Afya Ltd (AFYA) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for joining us for Afya's conference call. I'm here today with Afya's CEO, Virgilio Gibbon; and our CFO, Luis André Blanco. 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 these forward-looking statements.

感謝您參加 Afya 的電話會議。今天我和 Afya 執行長 Virgilio Gibbon 一起來到這裡。以及我們的財務長路易斯·安德烈·布蘭科 (Luis André Blanco)。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 and its related benefits.

本簡報中的前瞻性陳述包括但不限於與業務和財務績效、未來期間的預期和指導相關的陳述，或有關公司策略產品計劃及其相關收益的預期。

These risks include those more fully described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements in this presentation are based on the information available to us as of the date hereof. You should not rely on them as predictions of future events as we disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law. 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.

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全面描述的風險。本簡報中的前瞻性陳述是基於截至本新聞稿發布之日我們所掌握的資訊。您不應依賴它們作為對未來事件的預測，因為我們不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務，除非法律要求。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。

This presentation has reconciled these non-IFRS financial measures to the most directly comparable IFRS financial measures. Now, let me now turn the call over to Virgilio Gibbon, Afya's CEO, starting the next slide.

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。現在，讓我將電話轉給 Afya 執行長 Virgilio Gibbon，開始下一張投影片。

Thank you, Renata, and thanks to everyone for joining us today for our third quarter and nine-month conference call for 2024 results. Let's start with our quarter highlights. Net revenue grew over 16% year over year, reaching BRL841 million, followed by an adjusted EBITDA growth of 25% year over year, reaching BRL348 million with a margin of 41.4%. Adjusted net income followed the same positive trend of last quarter and reached BRL165 million, a growth of 29% year over year with an adjusted EPS of BRL1.79. 30% higher than last year, reflecting Afya's great capital allocation discipline on M&A and efficient capital structure.

謝謝 Renata，也謝謝大家今天加入我們，參加我們關於 2024 年業績的第三季和九個月的電話會議。讓我們從季度亮點開始。淨收入年增超過 16%，達到 8.41 億雷亞爾，調整後 EBITDA 年成長 25%，達到 3.48 億雷亞爾，利潤率為 41.4%。調整後淨利延續上季同樣的正面趨勢，達到1.65億雷亞爾，年增29%，調整後每股收益為1.79雷亞爾。比去年高出 30%，反映出 Afya 在併購方面嚴格的資本配置紀律和高效的資本結構。

We also reported a record cash flow from operating activities. Ended the nine-month period with BRL1.168 billion, 25% higher than last year with a cash conversion of 109.7%. And we are able to maintain our net debt level stable even considering the acquisition of Unidom for BRL660 million, BRL7 million in earn-out payments, as will be mentioned further on by Luis Blanco.

我們也報告了創紀錄的經營活動現金流量。截至前 9 個月，銷售額為 11.68 億雷亞爾，比去年增長 25%，現金轉換率為 109.7%。即使考慮到以 6.6 億雷亞爾收購 Unidom，以及 700 萬雷亞爾的盈利付款，我們也能夠保持穩定的淨債務水平，正如路易斯·布蘭科 (Luis Blanco) 將進一步提到的那樣。

In this quarter, we have reached 3,593 approved medical seats with the acquisition of Unidom, the approval of 80 seats in UNIMA and the reconsideration of additional 10 medical seats in Unigranrio. Our number of undergrad medical students has reached more than 24,000 students, representing over 12% growth compared to the same period last year.

本季度，透過收購 Unidom、批准 UNIMA 80 個席位以及重新考慮在 Unigranrio 增加 10 個醫療席位，我們已批准醫療席位達到 3,593 個。醫學本科生人數已達24,000餘人，較去年同期成長12%以上。

Furthermore, our medical school net average ticket, excluding the Unidom acquisition, increased almost 5% in the nine-month period. In the continuing education segment, we continue to see great results, presenting a net revenue growth of 10.4% year over year, reached BRL188 million.

此外，我們醫學院的淨平均票價（不包括 Unidom 收購）在 9 個月期間增加了近 5%。在繼續教育領域，我們持續取得優異成績，淨收入年增10.4%，達到1.88億雷亞爾。

Once again, Afya also reported great results on the medical practice solution, which ended the quarter with an increase in net revenue of 15% year over year, reaching more than BRL117 million in the nine-month period. These results highlight the significant potential in medical practice solution driven by a strong ramp-up in B2B and B2P engagements. With more physicians and data in the ecosystem, Afya's attractiveness to B2B clients continues to grow, engaging 47 unique clients and securing 109 contracts in 2024.

Afya 也再次報告了醫療實踐解決方案的出色成果，該季度末淨收入同比增長 15%，在 9 個月期間達到超過 1.17 億雷亞爾。這些結果突顯了 B2B 和 B2P 業務強勁成長所推動的醫療實踐解決方案的巨大潛力。隨著生態系統中的醫生和數據越來越多，Afya 對 B2B 客戶的吸引力持續增長，到 2024 年吸引了 47 名獨特客戶並簽訂了 109 份合約。

Moving now to slide number 4. We will talk about our solid business execution within our three business units. Starting with the undergrad segment, we saw important movements throughout the quarter, such as higher tickets and medicine costs with 4.8% increase in medicine tuition for the nine-month period. Thanks to the maturation of our medical seats, the completion of UNIMA and Afya Jaboatão integration process in November 2023 and the ramp up of the four Mais Médicos campuses that started its operation in third-quarter 2022. We are glad to see a gross margin expansion of 170 bps in comparison to nine months 2023.

