Afya Ltd (AFYA) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good night, everyone. Thank you for joining us for Afya's first-quarter 2024 conference call. I'm here today with Afya's CEO, Virgilio Gibbon; and Luis Andre Blanco, our CFO.

各位晚安。感謝您參加 Afya 2024 年第一季電話會議。今天我和 Afya 執行長 Virgilio Gibbon 一起來到這裡。和我們的財務長路易斯·安德烈·布蘭科。

During today's presentation, our executives will make forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be related to future events, future financial, or operating performance, known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Afya's actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by those forward-looking statements.

在今天的演講中，我們的高階主管將做出前瞻性聲明。前瞻性陳述可能與未來事件、未來財務或經營績效、已知和未知風險、不確定性以及其他可能導致 Afya 的實際結果與這些前瞻性陳述預期的結果有重大差異的因素有關。

Forward-looking statements in this presentation include, but are not limited to, statements related to the business and financial performance, expectations and guidance for future periods, or expectations regarding the company's strategic product initiatives, its related benefits and our expectations regarding the market as well as any remaining impact from COVID-19. These risks include those more fully described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

本簡報中的前瞻性陳述包括但不限於與業務和財務績效相關的陳述、對未來時期的預期和指導，或對公司策略性產品計劃、相關利益的預期以及我們對市場的預期以及COVID-19的任何剩餘影響。這些風險包括我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中更詳細描述的風險。

The forward-looking statements in this presentation are based on the information available to us as the date hereof. You should not rely on them as predictions of future events, and we disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

本簡報中的前瞻性聲明是基於截至本新聞稿發布之日我們可獲得的資訊。您不應依賴它們作為對未來事件的預測，並且我們不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務，除非法律要求。

In addition, management may reference non-IFRS financial measures on this call. These measures are not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute of the results prepared in accordance with IFRS. This presentation has reconciled these non-IFRS financial measures to the most directly comparable IFRS financial measures.

此外，管理階層可能會在此次電話會議上參考非國際財務報告準則的財務指標。這些措施不應被孤立考慮或取代根據國際財務報告準則編制的結果。本簡報已將這些非國際財務報告準則財務指標與最直接可比較的國際財務報告準則財務指標進行了調整。

Now, let me turn the call over to Virgilio Gibbon, our CEO, starting with slide number 3.

現在，讓我將電話轉給我們的執行長 Virgilio Gibbon，從第 3 張投影片開始。

Thank you, Renata, and thanks to everyone for joining us today for our inaugural conference call of 2024. To start off, we'd like to outline our operational restructuring effort in continuing education and medical practice solutions segment. To enhance synergies between Afya's content and technology for medical education and its specialization courses for physicians, Afya has restructured its corporate structure so that all products and services related to medical education, excluding medical undergraduate courses, are now managed in the same structure.

謝謝雷娜塔，也謝謝大家今天加入我們的 2024 年首次電話會議。首先，我們想概述一下我們在繼續教育和醫療實踐解決方案領域的營運重組工作。為了增強 Afya 醫學教育內容和技術與其醫師專業課程之間的協同效應，Afya 重組了其公司結構，以便所有與醫學教育相關的產品和服務（不包括醫學本科課程）現在都在同一結構中管理。

Moving to the next page. We can now observe our new business structure taking shape, comprised of our three segments: undergrad programs, continuing education, and medical practice solutions. In the undergrad segment, we have maintained the existing structure. However, notable changes have occurred in the continued education. And it is previously accounted for as content and technology from medical education, Medcel, Além da Medicina, CardioPapers, and Medical Harbour, within medical practice solutions are now accounted for in the continuing education segment.

移至下一頁。我們現在可以看到我們新的業務結構正在形成，由三個部分組成：本科課程、繼續教育和醫療實踐解決方案。在本科部分，我們維持現有的結構。然而，繼續教育方面卻發生了顯著變化。以前，它被視為來自醫學教育、Medcel、Além da Medicina、CardioPapers 和 Medical Harbour 的內容和技術，而醫療實踐解決方案現在被視為繼續教育領域。

Simultaneously, the segment formally known as digital services has been renamed to medical practice solutions. These structural adjustments have already been implemented for the results presented in the first-quarter 2024 onwards. Additionally, the comparative base from the previous year has been recalculated to account for these restructuring efforts.

同時，正式稱為數位服務的部分已更名為醫療實踐解決方案。這些結構調整已在 2024 年第一季及以後公佈的業績中實施。此外，也重新計算了前一年的比較基數，以考慮這些重組工作。

So moving now on to page number 5. Let's start with our performance highlights. Once again, Afya is recording another strong beginning of the year. First, net revenue increased 13%, reaching BRL804 million, followed by an adjusted EBITDA growth of almost 21% year over year, reaching BRL398 million, with a margin of 49.5%, 300 bps over the same period last year.

現在轉到第 5 頁。讓我們從我們的表現亮點開始。Afya 再次迎來了今年的強勁開局。首先，淨收入成長13%，達到8.04億雷亞爾，隨後調整後的EBITDA年增近21%，達到3.98億雷亞爾，利潤率為49.5%，較去年同期增長300個基點。

Once again, Afya is recording another strong quarter, showing a solid organic growth with high profitability boosted by all three segments. The adjusted net income stood at BRL251 million, represent an increase of 51% when compared to the same period of 2023. And our adjusted EPS scale to BRL2.74, a jump of 55% over last year. We also reported a strong cash flow from operating activities of BRL429 million, an increase of 22% year over year, leveraged by the solid operational results of the company, with an operating cash conversion of 110% and a solid cash position of BRL611 million at the end of the quarter.

Afya 再次錄得另一個強勁的季度業績，在所有三個部門的推動下，實現了穩健的有機增長和高盈利能力。調整後淨利為2.51億雷亞爾，較2023年同期成長51%。我們調整後的每股盈餘規模為2.74巴西雷亞爾，比去年成長55%。我們也報告稱，得益於公司穩健的經營業績，經營活動現金流量強勁，達到4.29 億雷亞爾，年增22%，經營現金轉換率為110%，現金狀況穩定，為6.11 億雷亞爾。

Moving to our operational update of the quarter. We expanded our operational medical school seats capacity to 3,153 seats. Additionally, our number of medical school students has reached over 22,000, representing an 8.6% growth compared to the first quarter of the previous year. Lastly, our physician and medical student ecosystem reached 334,000 accounting for around 41% of all medical students and physicians in Brazil.

