in net income attributable to ChinaEdu per basic and diluted ADS calculation.

These non-GAAP financial measures are provided to enhance the investors' overall understanding of the Company's current and past financial performance in on-going core operations as well as prospects for the future. These measures should be considered in addition to results prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP, but should not be considered a substitute for or superior to GAAP results. Management considers the non-GAAP information as important measures internally and therefore deems it important to provide all of this information to investors.

About ChinaEdu

ChinaEdu Corporation is an educational services provider in China, incorporated as an exempted limited liability company in the Cayman Islands. Established in 1999, the Company's primary business is to provide comprehensive services to the online degree programs of leading Chinese universities. These services include academic program development, technology services, enrollment marketing, student support services and finance operations. The Company's other lines of businesses include the operation of private primary and secondary schools, online interactive tutoring services and providing marketing, support for international curriculum programs and online learning community for adult students.

The Company believes it is the largest service provider to online degree programs in China in terms of the number of higher education institutions that are served and the number of student enrollments supported. The Company currently provides technical, recruiting and other services to 27 universities with online degree programs and provides services and support to 11 additional universities that are awaiting regulatory approval to launch their online programs. Of these 38 universities, 13 of them have entered into collaborative alliances with ChinaEdu, ranging from 15 to 50 years in length. Eight of them have entered into technology service agreements, ranging from 3 to 20 years in length. ChinaEdu also performs recruiting services through its nationwide learning center network for 23 universities, including 6 with which the Company has either established collaborative alliances or entered into technology service agreements.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including certain plans, expectations, goals, and projections, which are subject to numerous assumptions, risks, and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control which may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those described under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2012, and in documents subsequently filed by the Company from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Unless required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to (and expressly disclaim any such obligation to) update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

Helen Plummer
Senior Investor Relations Coordinator
ChinaEdu Corporation
Phone: +1 908-442-9395
E-mail: [email protected]

Simon Mei
Chief Financial Officer
ChinaEdu Corporation
Phone: +86 (10) 84187301
E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE ChinaEdu Corporation