現在轉到第 4 張投影片。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重要的變化，例如門票和醫藥費用上漲，九個月期間醫藥學費增加了 4.8%。由於我們的醫療座椅的成熟、UNIMA 和 Afya Jaboatão 整合流程於 2023 年 11 月完成，以及四個 Mais Médicos 校區於 2022 年第三季開始運作。我們很高興看到毛利率較 2023 年 9 個月增加了 170 個基點。

This quarter, we also successfully completed the acquisition of Unidom, which brings 300 additional medical seats and strengthens our footprint in Salvador, one of Brazil largest metropolitan areas. Our dedicated efforts and the strong brand recognition in Salvador led to a substantial increase in the medical students enrollment at Unidom, boosting our student base by 37% and reinforcing the impact of our ecosystem and alignment with our growth objectives.

本季度，我們也成功完成了對 Unidom 的收購，增加了 300 個醫療席位，並加強了我們在巴西最大都會區之一薩爾瓦多的業務。我們不懈的努力和在薩爾瓦多的強大品牌知名度導致 Unidom 的醫學生入學人數大幅增加，使我們的學生人數增加了 37%，並增強了我們生態系統的影響力以及與我們增長目標的一致性。

Continued education was marked by an operational restructuring, which resulted in a growth in B2B students boosted by our residency journey offerings. Additionally, we are pleased to see an expansion of five new units in 2024, four of them being cross units in undergrad and one stand-alone campus. Lastly, in our medical practice solutions segment, we ended the quarter with over 11% increase in active payers, driven by 11% growth in clinical decision and a 14% growth in clinical management.

繼續教育的特點是營運重組，這導致 B2B 學生人數在我們的住院醫師之旅產品的推動下增長。此外，我們很高興看到 2024 年將擴建 5 個新單元，其中 4 個是本科生跨單元，還有 1 個獨立校園。最後，在我們的醫療實踐解決方案領域，在臨床決策成長 11% 和臨床管理成長 1​​4% 的推動下，本季結束時，活躍付款人成長了 11% 以上。

This result reinforces the opportunity ahead in medical practice solutions and explained by the ramp up in B2B engagements that boosted net revenues and grew 28% with new contracts with the pharma industry and the continuous ramp up in B2B contracts.

這一結果強化了醫療實踐解決方案中未來的機會，並透過與製藥業簽訂的新合約以及 B2B 合約的持續增加，B2B 業務的增加促進了淨收入的增長，淨收入增長了 28%。

And now I'll be turning the call over to Luis Blanco, Afya's CFO, to provide more insight into the financial and operational metrics. Thank you.

現在我將把電話轉給 Afya 財務長 Luis Blanco，以提供更多有關財務和營運指標的見解。謝謝。

Thank you, Virgilio, and good evening, everyone. Starting with slide number 6 for discussions of key operational metrics by business unit. Starting with the undergrad programs. Our number of medical students grew 12% year over year, reaching more than 24,000 students and approved medical seats increased almost 14% yearly. Our medical school net average ticket, excluding the Unidom acquisitions, increased by 4.8% for the nine months, reaching BRL8,887.

謝謝你，Virgilio，大家晚上好。從第 6 投影片開始，按業務部門討論關鍵營運指標。從本科課程開始。我們的醫學生人數年增 12%，達到超過 24,000 名學生，核准的醫學席位每年增長近 14%。我們醫學院的淨平均票價（不包括 Unidom 收購）在過去 9 個月增長了 4.8%，達到 8,887 雷亞爾。

We have also achieved BRL2,156 million in net revenues, up from BRL1,883 million from the prior year, an increase over 14%. Regarding the revenue mix, 86% was delivered from medical school students and 94% from health-related courses. On the next page, I will present our continuing educational metrics. We approached the continuing educational metrics through three main journeys. Starting with the residency journey, we saw a 52% increase, reaching 15,678 students by the end of the period.

我們也實現了 21.56 億雷亞爾的淨收入，高於上年的 18.83 億雷亞爾，增幅超過 14%。就收入結構而言，86% 來自醫學院學生，94% 來自健康相關課程。在下一頁上，我將介紹我們的繼續教育指標。我們透過三個主要過程來接近繼續教育指標。從住院醫師之旅開始，我們看到學生數量增加了 52%，到期末達到 15,678 名。

In the graduate journey, student numbers grew by 3%, reaching 7,300 students, primarily driven by student graduations. Lastly, our other courses and B2B offerings increased by 22% over the same nine-month period of the prior year. Overall, this effort pushed the continued educational net revenues to BRL188 million in the nine-month period of 2024, up from BRL170 million in the nine months of 2023, reflecting a growth over 10%. This includes a 14% increase in B2P revenue and a 22% decrease in B2B.

在研究生旅程中，學生人數增加了 3%，達到 7,300 名學生，這主要是由學生畢業推動的。最後，我們的其他課程和 B2B 產品比去年同期的 9 個月增加了 22%。總體而言，這項努力將持續教育淨收入從 2023 年 9 個月的 1.7 億雷亞爾增加到 2024 年 9 個月的 1.88 億雷亞爾，增幅超過 10%。其中 B2P 營收成長 14%，B2B 營收下降 22%。

Moving to slide number 8, I will discuss the medical practice solutions operational metrics.

轉到第 8 張投影片，我將討論醫療實踐解決方案的營運指標。

The first graph shows our total active payers, representing revenue generated in the business to physicians segment. Following a steady growth trend, the number of paying users rose to over 200,000, an 11% increase over the same quarter last year. The second graph highlights our monthly active users, which accounts for 249,000, slightly lower than the 259,000 record last year. This change is primarily due to the transition from the PEBMED Portal to the Afya portal.