接下來是我們本季的營運更新。我們將營運醫學院的座位容量擴大至 3,153 個。此外，我們的醫學院學生人數已超過22,000人，比去年第一季成長8.6%。最後，我們的醫生和醫學生生態系統達到了 334,000 人，約佔巴西所有醫學生和醫生的 41%。

In the next slide, we will talk about our solid business execution within our three business units. Starting with the undergrad segment, we saw an important movement throughout the quarter, such as the higher tickets in medicine courses with more than 6% increase in tickets of medicine schools, the 40 seats expansion in Guanambi Campus authorized in January of 2024 and gross margin expansion.

在下一張投影片中，我們將討論我們三個業務部門紮實的業務執行力。從本科生部分開始，我們在整個季度看到了一個重要的變化，例如醫學課程的門票價格上漲，醫學院的門票價格上漲了6% 以上，2024 年1 月授權瓜納比校區擴大40 個座位，以及毛利率擴張。

Continuing education was marked by an operational restructure that comes with growth and margin expansion. Considering this new segmentation, we saw an increase in B2P students, while both net revenue from B2P and B2B increased by 11% and 30%, respectively, achieving a net revenue of BRL65 million in the first quarter. In our medical practice solutions segment, we ended the quarter with 15% increase in active payers aligning for our gross margin expansion.

繼續教育的特點是業務重組，伴隨著成長和利潤率的擴大。考慮到這個新的細分市場，我們看到 B2P 學生人數增加，而 B2P 和 B2B 的淨收入分別增加了 11% 和 30%，第一季淨收入達到 6,500 萬雷亞爾。在我們的醫療實踐解決方案領域，本季結束時，活躍付款人增加了 15%，與我們的毛利率擴張保持一致。

In the slide number 7, we are also excited to expand our offer in the undergrad business with the signing of the acquisition of Unidompedro and Faculdade Dom Luiz. This acquisition will contribute to 300 operating medicals seats to Afya in Salvador capital of Bahia and the fifth largest city in Brazil in population size. Unidompedro will be Afya's fourth medical school in Bahia and will serve as a strategic hub for all other medical campuses in the state, besides all the synergies that we can extract from all continuing education campus in Salvador.

在第 7 張幻燈片中，我們也很高興簽署收購 Unidompedro 和 Faculdade Dom Luiz 的協議，擴大我們在本科業務中的業務範圍。此次收購將為薩爾瓦多首都巴伊亞、巴西人口第五大城市的 Afya 提供 300 個營運醫療席位。Unidompedro 將是 Afya 在巴伊亞的第四所醫學院，除了我們可以從薩爾瓦多所有繼續教育校區獲得的所有協同效應之外，還將作為該州所有其他醫學校區的戰略中心。

Reaffirming our strategy, Unidompedro is focused on medicine. Its projected net revenue for 2024 is BRL110.5 million, with 88% coming from medicine course. By 2027, when the medical school reach full maturity, the projected net revenue is BRL267 million with over 95% coming from medicine. Highlighting their actions, Unidompedro received a score of 4 out of 5 in both institution concept and course concept metrics, affirming the high quality of their medical course at the campus in question.

Unidompedro 重申我們的策略，專注於醫學。預計2024年淨收入為1.105億雷亞爾，其中88%來自醫學課程。到 2027 年，當醫學院完全成熟時，預計淨收入為 2.67 億雷亞爾，其中 95% 以上來自醫學。Unidompedro 強調了他們的行動，在機構概念和課程概念指標方面均獲得了 4 分（滿分 5 分），肯定了其相關校區醫學課程的高品質。

The aggregate purchase price amounts to BRL660 million. We also anticipate achieving an EV/EBITDA of 4.2 times at maturity post synergies. We expect the closing of transaction to be on July 1, 2024.

收購總價達6.6億雷亞爾。我們也預計在協同效應到期後達到 4.2 倍的 EV/EBITDA。我們預計交易將於 2024 年 7 月 1 日結束。

Now, I will turn the call over to Luis Blanco, Afya's CFO, to give more color on the financial and operational metrics. Thank you all.

現在，我將把電話轉給 Afya 財務長路易斯·布蘭科 (Luis Blanco)，以提供有關財務和營運指標的更多資訊。謝謝你們。

Thank you, Virgilio, and good evening, everyone. Starting with slide number 9, for discussions of key operational metrics by business unit. Our number of medical students grew 9% over first-quarter 2023, reaching 22,600 students due to the maturation of our medical seats and the seat increase in Guanambi authorized in January 2024. Therefore, we've reached 3,203 seats and expected to achieve over 23,000 undergrad medical students at maturity.

謝謝你，Virgilio，大家晚上好。從第 9 號投影片開始，依業務部門討論關鍵營運指標。由於我們的醫學席位的成熟以及 2024 年 1 月授權的瓜納比席位增加，我們的醫學生人數比 2023 年第一季度增長了 9%，達到 22,600 名學生。因此，我們的席位已達到 3,203 個，預計成熟後將有超過 23,000 名本科醫學生。

Our medical school net average ticket increased by 6.4%, reaching more than BRL90,000 in the first quarter of 2024. In addition, net revenues for the undergrad programs saw over 13% increase, achieving BRL705 million, 87% related to medicine. All this effort means one thing: our medical education business remains and will continue to be the cornerstone of our business, in the short- and middle-terms, delivering high predictable growth, combined with solid profitability and cash generation.

我們醫學院的淨平均門票增加了 6.4%，在 2024 年第一季達到超過 90,000 雷亞爾。此外，本科課程的淨收入增加了 13% 以上，達到 7.05 億雷亞爾，其中 87% 與醫學相關。所有這些努力都意味著一件事：我們的醫學教育業務仍然並將繼續成為我們中短期業務的基石，實現可預測的高成長，同時具有穩健的獲利能力和現金產生能力。

On the next page, I will present our continued educational metrics. As Virgilio mentioned, we proudly presents the new structure for the continuing education and medical practice solutions. Strategically, we look into our continuing education in three different journeys. Starting from left to right with the residency journey, which encompass the products of Além da Medicina focused towards mentoring and Medcel B2P. We saw an increase of 62% in active payers, obtaining around 15,000 students at the end of the period.

