BEIJING, Jan. 31 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- New Oriental Education and Technology Group Inc. (NYSE: EDU), the largest provider of private educational services in China, today reaffirmed its net revenue guidance for the third quarter of fiscal year 2008 despite recent poor weather conditions in southern China.
"China’s recent severe winter weather, the worst in over 50 years, is causing a short term negative impact on New Oriental’s business as some students face challenges getting to our classes, or parents choose to keep their kids at home," stated Louis T. Hsieh, New Oriental’s chief financial officer. "As a result, many students have deferred their enrollment to the next few quarters, and there have been some cancellations. Also, we are not seeing as many new enrollments as we normally do at this time of year. However, we do not expect any long-term negative impact to our business resulting from the temporary weather disruptions in China. In fact, we expect many of the students who deferred or delayed enrollment in this quarter to enroll in our spring or summer programs. Overall, we expect to continue to experience strong demand for our programs and services in the foreseeable future."
Mr. Hsieh added that New Oriental has a network of learning centers in 35 major cities throughout China, allowing students who wish to study the opportunity to attend schools and learning centers near their homes. New Oriental schools remain open and classes are continuing as normal and with good attendance.
Notwithstanding the negative impact to its business as a result of the severe winter storms in China, New Oriental reaffirms that its net revenue guidance for the third quarter of 2008, which runs from December 1, 2007 to February 29, 2008, will be in the range of RMB311.2 million (US$42.1 million) to RMB326.5 million (US$44.2 million), representing year-over-year growth of between 22.0% and 28.0%, respectively. This forecast reflects New Oriental’s current and preliminary view, which is subject to change, particularly if the severe weather in China persists for an extended period.
About New Oriental
New Oriental is the largest provider of private educational services in China based on the number of program offerings, total student enrollments and geographic presence. New Oriental offers a wide range of educational programs, services and products consisting primarily of English and other foreign language training, test preparation courses for major admissions and assessment tests in the United States, the PRC and Commonwealth countries, primary and secondary school education, development and distribution of educational content, software and other technology, and online education. New Oriental’s ADSs, each of which represents four common shares, currently trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "EDU." For more information about New Oriental, please visit http://english.neworiental.org .
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" and similar statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about New Oriental’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Information regarding these risks and uncertainties is included in our registration statement on Form F-1 and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. New Oriental does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. All information provided in this press release is as of January 31, 2008, and New Oriental undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.
For more information, please contact:
In China:
Ms. Sisi Zhao
New Oriental Education and Technology Group Inc.
Tel: +86-10-6260-5566 x8203
Email: zhaosisi@staff.neworiental.org
Mr. Derek Mitchell
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide
Tel: +86-10-8520-6284
Email: derek.mitchell@ogilvy.com
In the United States:
Mr. Thomas Smith
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide
Tel: +1-212-880-5269
Email: thomas.smith@ogilvypr.com