第一張圖顯示了我們的活躍付款人總數，代表了醫生業務部門產生的收入。付費用戶數量穩定成長，超過20萬，較去年同期成長11%。第二張圖突顯了我們的每月活躍用戶數為 249,000 人，略低於去年 259,000 人的記錄。這項變更主要是由於從 PEBMED 入口網站過渡到 Afya 入口網站。

Lastly, the third graph shows the net revenues from our medical practice solutions, which grew 15% year over year, reaching BRL117 million. Of this total, BRL100 million was generated by the B2P, showing an increase of 13%, while B2B contributed BRL17 million, growing 28% in the nine-month period.

最後，第三張圖顯示了我們的醫療實踐解決方案的淨收入，年增 15%，達到 1.17 億雷亞爾。其中，B2P 貢獻了 1 億雷亞爾，成長了 13%，而 B2B 貢獻了 1,700 萬雷亞爾，在 9 個月期間成長了 28%。

In the next slide, we also present Afya ecosystem. We are pleased to highlight Afya substantial contributions to the healthcare community in Brazil. By the end of the third quarter of 2024, our ecosystem encompassed 326,000 physicians and medical students using our service and products.

在下一張投影片中，我們也展示了 Afya 生態系統。我們很高興強調 Afya 對巴西醫療保健界的巨大貢獻。截至 2024 年第三季末，我們的生態系統涵蓋了 326,000 名使用我們的服務和產品的醫生和醫學生。

Moving forward to page number 11, I want to discuss our financial overview for the third quarter of 2024. Starting with the next slide. With great satisfaction, I present another strong quarterly performance for Afya. Net revenue for the third quarter of 2024 reached BRL841 million, representing a 16% increase compared to the same period last year. Net revenue totaled BRL2,455 million for the nine-month period, up 14% year over year. This growth was primarily supported by medical tickets increasing above inflation, the maturations of medical seats, Unidom acquisitions, and the performance of the continuing educations and medical practice solutions segments.

翻到第 11 頁，我想討論一下我們 2024 年第三季的財務概況。從下一張投影片開始。我非常滿意地介紹 Afya 的又一個強勁季度業績。2024年第三季淨收入達8.41億雷亞爾，較去年同期成長16%。前 9 個月淨收入總計 24.55 億雷亞爾，年增 14%。這一增長主要得益於醫療門票的增長高於通貨膨脹、醫療席位的成熟、Unidom 的收購以及繼續教育和醫療實踐解決方案領域的業績。

In third quarter 2024, adjusted EBITDA rose by 25%, reaching BRL348 million with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 41.4%, a gain of 290 basis points compared to the third-quarter 2023. For the nine-month period, adjusted EBITDA amounted BRL1,090 million, an increase of 24% over the prior year with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 44.4%, representing 350 basis points increase over the same period.

2024 年第三季度，調整後 EBITDA 成長 25%，達到 3.48 億雷亞爾，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 41.4%，較 2023 年第三季成長 290 個基點。前九個月期間，調整後 EBITDA 為 10.90 億雷亞爾，較上年增長 24%，調整後 EBITDA 率為 44.4%，較去年同期增長 350 個基點。

The expansion in the adjusted EBITDA margin is largely attributed to gross margin expansions in the undergrad segment, the completions of the UNIMA and Afya Jaboatão integration process in November 2023, the ramp up of four Mais Médicos campuses that started operation in the third-quarter 2022, operational restructuring efforts in continuing educational and medical practice solutions segments, and more efficiency in selling, general, and administrative expenses.

調整後 EBITDA 利潤率的成長主要歸因於本科生領域毛利率的成長、UNIMA 和 Afya Jaboatão 整合流程於 2023 年 11 月完成、四個 Mais Médicos 校區在 2023 年開始運作。教育和醫療實踐解決方案領域的營運重組工作，以及銷售、一般和管理費用方面的更高效率。

Moving to the next slide. The year's cash flow from operating activities rose by 25%, reaching BRL1,167 million, reflecting strong operational performance. The operational cash flow conversion ratio was 109.7% in the nine months of 2024. Adjusted net income for the third quarter of 2024 came at BRL165 million, marking an increase of 29% from the same period of 2023.

轉到下一張投影片。全年經營活動現金流量成長25%，達到11.67億雷亞爾，體現了強勁的經營業績。2024年9個月營運現金流轉換率為109.7%。2024年第三季調整後淨利為1.65億雷亞爾，較2023年同期成長29%。

For the nine-month period ending September 2024, adjusted net income totally BRL627 million, up 47% year over year. This performance was mainly due to the enhancement in our operational results, lower effective tax rate than the last year, and lower interest rates. In terms of adjusted EPS, the quarter, we achieved BRL1.79, a 30% growth compared to the previous year, with BRL6.81 per share in the nine-month period, representing a 49% increase.

截至 2024 年 9 月的 9 個月期間，調整後淨利總計 6.27 億雷亞爾，年增 47%。這一業績主要是由於我們經營業績的增強、有效稅率較去年較低以及利率較低。就調整後每股收益而言，本季我們實現了 1.79 雷亞爾，較上年增長 30%，九個月期間每股收益為 6.81 雷亞爾，增長 49%。

And now moving to my two last slides, I will discuss our cash and net debt positions, also give you more color on our cost of debt. This slide presents a table detailing our gross debt compositions and the total cost of debt covering our primary obligations, the SoftBank transactions, the debentures, the other financial liabilities, the IFC financing, and account payables to selling shareholders. Afya has entered to a financial agreement with IFC to support our expansions initiatives through acquisitions. This agreement represents the first IFC sustainability-linked loan based on social objectives within the educational sector.