在下一頁上，我將介紹我們的持續教育指標。正如 Virgilio 所提到的，我們自豪地提出繼續教育和醫療實踐解決方案的新結構。從策略上講，我們透過三個不同的旅程來研究我們的繼續教育。從左到右為住院醫師之旅，其中包括專注於指導和 Medcel B2P 的 Além da Medicina 產品。我們看到活躍付款者增加了 62%，期末約有 15,000 名學生。

Following the graduate journey, which includes the students from Afya Educação Médica and Afya Papers, it grew 12%, reaching more than 13,000 students. In other courses and B2B offerings, Afya reached 21,000 students, which represented an increase of 44%.

在包括來自 Afya Educação Médica 和 Afya Papers 的學生在內的研究生之旅之後，該計畫增加了 12%，學生人數超過 13,000 名。在其他課程和 B2B 課程中，Afya 的學生人數達到 21,000 名，成長了 44%。

Summarizing, our efforts made possible for continuing education of net revenue to reach BRL65 million in the first quarter of 2024, compared to BRL58 million in the first quarter of 2023, a growth of over 12%.

總而言之，我們的努力使得繼續教育淨收入在 2024 年第一季達到 6,500 萬雷亞爾，而 2023 年第一季為 5,800 萬雷亞爾，成長超過 12%。

Moving to slide number 11, I will discuss the medical practice solutions operational metrics. On the first graph, you can see our total active players, which are the ones that generate revenues in B2P. With a continuous growth trend, we've reached 191,000 paying users, a 12% growth compared to the last years. As you can see in the second graph in line with the previous years, we achieved 263,000 monthly active users.

前往第 11 張投影片，我將討論醫療實踐解決方案的營運指標。在第一個圖表中，您可以看到我們的活躍玩家總數，即在 B2P 中產生收入的玩家。隨著持續成長的趨勢，我們的付費用戶已達到 191,000 名，與往年相比成長了 12%。正如您在第二張圖中看到的那樣，與前幾年一致，我們的每月活躍用戶數達到了 263,000 人。

Lastly, in our final graph, we present the net revenue of our medical practice solutions, which has expanded 9% compared to the same quarter of last year, reaching BRL37 million. Breaking down the revenue within the B2P and B2B segments, we observed that BRL32 million originated from B2P, while BRL5 million come from B2B. It's important to mention that during the first quarter of 2024, some B2B invoices were postponed and are expected to occur in the next quarters.

最後，在我們的最終圖表中，我們展示了我們的醫療實踐解決方案的淨收入，與去年同期相比增長了 9%，達到 3700 萬雷亞爾。細分 B2P 和 B2B 細分市場的收入，我們發現有 3,200 萬雷亞爾來自 B2P，而 500 萬雷亞爾來自 B2B。值得一提的是，2024 年第一季度，一些 B2B 發票被推遲，預計將在接下來的幾個季度發生。

In the next slide, we are proud to present the impact of Afya on the medical community in Brazil. We ended the first quarter of 2024 with more than 334,000 medical students and physicians in our ecosystem, experience our service and products, representing a 41% of market penetration.

在下一張投影片中，我們很自豪地展示 Afya 對巴西醫學界的影響。截至 2024 年第一季度，我們的生態系統中有超過 334,000 名醫學生和醫生體驗了我們的服務和產品，佔市場滲透率的 41%。

Moving forward, I would like to discuss our financial overview for the first quarter of 2024. Starting with the next slide. With great satisfaction, I'm pleased to present another robust quarterly results for Afya. Net revenue for the first quarter of 2024 reached BRL804 million, marking a significant 13% increase over the same period of the prior year. This growth can primarily be attributed to higher tickets in medicine courses at 6.4%. The maturation of the medical seats, the 40 seats expansions are in the Guanambi campus, the continuing education in taking performance as the medical practice solutions execution.

接下來，我想討論一下我們 2024 年第一季的財務概況。從下一張投影片開始。我非常高興地向大家介紹 Afya 又一個強勁的季度業績。2024年第一季淨收入達8.04億雷亞爾，較上年同期大幅成長13%。這一增長主要歸因於醫學課程門票上漲 6.4%。醫療席位的成熟、瓜納比園區 40 個席位的擴展、以績效作為醫療實踐解決方案執行的繼續教育。

In first-quarter 2024, adjusted EBITDA increased more than 20% to BRL398 million, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 49.5%, marking an increase of 300 basis points compared to the first-quarter 2023. The adjusted EBITDA margin expansion is mainly due to: gross margin expansion within the three segments; the end of UNIMA and Afya Jaboatão integration process in November 2023; the ramp-up of the four Mais Médicos campuses that started operations in third-quarter 2022; and operational restructuring efforts in continuing education and medical practice solutions segments.

2024年第一季，調整後EBITDA成長超過20%，達到3.98億雷亞爾，調整後EBITDA利潤率為49.5%，較2023年第一季成長300個基點。調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率擴張主要是因為： 三個分部內的毛利率擴張； UNIMA 和 Afya Jaboatão 整合過程將於 2023 年 11 月結束；四個 Mais Médicos 校區於 2022 年第三季開始營運；繼續教育和醫療實踐解決方案領域的營運重組工作。

Moving to the next slide. The cash flow from operation activities for the year increased 23%, reaching a total of BRL429 million, driven by our strong operational performance. The operational cash flow conversion ratio stood at 110% for the first-quarter 2024, slightly decreasing from the 112% in the first quarter 2023.

轉到下一張投影片。在我們強勁的經營業績的推動下，全年經營活動現金流量成長了23%，達到總計4.29億雷亞爾。2024年第一季營運現金流量轉換率為110%，較2023年第一季的112%略有下降。

Adjusted net income for the first quarter of 2024 amounted to BRL251 million, an increase of 51% over the same period of 2023, mainly due to the enhancement of operational results, the reductions in the financial expenses due to the decrease in net debt, and lower interest rates and lower effective tax rates.

