Ambow Education Announces First Quarter 2019 Financial Results

BEIJING, June 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Ambow Education Holding Ltd. ("Ambow" or the "Company") (NYSE American: AMBO), a leading national provider of educational and career enhancement services in China, today announced its unaudited financial and operating results for the three-month period ended March 31, 2019.

First Quarter 2019 Financial Highlights

• Net revenues for the first quarter of 2019 increased by 6.0% to US$17.7 million from US$16.7 million in the same period of 2018. This increase was due primarily to higher student enrollment for the 2018-2019 academic year.
• Gross profit for the first quarter of 2019 slightly increased to US$5.8 million from US$5.6 million in the same period of 2018. Gross profit margin was 32.8%, compared with 33.5% for the first quarter of 2018.
• Operating expenses for the first quarter of 2019 increased by 27.1% to US$8.9 million from US$7.0 million for the same period of 2018. The increase of operating expenses was primarily due to the additional investments to set up education-to-employment service centers.
• Net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders was US$3.5 million, or US$0.08 per basic and diluted share, compared with a net loss of US$1.1 million, or US$0.03 per basic and diluted share, for the first quarter of 2018. The first quarter is always a traditionally soft quarter for the Company due to school closures for winter break.
• As of March 31, 2019, Ambow maintained strong cash resources of US$48.3 million, comprised of cash and cash equivalents of US$23.3 million, short-term investments of US$20.9 million, and restricted cash of US$4.1 million.
• As of March 31, 2019, the Company's deferred revenue balance was US$22.1 million, representing a 22.1% increase from US$18.1 million as of December 31, 2018, mainly attributable to the tuition and course fees collected in the K-12 business segment for the 2018-2019 academic year, the increase in deferred revenue collected from our service centers and the tuition fees collected at Bay State College for the spring semester of 2019.

"2019 will be a transformational year for Ambow, we're excited over our 2019 outlook and the opportunities afforded to us in the cross-border education market. Combining the momentum of the last 12 months; from going public to the launches of a college cross-border program and mutual credit recognition alliance between Chinese and U.S. colleges, we have the necessary infrastructure in place to further our mission, which is to address critical demands in the education market and bridge the gaps between higher education and career aspirations of students," noted Dr. Jin Huang, Ambow's President and Chief Executive Officer.

"We continue to strengthen capabilities in the education technology and service space, and expand our international reach through a series of agreements and program launches including: the signing of a collaborative agreement with ITU to jointly develop a cross-border U.S. master's degree curriculum and a partnership with GCQA to establish a credit recognition alliance between Chinese and U.S. colleges. We are pleased to have set a good foundation in order to build up progressive developments for the year ahead," concluded Dr. Huang.

The Company's first quarter 2019 financial and operating results can also be found on its Form 6-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.

Adoption of ASC 842 Leases

On February 25, 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases. The new standard creates Topic 842, Leases, in the FASB Accounting Standard Codification and supersedes FASB ASC 840, Leases. It requires a lessee to recognize the assets and liabilities that arise from operating and finance leases. Accordingly a lessee should recognize in the statement of financial position a liability to make lease payments (the lease liability) and a right-of-use asset ("ROU asset") representing its right to use the underlying asset for the lease term. We adopted this guidance in the first quarter of 2019 using the modified retrospective approach, and elected the optional transition method that permits adoption of the new standard prospectively, as of the effective date, without adjusting comparative periods presented. Adoption of the standard resulted in the recognition of US$5.7 million of operating lease ROU asset current, US$0.1 million of finance lease ROU asset current, US$15.0 million of operating lease ROU asset non-current, US$0.9 million of finance lease ROU asset non-current, US$5.0 million of operating lease liabilities current, and US$16.9 million of operating lease liabilities non-current on the consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2019 at adoption related to classrooms, dormitories, service campus and centers, and other operational and office space.

Exchange Rate Information

This announcement contains translations of certain RMB amounts into U.S. dollars at a specified rate solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise noted, all amounts translated from RMB to U.S. dollars for the first quarter of 2019 are based on the effective exchange rate of 6.7112 as of March 29, 2019; all amounts translated from RMB to U.S. dollars for the first quarter of 2018 are based on the effective exchange rate of 6.2726 as of March 30, 2018; all amounts translated from RMB to U.S. dollars as of December 31, 2018 are based on the effective exchange rate of 6.8755 as of December 31, 2018. The exchange rates were according to the middle rate as set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board.

About Ambow Education Holding Ltd.

Ambow Education Holding Ltd. is a leading national provider of educational and career enhancement services in China, offering high-quality, individualized services and products. With its extensive network of regional service hubs complemented by a dynamic proprietary learning platform and distributors, Ambow provides its services and products to students in 30 out of the 31 provinces and autonomous regions within China.

Follow us on Twitter: @Ambow_Education

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. Among other things, the outlook and quotations from management in this announcement, as well as Ambow's strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. Ambow may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its reports filed or furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual reports to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. 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 statements, including but not limited to the following: the Company's goals and strategies, expansion plans, the expected growth of the content and application delivery services market, the Company's expectations regarding keeping and strengthening its relationships with its customers, and the general economic and business conditions in the regions where the Company provides its solutions and services. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and Ambow undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

For investor and media inquiries please contact:

Ambow Education Holding Ltd.
Tel: +86-10-6206-8000

The Piacente Group | Investor Relations
Tel: +1 212-481-2050 or +86 10-6508-0677
Email: ambow@tpg-ir.com 

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