現在轉到我的最後兩張投影片，我將討論我們的現金和淨債務狀況，並為您提供有關我們債務成本的更多資訊。這張投影片提供了一張表格，詳細說明了我們的總債務組成和債務總成本，包括我們的主要債務、軟銀交易、債券、其他金融負債、國際金融公司融資以及應付出售股東的應付帳款。Afya 已與 IFC 簽訂財務協議，以支持我們透過收購進行擴張的舉措。該協議是國際金融公司首筆基於教育部門社會目標的永續發展相關貸款。

Under the loan terms, IFC has disbursed BRL500 million to be repaid in seven equal semi-annual installments beginning in April 2027. The interest rate is set in the Brazilian CDI rate plus 1.2%, with a potential 15 basis points reductions if specific sustainability KPIs are met.

根據貸款條款，國際金融公司已支付 5 億雷亞爾，從 2027 年 4 月開始，每半年分七次等額償還。利率設定為巴西 CDI 利率加 1.2%，如果滿足特定的可持續性 KPI，則可能降低 15 個基點。

On the next page, we can look closely at the net debt variation. As of the third quarter of 2024, our net debt stood at BRL1,894 million, almost the same level compared to the end of 2023. Even accounting for the BRL157 million earn-out payments regarding the additional seats in Guanambi and UNIMA, and the BRL660 million regarding the acquisitions of Unidom, we were able to reduce our net debt to adjusted EBITDA, thanks to the strong cash flow from operating activities in the nine-month period.

在下一頁，我們可以仔細觀察淨債務變化。截至 2024 年第三季度，我們的淨債務為 18.94 億雷亞爾，與 2023 年底幾乎持平。即使考慮到有關瓜納比和UNIMA 額外席位的1.57 億雷亞爾盈利付款，以及有關收購Unidom 的6.6 億雷亞爾，我們仍能夠將淨債務減少到調整後的EBITDA，這要歸功於經營活動帶來的強勁現金流在這九個月的時間裡。

This concludes our prepared remarks. We are very proud of our accomplished and robust performance across all areas. Our commit to advance to the medical journey to an integrated educational system and medical practice solutions remains strong, supporting healthcare professionals' growth, continuous learning, accuracy, and productivity. As we look ahead, we are enthusiastic about the opportunities that lies before us. I will now open the conference for the Q&A section.

我們準備好的演講到此結束。我們對我們在各個領域取得的成就和強勁表現感到非常自豪。我們仍然堅定地致力於推動醫療旅程走向一體化的教育系統和醫療實踐解決方案，支持醫療保健專業人員的成長、持續學習、準確性和生產力。展望未來，我們對擺在我們面前的機會充滿熱情。我現在宣布會議開始問答部分。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) Marcelo Santos, JPMorgan.

（操作員指示）Marcelo Santos，摩根大通。

I have two. One is regarding if you could make some comments about the M&A environment, given that there are a large number of seats issued, how are you seeing -- what kind of negotiations generally speaking, are you having? How do you think M&A will unfold from now on?

我有兩個。一是您能否對併購環境發表一些評論，鑑於席位分配較多，您如何看待——總體來說，您正在進行什麼樣的談判？您認為今後併購將如何展開？

And the second question is more about the competitive environment. I know you were able to increase the tuition for new students, I think, by 5.1% at least projected for next year, which is a very good number. But what kind of changes, if any, have you noticed versus the previous intake cycles that could be attributed to more competition? And how are you dealing with that?

第二個問題更多的是關於競爭環境。我知道你們能夠將明年新生的學費提高至少 5.1%，這是一個非常好的數字。但是，與先前的招生週期相比，您注意到哪些變化（如果有的話）可能歸因於更多的競爭？你是如何處理這個問題的？

Marcelo, thank you for your question. I will take the first one and Virgilio is going to take the second one, okay? Regarding the M&A environment, we've -- the outcome from all these injunctions that come after the Supreme Court process, all these approvals, they amplify, they increase the number of targets that we have in our pipeline because these new authorizations come to the market and some of them starting to talk to us.

馬塞洛，謝謝你的問題。我選第一個，Virgilio 選第二個，好嗎？關於併購環境，我們——最高法院程序後發出的所有這些禁令的結果，所有這些批准，它們放大了，它們增加了我們管道中的目標數量，因為這些新的授權來自市場，其中一些人開始與我們交談。

The better thing about this is that these more sellers' markets, I would say, makes us to get a possible -- the next deal will be a lower multiple if you compare to our latest business combinations that was Unidom. So, we keep talking to all the entities that have our profile. And remember that we just go after institutions that are highly concentrated in medicine. And we think that the next deal will have lower multiple per seat if you compare to the latest transactions.

我想說，更好的是，這些更多的賣方市場使我們有可能——如果與我們最新的業務合併 Unidom 進行比較，下一筆交易的倍數將會更低。因此，我們不斷與所有擁有我們資料的實體進行交談。請記住，我們只關注高度集中於醫學的機構。我們認為，如果與最新交易進行比較，下一筆交易的每個席位的倍數將會更低。

Marcelo, I will get the competitive environment question here. We are keeping the same strategy as we did for the last four, five years. We keep passing at least inflation to our price to our average tuition price for the next cycle. As you may notice, we already started our 2025 first semester intake. It's still in the very beginning.