2024年第一季調整後淨利為2.51億雷亞爾，較2023年同期成長51%，主要由於經營業績增強、淨債務減少導致財務費用減少以及較低的利率和較低的有效稅率。

In terms of adjusted EPS, we achieved BRL2.74 for the quarter, a remarkable 54% increase compared to the previous year. Our EPS was mainly positive, influenced by the increase in our net income with an impact from the previous year shares repurchase.

就調整後每股收益而言，本季我們實現了 2.74 雷亞爾，與去年相比成長了 54%。我們的每股盈餘主要為正，受到上一年股票回購影響淨利增加的影響。

And now, moving to my two last slides, I will discuss our cash and net debt position. I also give you more color on our cost of debts. On the next slide, you see a table with the breakdown of our gross debts and the total cost of tax, considering our main debt, the soft-based transactions, debentures, account payables to selling shareholders and other financial obligations.

現在，轉到最後兩張投影片，我將討論我們的現金和淨債務狀況。我還為您提供了有關我們的債務成本的更多資訊。在下一張投影片上，您會看到一張表格，其中列出了我們的總債務和總稅收成本的細目，其中考慮了我們的主要債務、軟基交易、債券、應付出售股東的應付帳款和其他財務義務。

On the next page, we can look closely to the net debt variation. In the first quarter of 2024, our net debt reached BRL1.577 billion, when compared to December 2023, after reduced its net debt by BRL237 million. Even considering the Fip Guanambi earn-out over BRL49 million, we reduced our net debt per adjusted EBITDA from 1.6 times in 2023, to 1.2 times in the first quarter of 2024, considering the mid-point of the guidance for 2024. Considering the additional debt regarding only Unidompedro acquisition, we expect an update net debt per adjusted EBITDA of 1.6 times.

在下一頁，我們可以仔細觀察淨債務變化。2024 年第一季度，與 2023 年 12 月相比，我們的淨債務達到 15.77 億雷亞爾，淨債務減少了 2.37 億雷亞爾。即使考慮到 Fipguanambi 的利潤超過 4,900 萬雷亞爾，考慮到 2024 年指導的中點，我們將調整後 EBITDA 的淨債務從 2023 年的 1.6 倍減少到 2024 年第一季度的 1.2 倍。考慮到僅收購 Unidompedro 帶來的額外債務，我們預計調整後 EBITDA 的更新淨債務為 1.6 倍。

This ends our prepared remarks, strong performance, consistent growth, and success in all segments. We are committed to provide an ecosystem that integrates educational and medical practice solutions for the entire medical journey, enhancing the development, updating effectiveness, and productivity of health professionals. We are very proud of our business and what we have achieved so far, and excited about what we plan for the future.

我們準備好的發言、強勁的業績、持續的成長以及所有領域的成功就到此結束。我們致力於為整個醫療旅程提供一個整合教育和醫療實踐解決方案的生態系統，增強健康專業人員的發展、更新有效性和生產力。我們對我們的業務和迄今為止所取得的成就感到非常自豪，並對我們的未來計劃感到興奮。

I will now open the conference for the Q&A session. Thank you.

我現在宣布會議開始問答環節。謝謝。

(Event Instructions) Lucca Marquezini, Itau.

（活動說明）Lucca Marquezini，Itau。

Hey, good evening, everyone. Thank you for taking our questions. We have two questions from our side. The first one, the release mentioned that there was a gross margin expansion in all three segments. Can you please give more color on which of the segments most contributed to this expansion and the drivers behind this enhancement?

嘿，大家晚上好。感謝您接受我們的提問。我們這邊有兩個問題。第一個，新聞稿提到所有三個部門的毛利率都有所增長。您能否詳細說明哪些細分市場對此擴展貢獻最大以及此增強背後的驅動因素？

And then the second question would be after this acquisition, you already surpassed the guidance of acquiring 200 seats per year. Should we expect another acquisition in new undergrad courses this year or M&A should now be focused in other verticals? Thank you.

第二個問題是，在這次收購之後，你們已經超過了每年收購 200 個席位的指導方針。我們是否應該期待今年新本科課程的另一次收購，或者併購現在應該集中在其他垂直領域？謝謝。

Hi Lucca, it's Luis speaking. I'll start with your second question. Regarding M&A, we have this guidance from 200 seats per year that we gave in 2022. So from this moment, we've made two business combinations, one that was [Unichi] and this is the second one. So in three years, we made 640 seats. And right now, after the approval of the [kind], we'll have achieved this guidance for 2024.

嗨盧卡，我是路易斯。我將從你的第二個問題開始。關於併購，我們在 2022 年提供的每年 200 個席位中提供了這項指導。所以從這一刻起，我們進行了兩次業務合併，一次是[Unichi]，這是第二次。所以三年內，我們增加了 640 個席位。現在，在 [kind] 批准後，我們將實現 2024 年的指導方針。

Of course, we are always open to discuss the asset that has our profile with the right price. So we know that we have various laser point specific targets and we'll try to keep this rhythm, but it's always hard to match the size of the transactions with the targets that we have, okay?

當然，我們始終願意以合適的價格討論符合我們要求的資產。所以我們知道我們有各種雷射點特定目標，我們會盡力保持這種節奏，但總是很難將交易規模與我們擁有的目標相匹配，好嗎？

Yeah. Regarding the gross margin, Lucca, we are going to disclose it to you guys our consolidated spreadsheet as soon as we finish the call. But all the segments, as we already said, had margin expansion. The undergrad was around 1.5 points; continuing education, a little less than 4 points; and the digital services, a little bit higher than 5 points.

是的。關於毛利率，盧卡，我們將在通話結束後立即向你們披露我們的綜合電子表格。但正如我們已經說過的，所有細分市場的利潤率都有所擴大。本科生1.5分左右；繼續教育，略低於4分；數位服務，略高於5分。

And the rationale behind that, Lucca, I think the contribution from the undergrad comes from, first, the maturation of our medical school campuses. Remember that we started this operation around second half of 2022, 2023. So now we are in the third year of maturation. So the margin is going up and contributing to improve our margin.