馬塞洛，我將在這裡回答競爭環境問題。我們將保持與過去四、五年相同的策略。我們將至少將通貨膨脹率傳遞給下一個週期的平均學費價格。您可能已經注意到，我們已經開始 2025 年第一學期的招生。現在還處於起步階段。

What we are seeing is the number of candidates compared to the same period last year, it's much higher, much better than we saw much more candidates and leads coming. And we are close to 10 percentage points above last year in number of enrollments at the same month. So we are already 50% already enrolled, still have a room. We were at the same time last year, around 40% of all seats already enrolled. So, keeping a good health trend to us.

我們看到的是，與去年同期相比，候選人的數量要高得多、好得多，比我們看到的候選人和潛在客戶要多得多。同月入學人數比去年高出近 10 個百分點。所以我們已經有 50% 已經註冊，還有房間。去年同一時間，大約 40% 的席位已經註冊。所以，我們要保持良好的健康趨勢。

And that is not only for medicine. We are also seeing a very good trend on other health programs. As you may see, we are growing organically very fast on our health programs because we have all the synergy on our campuses, on our labs and also in our brand because we are covering health programs. So, the intake coming on health programs, it's also around two digits -- high two digits when you compare to the same period last year.

這不僅適用於醫學。我們也看到其他健康計劃的良好趨勢。正如您所看到的，我們的健康計劃有機增長得非常快，因為我​​們在我們的校園、我們的實驗室以及我們的品牌中擁有所有的協同作用，因為我們涵蓋了健康計劃。因此，健康計劃的攝取量也約為兩位數——與去年同期相比，高兩位數。

Okay. Thank you, Virgilio. Thank you, Luis. Very clear.

好的。謝謝你，維吉里奧。謝謝你，路易斯。非常清楚。

Andre Salles, UBS.

安德烈‧薩勒斯，瑞銀集團。

Thanks for the presentation. And for the question here, I have two on my end. You mentioned that restructuring efforts in continuing education and medical practice solutions helped the company to deliver better EBITDA margins year over year. I would like to know how far down the road are we in these structure -- restructuring efforts, if we could see further margin expansion going forward? And the second one is maybe a follow up on the M&A strategy, which regions or states the company might prioritize in 2025, if you could comment on that.

感謝您的介紹。對於這裡的問題，我有兩個觀點。您提到，繼續教育和醫療實踐解決方案的重組工作幫助公司逐年實現了更好的 EBITDA 利潤率。我想知道我們在這些結構重組工作中走了多遠，我們是否可以看到未來利潤率進一步擴大？第二個可能是併購策略的後續行動，即公司在 2025 年可能會優先考慮哪些地區或州，如果您能對此發表評論的話。

Andre, thank you for your questions. This is Blanco speaking here. I'll take the two questions. Regarding the margin expansions that we got from the restructuring from continuing educational and the digital segments. It's regarding the operational efficiency that we got with this restructuring.

安德烈，謝謝你的提問。我是布蘭科。我來回答兩個問題。關於我們從繼續教育和數位領域的重組中獲得的利潤擴張。這是關於我們透過這次重組獲得的營運效率。

We had our organization structure divided by products, by pillars at that time. So, I'll give you an example. On the digital side, we had a product manager for the content pillar. We have the product manager for the support decision, and we have the product manager for the practice management tools. When we did the restructure, we did not only pass the content structure to -- from the digital sites to the continued educational sites.

當時我們的組織架構是依產品、以支柱劃分的。那麼，我給你舉個例子。在數位方面，我們有一位負責內容支柱的產品經理。我們有產品經理負責支援決策，我們有產品經理負責實務管理工具。當我們進行重組時，我們不僅將內容結構從數位網站傳遞到繼續教育網站。

We did more than that. We unified all the structures that deliver the product. So we just have one product manager for all the offers that we have under the medical practice solutions. And in continuing education, we have the same. We have just one product manager for the in-person and the digital offer.

我們做的還不只這些。我們統一了交付產品的所有結構。因此，我們只有一位產品經理來負責醫療實踐解決方案下的所有產品。在繼續教育方面，我們也有同樣的情況。我們只有一名產品經理負責現場服務和數位服務。

So the gains that we got through 2024 are regarding the better management for this structure. We are reducing cost and expenses for providing the service. From 2025 ahead, the margin expansions will come from the operational leverage that we come -- that we are getting in each one of these BUs. So, they are growing, and we have all the structures in place. So with this structure, we are able to increase our results for each one of the segments.

因此，我們在 2024 年所取得的成果是對該結構的更好管理。我們正在降低提供服務的成本和費用。從 2025 年開始，利潤率的擴張將來自我們在每個業務單位中獲得的營運槓桿。所以，它們正在成長，我們已經準備好了所有的結構。因此，透過這種結構，我們能夠增加每個細分市場的結果。

So, this is for the first question.

所以，這是第一個問題。

If I may add just a point here, Andre. One thing that you guys need to be careful in order to model our results is about mix. So yes, we foresee margin increase in all BUs. But when we talk about mix, we need to be careful because the undergrad grows a bit lower than continuing education and digital services. So that can impact the margin overall.

安德烈，我可以在這裡補充一點嗎？為了對我們的結果進行建模，你們需要小心的一件事是混合。所以，是的，我們預期所有業務部門的利潤率都會增加。但當我們談論混合時，我們需要小心，因為本科生的增長略低於繼續教育和數位服務。因此這可能會影響整體利潤率。

Yes. Thank you, Renata. And regarding M&A targets in each regions that are possible within Brazil, we are not focused on any specific regions. We are more focused on each one of the institutions. The institutions has to be highly concentrated in medicine to become a target to us.

是的。謝謝你，雷娜塔。至於巴西境內各地區可能的併購目標，我們並未關注任何特定地區。我們更關注每一個機構。這些機構必須高度集中在醫學領域才能成為我們的目標。

And of course, we've been -- in the last three acquisitions, we've been talking with players that are more based in large cities. And remember that we closed the latest business combination was in city of Salvador and the previous one, it was in Jaboatão and Maceió. So, we don't seek any specific regions. We seek specific targets that are highly concentrated in medicine. And trying to get a good IRR on each one of these deals.

當然，在過去的三筆收購中，我們一直在與更多位於大城市的參與者交談。請記住，我們最新的業務合併是在薩爾瓦多市完成的，上一個業務合併是在雅博特奧和馬塞奧完成的。因此，我們不尋求任何特定區域。我們尋求高度集中在醫學領域的具體目標。並努力在每一筆交易中獲得良好的內部報酬率。

Got it. Thank you, Blanco and Renata for the comments.

知道了。謝謝布蘭科和雷納塔的評論。

[Mirela], Bank of America.

[米雷拉]，美國銀行。

I have two questions on my side. The first one regarding the monthly active users on the digital services solutions. This have declined 4% this quarter, accelerating from the second quarter. So, could you give us some more color on the decrease? And when do you expect this to normalize now that the PEBMED platform has already been transferred?

我這邊有兩個問題。第一個關於數位服務解決方案的每月活躍用戶。本季下降了 4%，比第二季加速。那麼，您能給我們更多有關下降的資訊嗎？既然 PEBMED 平台已經轉移，您預計這種情況何時會正常化？

And the second question would be on the ramp up of Unidom margins since the acquisition. Could you guys comment a little bit on what are the main lines supporting the margin gains there? And what are the main challenges? What do you expect in terms of normalizing -- normalized margins there?

第二個問題是自收購以來 Unidom 利潤率的上升。你們能否評論一下支持利潤率成長的主要因素是什麼？主要挑戰是什麼？您對標準化利潤有何期望？

So, regarding your first question, we have one effect that affects our monthly active users, that is the launch of Portal Afya. I don't know if you guys recall, but we had in the past, the Portal PEBMED and we have changed to Portal Afya. And with that, we had a decrease in the number of monthly active users. It's totally normal since we have changed. But we launched it in March, April. And since then, we are seeing really great results from this new portal. It's part of our new brand strategy.

所以，關於你的第一個問題，我們有一個影響我們每月活躍用戶的影響，那就是 Portal Afya 的推出。我不知道你們是否還記得，但我們過去有Portal PEBMED，現在我們已經改為Portal Afya。這樣一來，我們的每月活躍用戶數就減少了。這是完全正常的，因為我們已經改變了。但我們是在三月、四月推出的。從那時起，我們看到這個新入口網站取得了非常好的成果。這是我們新品牌策略的一部分。

Yeah. Just adding a point here. On the other side here, Mirela, we were asking for more data for more -- from each user. So that helped us to increase the number of payers. So, we have much more user that is paying the monthly fee than the monthly active users just because we changed the procedure how to get the data when some new user is signing to have access to our portal. Okay.

是的。這裡只是補充一點。另一方面，米雷拉，我們要求每個用戶提供更多數據。這幫助我們增加了付款人的數量。因此，我們支付月費的用戶比每月活躍用戶多得多，只是因為我們更改了當某些新用戶簽署訪問我們的入口網站時如何獲取資料的程式。好的。

Mirela, it's Blanco speaking. I will take the second one regarding Unidom. We are very glad with the business combination itself. It's been performing better than initially expected for us. And remember that Unidom deal, we got them with around 850 medical students over there. We put that information under the 6-K that we announced the deal.

米雷拉，我是布蘭科。我將討論關於 Unidom 的第二個問題。我們對業務合併本身感到非常高興。它的表現比我們最初的預期要好。請記住 Unidom 協議，我們在那裡為他們提供了大約 850 名醫學生。我們將該資訊放在我們宣布交易的 6-K 中。

And we've finalized the second semester intake with more than 1,150 medical students over there. We got institutions around 60% of the occupations over there. And in only two months and remember that we had the closing in July 1, we have been able to increase occupations to around 80% in just two months. So, this is what brings these margins in this semester.

我們已經確定了第二學期的招生人數，其中有超過 1,150 名醫學生。我們在那裡找到了大約 60% 的職業。在短短兩個月內，請記住，我們在 7 月 1 日關閉，我們在短短兩個月內就將就業率增加到了 80% 左右。所以，這就是本學期帶來這些利潤的原因。

Going ahead, what we can expect. We can expect more regarding Unidom because we had a room to go to 100% of occupancy over there. And with that, we have all the integration gains that we're going to integrated their legacy systems, their systems to our shared service items that we're going to occur during 2025. So, these process unifications plus the fulfillment of the existing capacity in Unidom will even expand more the margins that we got from this deal.

展望未來，我們可以期待什麼。我們可以對 Unidom 抱持更多期待，因為我們在那裡有一個房間可以達到 100% 的入住率。這樣，我們就獲得了所有整合收益，我們將把他們的遺留系統、他們的系統整合到我們的共享服務項目中，這將在 2025 年實現。因此，這些流程的統一加上 Unidom 現有產能的實現甚至將擴大我們從這筆交易中獲得的利潤。

That's super clear. Thank you.