盧卡，我認為本科生的貢獻首先來自於我們醫學院校園的成熟。請記住，我們在 2022 年下半年、2023 年左右開始了這項作業。所以現在我們正處於成熟的第三年。因此，利潤率正在上升，並有助於提高我們的利潤率。

Also the integration of unit that was faster than expected originally on our business plan, so helped a lot to improve our margins. And all the contribution coming from the other business units that not only in terms of growth but also improving margins on the undergrad segment operating close -- sorry, the graduate segment operating close to what we are operating now on the undergrad. And also the digital service now flowing on only growth on the top line but flowing positive results on the top of the bottom line. So that was the duration of all of this margin improvement comes from the three segments.

此外，部門整合速度比我們最初的業務計劃預期要快，因此對提高我們的利潤率有很大幫助。所有的貢獻都來自其他業務部門，不僅在成長方面，而且在提高本科生部門的利潤率方面也很接近——抱歉，研究生部門的運作與我們現在在本科生部門的運作接近。此外，數位服務現在僅在營收上實現成長，但在利潤上卻產生了積極的成果。這就是所有利潤率改善的持續時間都來自三個細分市場。

Yeah. If I could add a point, not only in terms of cost, but also in terms of our expenses, the reorganization that we did between the segments of -- on the content technology for medical education going to the continuing education, we could save a lot of money. So it was something that we made that made sense in terms of operations and also improved our results, and we are expecting to boost our growth.

是的。如果我可以補充一點，不僅在成本方面，而且在我們的開支方面，我們在醫學教育內容技術到繼續教育的各個部分之間進行的重組，我們可以節省大量的資金。因此，我們所做的事情在營運方面是有意義的，也改善了我們的業績，我們預計會促進我們的成長。

Yeah. Just for a little bit additional color on that, Lucca. For digital services as an example, we were operating with different companies. So we have two commercial areas, two growth areas, two IT teams for development. So we have now fully integrated close related to the physician journey for the mission that they have. So now it's only one thing in focus for the entire mission that we are prioritizing for that quarter for that screen.

是的。只是為了增加一點點色彩，盧卡。以數位服務為例，我們與不同的公司合作。所以我們有兩個商業領域、兩個成長領域、兩個IT團隊進行開發。因此，我們現在已經完全整合了與醫生旅程密切相關的使命。因此，現在整個任務中只有一件事是我們在該螢幕的該季度優先考慮的事情。

So it's a lot of synergies after the restructuring. The same applied for the pillar one combined with continuing education that we had last year. So we have all the marketing, commercial team working together and also the content creator, the critical development working together. So there was a lot of senior implements in the fourth quarter in 2023.

因此，重組後會產生許多協同效應。這同樣適用於我們去年進行的第一支柱和繼續教育。因此，我們讓所有行銷、商業團隊以及內容創作者、關鍵開發人員一起工作。所以2023年第四季有很多高級工具。

That's very clear, guys. Thank you.

夥計們，這很清楚。謝謝。

Mirela, Bank of America.

米雷拉，美國銀行。

Good evening, everyone. I have a follow-up question on the gross margin one. Could you comment a bit also on what to expect from both the continuing education and the medical specialization margins going forward?

各位晚上好。我有一個關於毛利率的後續問題。您能否評論一下對未來繼續教育和醫學專業利潤的期望？

And a second question on the guidance on last year's Investor Day, the company mentioned a long-term guidance for the continuing education revenues of around BRL1.2 billion in 2028. And I was just wondering how should we think this guidance and the one for digital services also considering the new structure?

關於去年投資者日指導的第二個問題，該公司提到了2028年繼續教育收入約為12億雷亞爾的長期指導。我只是想知道我們應該如何看待這份指南以及考慮到新結構的數位服務指南？

Hi Mirela, Blanco speaking here. We don't have this opening of gross margins in terms of the guidance; we give the EBITDA guidance for the year. And we don't have changes in our view for the year of 2024 regarding the guidance that we provided when we release the results of 2023. So what we can expect for the year it's adjusted EBITDA between BRL1.3 billion and BRL1.4 billion for the year. We reaffirmed this guidance with these results.

嗨米雷拉，布蘭科在這裡發言。我們的指導中沒有毛利率的開放；我們給了今年的 EBITDA 指引。對於我們發布 2023 年業績時提供的指導，我們對 2024 年的看法沒有改變。因此，我們預計今年的調整後 EBITDA 將在 13 億雷亞爾至 14 億雷亞爾之間。我們透過這些結果重申了這項指引。

And Mirela, regarding the guidance of our digital services, because of the restructuring, one important part of that guidance, pillar one that now is combined and have a lot of synergy we are continuing education. So the BRL1.2 billion now is split between two segments, we will have to reorganize this guidance for the long term, and we will come to the market at the right time to check how much of each segment will compound this BRL1.2 billion that would come from the digital services. But as soon as we get that, we will come to the market in more detail, okay?

米雷拉（Mirela），關於我們數位服務的指導，由於重組，該指導的一個重要組成部分，第一支柱現在已合併並具有很多協同作用，我們正在繼續教育。因此，現在12 億雷亞爾被分成兩個部分，從長遠來看，我們將不得不重新組織這項指導，我們將在適當的時間進入市場，看看每個部分將給這12 億雷亞爾帶來多少複合收益。但一旦我們得到了這一點，我們就會更詳細地進入市場，好嗎？

Marcelo Santos, JPMorgan.

馬塞洛桑托斯，摩根大通。

Thank you. Good evening, Virgilio, Luis, Renata, thanks for taking my questions. I have two as well. The first is regarding the growth on the undergrad revenue. I think Virgilio, last call, if I remember correctly, you indicated that within your guidance, this component, the undergrad should grow around 10% in the year. You delivered 13.5% in this quarter. So I just wanted to understand, is there some seasonal factor that you expect growth to be more in the first half? Or is this really coming ahead of your expectations? Just wanted to get a feel here in terms of timing or how are you going according to your expectations?

謝謝。晚上好，Virgilio、Luis、Renata，感謝您提出我的問題。我也有兩個。首先是關於本科生收入的成長。我想 Virgilio，最後一次通話，如果我沒記錯的話，您表示在您的指導下，這部分本科生今年應該增長 10% 左右。本季您的交付率為 13.5%。所以我只是想了解，是否有一些季節性因素導致您預計上半年的成長會更大？或者這真的超出了你的預期嗎？只是想了解時間安排或您的預期進展如何？

And the second question is the B2B revenues that you mentioned. I think Luis mentioned that there was a postponement of recognition of some -- forgot the name of some invoices, I think from the first quarter to the second quarter. If you had recognized everything at the right quarter, what would be a better idea of how this revenue growth is taking place? What would be a more organic measure for this? Thank you.

第二個問題是你提到的B2B收入。我想路易斯提到了一些發票的確認被推遲了——忘記了一些發票的名稱，我想是從第一季推遲到了第二季。如果您在正確的季度中認識到了一切，那麼對於這種收入成長是如何發生的，還有什麼更好的想法呢？對此，更有機的措施是什麼？謝謝。

Hi, Marcelo. I got your first question about the idea of the revenues coming around 10%, 10% was mentioned, it was regarding more volume than top line. So when you take a look on our table number 2 on our release, you can see that medical school undergrad is moved around 15.5% and around 9% is volume and 6% coming from tuition.

嗨，馬塞洛。我收到你的第一個問題，關於收入在 10% 左右的想法，提到了 10%，這是關於銷售高於營收的問題。因此，當您查看我們發布的表 2 時，您會發現醫學院本科生的變動約為 15.5%，其中 9% 左右是數量，6% 來自學費。

And the good news is that in terms of net revenue, we are also seeing organic growth coming from the health science and also for other programs that used to have always decreasing revenues on this side, so it's not more hurting the top-line growth as we had in the past because of the restructuring, we are sharing our programs. Now we are more organic. So it's expected to be -- it's not seasonal, as we have a very strong intake not only for medical filling all the 100% of our seats.

好消息是，就淨收入而言，我們也看到來自健康科學以及其他項目的有機成長，這些項目過去在這方面的收入一直在下降，因此這並沒有對營收成長造成更大的損害，因為我們過去由於重組，我們正在共享我們的計劃。現在我們更加有機。因此，預計這不是季節性的，因為我們的攝取量非常大，不僅是為了滿足我們 100% 的座位的醫療需求。

And we have a strong intake for health programs and ex-health during the first quarter, with respect to keeping a very good trend in the first half of 2024 around 13%, 15% coming from the undergrad segment, okay?

第一季我們對健康項目和前健康項目的吸收量很大，在 2024 年上半年保持非常好的趨勢，約 13%，其中 15% 來自本科生，好嗎？

Luis will take the second question.

路易斯將回答第二個問題。

Yes. And just to add, Marcelo, to the first one, despite what we have this performance of the first quarter, our expectations regarding the net revenues for 2024 remains the same that we provided in the guidance. That can go for BRL3.150 billion at the bottom to BRL3.250 billion at the top part of the guidance regarding the net revenue.

是的。馬塞洛補充說，第一個問題是，儘管我們第一季的表現如此，但我們對 2024 年淨收入的預期仍然與我們在指導中提供的相同。淨收入指引的底部為 31.5 億雷亞爾，頂部為 32.5 億雷亞爾。

So when we give this color about how would performs per each segment, we just give a color of how in the big numbers, how we would perform between our three segments. So -- but our guidance is regarding always in the consolidated figures that come from BRL3.150 billion to BRL3.250 billion for 2024.

因此，當我們給出每個分段的執行情況的顏色時，我們只是給出大數字中我們將如何在三個分段之間執行的顏色。所以，但我們的指導始終是 2024 年從 31.5 億雷亞爾到 32.5 億雷亞爾的綜合數字。

Having said that, coming to your second question regarding B2B, yes, we have some postponement on recognitions on the medical practice tools. And if we put that on this way, we would be around 20% to 30% growth regarding the same period of the prior year, okay?

話雖如此，關於 B2B 的第二個問題，是的，我們對醫療實踐工具的認可有所推遲。如果我們這麼算的話，我們的成長率將比去年同期成長 20% 到 30% 左右，好嗎？

Just to add here, Marcelo, in terms of guidance, seeing the overall results from top and bottom line in the first quarter. Of course, there is a positive bias when you compare to the one-year guidance that we released last quarter, but still show in the process. We have the second-quarter intake, everything there is still uncertainty. So it's still soon to admit that we are going to change or not our guidance for 2024, okay?

在此補充一下，馬塞洛在指導方面看到了第一季營收和利潤的整體結果。當然，與我們上季度發布的一年期指導相比，存在積極的偏差，但仍在過程中顯示出來。我們有第二季的招生，一切仍然存在不確定性。因此，現在承認我們是否會改變 2024 年的指導方針還為時過早，好嗎？

Perfect. Very clear. And so 20% to 30%, the minus 6% would become 20% to 30%. That's it, Luis?

完美的。非常清楚。所以20%到30%，負6%就會變成20%到30%。就這樣吧，路易斯？

Yeah.

是的。

Yeah.

是的。

Perfect. Very clear. Thank you very much.

完美的。非常清楚。非常感謝。

(Event Instructions) Lucas Nagano, Morgan Stanley.

（活動說明）Lucas Nagano，摩根士丹利。

Thank you and good evening -- for the space here. We have some questions related to the Unido acquisition; three to be precise. The first is how you're planning to fund the acquisition. Second is what is the expected impact on margin once you consolidate when you don't? I think also you mentioned that you expect this to close on July, right?

謝謝你，晚上好——這裡有空間。我們有一些與收購 Unido 相關的問題；準確地說是三個。第一個是您計劃如何為收購提供資金。其次，如果不進行整合，那麼一旦整合對利潤率的預期影響是什麼？我想你也提到你預計這會在七月結束，對嗎？

And the third is, in practical terms, what is the likelihood that those incremental 175 seats are canceled? If you could comment a bit on the stage of this process? Thank you.

第三個問題是，實際上，新增的175個席次被取消的可能性有多高？您能否對這個過程的階段發表一些評論？謝謝。

Hi, Lucas. Thank you for your three questions. I will take the three questions. Regarding the funds, we ended the first quarter with more than BRL600 million in cash. So we have the funds to pay the down payments related to the acquisitions because we have the cash and we have the cash generation of the second quarter. If we find an opportunity that we find attractive, we would hire additional funding for that.