說的超清楚啊謝謝。

Lucca Marquezini, Itau.

盧卡·馬爾克斯尼，伊塔烏。

A couple of questions from our side. The first one will be regarding the continuing education segment for which we saw a deceleration in net revenue growth this quarter. Can you please provide more color on the reason behind this deceleration? And also, how should we expect growth for the segment throughout 2025?

我們這邊有幾個問題。第一個是關於繼續教育領域，我們看到本季淨收入成長放緩。您能否提供更多有關減速背後原因的資訊？此外，我們應該如何預期該細分市場在 2025 年的成長？

And then the second one would be regarding financial leverage. So, we saw another quarter of decrease in financial leverage. So, in this sense, can you please comment on what should be the target or a comfortable level for financial leverage going forward? And also if we should expect a higher dividend payout ratio in 2025, please?

第二個是關於財務槓桿。因此，我們看到財務槓桿又下降了一個季度。那麼，從這個意義上說，您能否評論一下未來財務槓桿的目標或舒適程度應該是多少？另外，我們是否預期 2025 年的股利支付率會更高？

Hi, Luca, about the first question on the growth rate on continuing education. As expected, we have like a seasonality on the intake that what used to be called the Pillar 1 that is on the second and the third quarter, it's a low quarter. We are in the middle of the stronger intake also on graduate programs. We have a high cohort, a very large cohort graduating this last semester. So that was the main reason why we are kind of flat this quarter right now.

你好，盧卡，關於第一個問題，關於繼續教育的成長率。正如預期的那樣，我們的攝取量具有季節性，即第二季和第三季的第一支柱，這是一個低季。我們正處於研究生課程招生人數較多的時期。我們有一個很大的群體，一個非常大的群體在上學期畢業。這就是我們本季表現持平的主要原因。

But we are seeing good trends on intake. You can check that we launched five new campuses. These new campuses is ramping up this semester right now. So, we have good figures that will -- but it's still early in the process. The seasonality of this new intake starting October, November, December goes into January and February. So we may expect some flat on continuing education, something in the same path on the fourth quarter and getting better in 2025.

但我們看到了攝取量的良好趨勢。您可以查看我們推出了五個新校區。這些新校區本學期正在擴建。所以，我們有很好的數據，但現在還處於早期階段。新入學的季節性從 10 月、11 月、12 月開始，一直持續到 1 月和 2 月。因此，我們預計繼續教育會出現一些持平，第四季度會出現相同的情況，並在 2025 年會有所改善。

Hi, Luca, it's Blanco speaking here talking about the financial leverage. I really like the net debt reconciliation slide that I had presented. And it was really amazing performance when in just nine months, we've reduced our net debt to adjusted EBITDA from 1.6 times that we got at the end of 2023 and reduced to 1.3 [times] right now if you consider the net debt compared to the midpoint of the guidance that we got for this year. Even we've done two inorganic movements, important inorganic movements that was the Unidom acquisitions and the earn-outs that we paid for the additional seats from UNIMA and [FIES and PROUNI].

嗨，盧卡，我是布蘭科，正在談論財務槓桿。我真的很喜歡我所展示的淨債務調節幻燈片。在短短 9 個月內，我們將淨債務減少到調整後 EBITDA，從 2023 年底的 1.6 倍減少到現在的 1.3 倍，如果您將淨債務與去年同期相比，這確實是令人驚嘆的表現我們今年得到的指導的中點。即使我們已經完成了兩項無機運動，重要的無機運動是 Unidom 收購以及我們為 UNIMA 和 [FIES 和 PROUNI] 的額外席位支付的收益。

Moving ahead, what's our view on that? Our view is that we leverage the company, doing business combinations, and I want to address this point again that are very concentrated in medicine and give us the minimal return on investments and we're talking about IRR that returns our capital. So, we are very strict on that on capital allocations on that. So, we leverage the company to do business combination.

展望未來，我們對此有何看法？我們的觀點是，我們利用公司，進行業務合併，我想再次討論這一點，這些業務非常集中於醫藥領域，並為我們提供了最低的投資回報，我們正在談論能夠回報我們資本的內部收益率。因此，我們對資本配置非常嚴格。所以，我們利用公司進行業務合併。

And then we started to extract synergies from these business combinations, keep generating cash, keep the discipline of having a high cash conversion ratios to decrease the leverage until we are prepared to do the next business combination. As we are becoming bigger with this strategy, all the marginals acquisitions that we made are -- have less impact in our financial figures.

然後我們開始從這些業務合併中獲得協同效應，不斷產生現金，保持高現金轉換率的紀律以降低槓桿，直到我們準備好進行下一次業務合併。隨著我們透過這項策略變得更大，我們進行的所有邊際收購對我們的財務數據的影響越來越小。

So with that, we are discussing internally if with this M&A scenario that we keep growing with these 200 seats per year target, if we have a possibility to start to distribute dividends. But this is -- it's ongoing discussions. We did not have any kind of changes on our policy. So that's my view regarding the net debt to the leverage ratio.

因此，我們正在內部討論，在這種併購方案中，我們是否能夠以每年 200 個席位的目標繼續增長，是否有可能開始分配股息。但這是——這是正在進行的討論。我們的政策沒有任何改變。這就是我對淨負債與槓桿比率的看法。

Just a reminder, Luca, that next year, we have also Mais Médicos. So, we have the acquisitions that we are going to keep our pace of 200 seats per year and also to start the investments of the Mais Médicos units that we will win.