嗨，盧卡斯。謝謝你提出的三個問題。我將回答這三個問題。關於資金，第一季末我們擁有超過 6 億雷亞爾的現金。因此，我們有資金支付與收購相關的首付款，因為我們有現金，而且我們有第二季的現金產生。如果我們發現一個有吸引力的機會，我們會為此聘請額外的資金。

Regarding margins, they -- we can expect a little bit of dilution on that. They don't operate margins that we can operate our undergrad segment. So we can have these dilutions that will come in this year, but we can expect increasing margins from 2025 ahead. We're going to work to have a very quick integrations on Unidompedro to have them integrated as fast as possible to our ecosystem.

關於利潤率，我們可以預期會有所稀釋。他們不經營我們可以經營本科部分的利潤。因此，我們可以在今年進行這些稀釋，但我們可以預期從 2025 年開始利潤率會增加。我們將努力在 Unidompedro 上進行非常快速的集成，以便將它們盡快整合到我們的生態系統中。

And regarding to the 175 seats, they are operating since the beginning, since 2021, since the first intake. So we have a very positive view regarding the continuation of the seats to be approved. And we put the payment schedule to be 10 years to protect us in a remote possibility to have these seats not being operating. So our view in the base case is the seats we're going to keep operating.

至於 175 個座位，它們自 2021 年首次接收以來就一直在運作。因此，我們對繼續批准席位持非常積極的看法。我們將付款期限定為 10 年，以防止這些席位無法運作的可能性極小。因此，我們對基本情況的看法是我們將繼續運營的席位。

Just look to add here, Lucas, first on the second question about the margin impact and how we want to leverage operationally the new campus. Remember that it's our largest medical program campus; 300 seats concentrated in one large city with a very high level of tuition. So the capacity that we'll have to fulfill all the seats available, the vacancy that we are seeing there in a very fast track, as soon as we get the operation closed and improved margins.

盧卡斯，請在此補充一下關於利潤影響以及我們希望如何利用新園區運作的第二個問題。請記住，這是我們最大的醫療計畫校園； 300個席位集中在一個大城市，學費非常高。因此，一旦我們關閉營運並提高利潤率，我們就必須以非常快的速度滿足所有可用座位的容量和空缺。

I think taking what we had as an experience in Uni going to view and also UNIMA that we could leverage 30 percentage points in almost one year. I think we will do something very close to that and reach the same level what we are operating now in the undergrad business in 2025.

我認為，根據我們在 Uni 和 UNIMA 的經驗，我們可以在近一年內提高 30 個百分點。我認為我們將做一些非常接近的事情，並在 2025 年達到我們目前在本科生業務中運營的相同水平。

And the 175 seats, I think it's important to mention here that not we are operating the seats since the beginning. We have the approval, not only in the just but also for the Ministry of Education that recognize it. And all the trends that we are seeing from the Supreme Court is that everything that was approved, considering the current regulation, the Ministry of Education, it's not canceling, not only for this case here, but all the precedents that we are seeing in the market, it's quite positive on this direction.

至於 175 個席位，我認為在這裡值得一提的是，我們並不是從一開始就在經營這些席位。我們不僅得到了公正的批准，而且還得到了承認這一點的教育部的批准。我們從最高法院看到的所有趨勢是，考慮到目前的規定，教育部並沒有取消所有已批准的內容，不僅是針對這裡的案件，而且是我們在該案件中看到的所有先例。此方向相當正面。

So it's very rare. It's completely remote, the chance that to be canceled. Even in a worst-case scenario that has happened, we have all the framework that we are paying the installments, protect ourselves in 10 years. And also, we will cancel all the payments at the right moment. So that's the way that we construct the deal, okay?

所以非常罕見。這是完全遙遠的，被取消的機會。即使發生了最壞的情況，我們也有分期付款的所有框架，可以在 10 年內保護自己。而且，我們將在適當的時候取消所有付款。這就是我們達成交易的方式，好嗎？

Yeah. Just a reminder, the first one that they required for those seats was before my medical law. So it was before 2013. And the second reminder that in this worst-case scenario that Virgilio told to stop paying, we still have the positive effect of the students that are already enrolled for the next six years. So we also have the economic benefit without having to pay and increasing our IR.

是的。只是提醒一下，他們要求這些座位的第一個座位是在我的醫療法案之前。所以那是在2013年之前。第二個提醒是，在 Virgilio 告訴我們停止付款的最壞情況下，我們仍然對未來六年已經入學的學生產生積極影響。所以我們也有經濟利益，而無需支付和增加我們的IR。

Yeah. And a point important regarding the performance for Unido. We have these expectations of the closing to occur in the first day of July. And when we have this kind of confirmations in the next release, we're going to update our guidance, including these six months in our guidance for the year. And we're going to release our numbers, consolidated figures and ex-acquisitions as we did before to segregate the performance of this first 12 months of Unido.

是的。關於 Unido 的績效，還有一點很重要。我們預計交割將在七月的第一天發生。當我們在下一個版本中得到此類確認時，我們將更新我們的指導，包括今年指導中的這六個月。我們將像以前一樣發布我們的數據、綜合數據和除權數據，以區分工發組織前 12 個月的業績。

Thank you. And also a quick follow-up on the Supreme Court debate. When do you expect them to resume the voting process?

謝謝。還有最高法院辯論的快速後續。您預計他們什麼時候會恢復投票程序？

It's expected to happen now in May. Actually, the due date is tomorrow, but we don't know if they will release or not the voting by tomorrow.

預計現在將在五月發生。事實上，截止日期是明天，但我們不知道明天他們是否會發布投票結果。

Yeah, just a clarification. The due date for tomorrow is [Alexandro Morais] timeframe to return with his vote.

是的，只是一個澄清。明天的截止日期是 [Alexandro Morais] 回傳投票的時間範圍。

Perfect. Thank you.

完美的。謝謝。

Okay.

好的。

Leandro Bastos, Citi.

萊安德羅·巴斯托斯，花旗銀行。

Yeah. Thank you, guys. Two questions on our side. First one about the rationalization of costs, the restructuring that you mentioned. I'm just wondering if you could comment how far advanced you think the company is in the process of rationalization? If you see additional levers for reducing applications and unlocking efficiencies or if we could expect basically what we saw during Q1 and basically the carry impact from these initiatives through the year? If you could, I don't know, provide some color on how should we think about this margin dynamic forward, I think would be helpful. That will be the first one.

是的。感謝你們。我們這邊有兩個問題。第一個是關於成本合理化，你提到的重組。我只是想知道您是否可以評論一下您認為公司在合理化進程中進展到了什麼程度？您是否看到了減少應用程式和釋放效率的額外槓桿，或者我們基本上可以預期我們在第一季看到的情況以及這些舉措全年的影響？我不知道，如果你能提供一些關於我們應該如何思考這種保證金動態的觀點，我認為會有所幫助。那將是第一個。

The other, if you could also talk about how you saw competition during this recent intake season in terms of candidates per seat. How was the strategy for pricing? We saw, of course, good volumes and pricing ahead of inflation? So if you just can comment a little bit on how sort of the competitive environment. I think would be interesting to hear. That will be it, thank you so much.

另一方面，您是否也可以談談您如何看待最近招生季節中每個席位候選人的競爭。定價策略如何？當然，我們在通膨之前看到了良好的銷售和定價？因此，您能否評論一下競爭環境是怎麼樣的呢？我想聽聽會很有趣。就這樣了，非常感謝。

Thank you for your question, Leandro. I will start with the first one, and Virgilio will jump to the second. Regarding the expectations margins -- gross margins going ahead, we don't give a guidance for gross margins for the year. What we can expect is to achieve the guidance of adjusted EBITDA that we gave for the year. So that's our point. We have -- we are very constructive with that.

謝謝你的提問，萊安德羅。我將從第一個開始，Virgilio 將跳到第二個。關於預期利潤率－未來的毛利率，我們不會給出今年毛利率的指引。我們可以預期的是實現我們今年給出的調整後 EBITDA 的指導。這就是我們的觀點。我們對此非常有建設性。

We have been not only giving annual guidance, but achieving annual guidance before in the last years, and we are confident that during 2024, we're going to do the same. So I prefer to focus on the -- what the guidance that we provide the market, rather than give a guidance in specific gross margins going ahead.

我們不僅提供了年度指導，而且在過去幾年中也實現了年度指導，我們有信心在 2024 年期間也能做到這一點。因此，我更願意專注於我們為市場提供的指導，而不是給予未來具體毛利率的指導。

And just adding a color on that, Leandro, so we did a big restructuring process in the last quarter of 2023. We dismissed around 200 people because of the restructuring. We integrated all the companies acquired, mainly in the digital area. So in terms of COGS, I think we did -- we already completed the work. So now, it's much more related to growth and top-line expansion than more cost efficiency than in the past.

Leandro，只是為此添加了一些色彩，所以我們在 2023 年最後一個季度進行了大規模的重組過程。由於重組，我們解雇了大約 200 人。我們整合了所有收購的公司，主要是數位領域的公司。因此，就銷貨成本而言，我認為我們做到了——我們已經完成了工作。因此，現在，與過去相比，它更多地與成長和營收擴張相關，而不是更高的成本效率。

Another lever here was our corporate expenses that is -- now, we are getting some -- not synergy, but we are growing top line and our structure is already mature after the IPO, five years of IPO. So we are also getting synergies on G&A expenses on the overall. And that is considered on our expectation on the release guidance that we gave to the market on last quarter.

這裡的另一個槓桿是我們的公司支出，現在我們正在獲得一些，而不是協同效應，但我們的收入正在增長，而且我們的結構在首次公開募股（首次公開募股）五年後已經成熟。因此，整體而言，我們在一般管理費用方面也獲得了綜效。這是考慮到我們對上季向市場發布的指引的預期。

About the competition, this intake, it's close what we saw for the last two years in terms of candidates per seat, I think we don't know why we kept so stable, the competition here. My true sense here that because all the efforts in terms of brand, the change that we did last semester, I think it starts taking off and helping us to attract more leads. And remember that we now have more than 300,000 physicians and medical students talking about Afya, using our solutions.

關於競爭，這次招生，就每個席位的候選人而言，與我們過去兩年看到的情況很接近，我想我們不知道為什麼我們保持如此穩定，這裡的競爭。我的真實感受是，因為我們在品牌方面所做的所有努力，以及我們在上學期所做的改變，我認為它開始起飛並幫助我們吸引更多的潛在客戶。請記住，現在有超過 30 萬名醫生和醫學生正在談論 Afya，使用我們的解決方案。

So it's a huge army knowing what we are -- our company here is doing for their journey for their career. I think this is helping us to attract more leads and to fulfill all the seats that we are doing in the market with every semester, every year in a better way, attracting good students, and a good level to complete our second system here.

所以這是一支知道我們是什麼的龐大軍隊——我們的公司正在為他們的職業生涯做出貢獻。我認為這有助於我們吸引更多的潛在客戶，並以更好的方式實現我們每個學期、每年在市場上所做的所有席位，吸引優秀的學生，並以良好的水平在這裡完成我們的第二個系統。

So the competition for us, it's quite the same that we saw during the -- actually, since 2020, 2021, the candidates per seat was around 6.4 candidates receipts, and we have something between five and eight during the last four years. And when we analyze also the smaller campuses in more remote areas, we also have a very good intake and we could attract and enroll very good cohort of students to our school. So there is no news on the competition side on our side.

因此，對我們來說，競爭與我們在2020 年和2021 年期間看到的競爭完全相同，實際上，自2020 年、2021 年以來，每個席位的候選人約為6.4 名候選人收據，而在過去四年中，我們有5 到8 名候選人。當我們分析更偏遠地區的較小校園時，我們也有很好的入學人數，我們可以吸引和招募非常好的學生群體到我們學校。所以我們這邊還沒有比賽方面的消息。

Remember that we also have a very good condition to pass inflation, a little bit above inflation to our price year over year since 2019.

請記住，我們也有一個非常好的條件來傳遞通貨膨脹，自 2019 年以來，我們的價格逐年高於通貨膨脹。

Okay. That's clear. Thank you.

好的。很清楚。謝謝。

Of course. Since we do not have any other questions, we are going to end the call. If you have any other questions, we are in the Investor Relations area, we are going to be happy to help you. Have a good night.

當然。由於我們沒有任何其他問題，我們將結束通話。如果您有任何其他問題，請聯絡投資者關係區域，我們將很樂意為您提供協助。祝你晚安。