只是提醒一下，盧卡，明年我們還有 Mais Médicos。因此，我們將進行收購，以保持每年 200 個座位的速度，並開始對我們將贏得的 Mais Médicos 部門進行投資。

(Operator Instructions) Lucas Nagano.

（操作員指示）盧卡斯·長野。

Thanks for taking our questions; we have two. The first is regarding the tuition increase in candidates per seat. We'd like to get a sense of the variance of those metrics between your institutions basically to understand whether we can see your portfolio segmented into different buckets, like if there is a particular type of school that saw higher tuition increase in candidates versus another that saw lower or not, you're still seeing very homogenous trends. So, this is the first question.

感謝您提出我們的問題；我們有兩個。第一個是關於每個席位候選人學費的增加。我們希望了解您的機構之間這些指標的差異，以便了解我們是否可以將您的投資組合分為不同的類別，例如是否有某種特定類型的學校的候選人學費上漲幅度高於其他學校無論是否走低，您仍然會看到非常同質的趨勢。所以，這是第一個問題。

And the second question is a follow up on capital allocation and M&A, but taking into account the SoftBank debt, we still have plenty of time until the debt can be redeemed. But how is your base case about this, assuming -- if we assume the debt is redeemed, how does it change your capital allocation priorities? Would you be more inclined to refinance it or -- and keep up the M&A or to pay down the debt? Thanks and sorry for the long question.

第二個問題是資本配置和併購的後續問題，但考慮到軟銀的債務，我們還有足夠的時間來贖回債務。但你對此的基本情況如何，假設——如果我們假設債務被贖回，它會如何改變你的資本配置優先順序？您會更傾向於為其再融資還是—繼續併購或償還債務？感謝並抱歉問了這麼長的問題。

Lucas, I'll get the first one here about the tuition and the candidates ratio. So, we have more than 30 campuses offering medical programs from north, south, east, west of Brazil, and we are pricing differently. So, the average for 2025 is around 5.1%, the average that we are passing to all institutions. Of course, that we have some institutions that we have a very good cohort, quality students applying for that. We are moving forward, moving ahead of 5.1%.

盧卡斯，我會在這裡得到第一個關於學費和候選人比例的資訊。因此，我們有 30 多個校區提供來自巴西北部、南部、東部、西部的醫療項目，而且我們的定價也不同。因此，2025 年的平均值約為 5.1%，這是我們傳遞給所有機構的平均值。當然，我們有一些機構擁有一群非常優秀的優質學生申請。我們正在向前邁進，領先 5.1%。

And the other institutions independently on the tuition level, we are priced a little bit lower. Of course, that we have synergy as we operate integrated, we can move candidates from one campus to another campus, but our commitment here is to keep passing at least inflation in terms of average for all campus that we have.

和其他院校獨立的學費水準相比，我們的定價稍微低一些。當然，我們在整合營運時具有協同作用，我們可以將候選人從一個校區轉移到另一個校區，但我們的承諾是至少保持我們所有校區的平均通貨膨脹率。

The candidates ratio, as I mentioned, the first question here, we are seeing a much higher demand at the same -- when you compare the same point that we are on the intake process. So, we are still in the very beginning that goes until January, most of them, and also in terms of enrollment.

正如我提到的第一個問題，當你比較我們在招生過程中的同一點時，我們看到了更高的需求。所以，直到一月份，我們中的大多數仍處於起步階段，在入學方面也是如此。

So today, we have almost 50% of all seats already fulfilled for all campuses in Afya in Brazil. That also includes Unidom, that's our last acquisition here. So, the candidates' ratio is still in the very beginning. But what we can say here that we are better, actually much better than the same period last year when you compare the intakes. Okay?

因此，今天，巴西阿菲亞所有校區的座位數已滿了近 50%。其中還包括 Unidom，這是我們在這裡收購的最後一家公司。所以，候選人的比例還處於起步階段。但我們可以在這裡說的是，當你比較攝取量時，我們實際上比去年同期要好得多。好的？

Nagano, Blanco speaking here. Talking about SoftBank deal, as you mentioned before, from May 2026, SoftBank has the optionality to do the early redemption of the deal -- of the convertible. It's -- we didn't get any kind of anticipation of these discussions. It's optionality that SoftBank has. It's not clear for us that if they are going to do the early redemptions on that.

長野，布蘭科在這裡發言。談到軟銀交易，正如您之前提到的，從 2026 年 5 月開始，軟銀可以選擇提前贖回交易—可轉換債券。我們對這些討論沒有任何預期。這是軟銀擁有的選擇性。我們不清楚他們是否會提前贖回。

Having said that, to repay this BRL820 million amount, we could easily to get another source of finance or even repay with our operating cash flow. And just for these nine months, we generated almost BRL1.2 billion. So, I think it's very early to have these discussions, but we could easily managed to get -- to substitute this finance for another instrument.

話雖如此，為了償還這8.2億雷亞爾的金額，我們可以輕鬆找到其他資金來源，甚至用我們的經營現金流來償還。光是這 9 個月裡，我們就創造了近 12 億雷亞爾的收入。因此，我認為現在進行這些討論還為時過早，但我們可以輕鬆地設法用這種融資取代另一種工具。

Super helpful. Virgilio, Luis, thanks.

超有幫助。維吉里奧、路易斯，謝謝。

Since we do not have any more questions, we keep the Investor Relations team open to a follow-up if you guys need. See you next quarter.

由於我們沒有更多問題，因此如果你們需要的話，我們將讓投資者關係團隊隨時跟進。下季見。