Operator
Operator
Welcome to the ATA Incorporated Fiscal 2017 Second Quarter Financial Results. I would like to hand the call over to Katherine Yao of the Equity Group, who will read the safe harbor statement and introduction. Please go ahead.
ATA Creativity Global (AACG)
Q2 2017 Earnings Call· Fri, Nov 11, 2016
$1.20
+0.00%
Same-Day
-3.17%
1 Week
+2.44%
1 Month
-5.85%
vs S&P
-10.22%
Operator
Operator
Welcome to the ATA Incorporated Fiscal 2017 Second Quarter Financial Results. I would like to hand the call over to Katherine Yao of the Equity Group, who will read the safe harbor statement and introduction. Please go ahead.
Katherine Yao
Management
Thanks, Stephanie, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us. Copies of the press release announcing ATA’s fiscal 2017 second quarter results are available at IR section of company’s website at www.atai.net.cn. As part of this conference call, the company’s slide presentation available on the company’s website. You are also welcome to contact our office at 212-836-9600 and we will be happy to send you a copy. In addition, a replay of this broadcast will be made available at ATA’s website for the next 90 days. Before we get started, I would like to remind everyone that this conference call and any accompanying information discussed herein contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in its forward-looking statements are reasonable as of today, those statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ dramatically from those projected. There can be no assurance that those expectations were proven to be correct. Information about the risks associated with investing in ATA is included in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which we encourage you to review before making any investment decision. The Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events, changes in market conditions, or otherwise, except as required by law. Regarding the disclaimer language, I would also like to refer you to Slide Number 2 of the conference call presentation for further information. All U.S. dollar amounts in this conference call, related to the financial results for the Company’s most recent quarter ended September 30, 2016, are converted from RMB using an exchange rate of 6.6685 RMB to US$1, the noon buying rate as of September 30, 2016. All historical conversions are accurate as of the time reported unless otherwise noted. The Company reported its financial results under U.S. GAAP in RMB, and all percentages calculated in the presentation are based on RMB unless otherwise noted. For those of you following along with the accompanying PowerPoint presentation, there is an overview of the Company on Slide Number 3. The company's interim CFO, Miss. Shelly Jiang, will provide an overview of operational and financial highlights for the second quarter 2017 beginning with Slide 4. We just have been notified that the company's Chairman and CEO, Mr. Kevin Ma, will not join this conference call due to [indiscernible]. So, Miss. Shelly Jiang will read on behalf of Mr. Kevin Ma, a prepared speech of ATA’s outlook and growth strategy for fiscal year 2017. Once she finished, we will open the floor for questions. With that I will turn the call over to ATA’s interior CFO, Miss. Shelly Jiang. Please go ahead Shelly.
Shelly Jiang
Operator
Thank you, Katherine, and welcome everyone. Today, I will provide an overview of our operating and financial highlights and then briefly provide an update on our outlook for fiscal year 2017. I will begin on Slide 5, which lists some of our operating highlights for the first quarter. During the period, we continued to see growth from traditional testing services exam, which appeared to double the growth in revenue from the Fund Practitioners Certification Exam. This contributing to a 21.9% increase in revenue compared to the previous quarter. Also during the second quarter, ATA have further expanded its geographic coverage for the qualification exam for housing and urban rural construction sales professionals into four more provinces including Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang and Shanghai. Overall ATA delivered approximately 1.8 million billable exams during second quarter 2017 compared to 1.7 million billable exams in second quarter 2016. Exam volumes for the period increased 5.7% despite of the loss of the Security Association of China exams. Moving on to Slide 6, this slide lists our financial highlights for the second quarter 2017. ATA reflects the net revenues of RMB65.1 million for the period, increased to 21.9% from RMB53.4 million in the prior year period. Primarily as a result of the growth of existing exams such as Fund Practitioners Certification Exam and new exams such as the Qualification Exam for Housing and Urban-Rural Construction Field Professionals, despite the loss of revenue. Gross margin for second quarter 2017 was 45.4% compared to 45.6% in the prior year period. For the second quarter 2017, ATA reported its net loss was RMB35.6 million compared to RMB14.1 million in the prior year period. The increase was primarily due to an impairment loss of RMB21.9 million of our investment in an associated company. But the company is raising its previously…
Operator
Operator
Operator
Operator
I would like to turn back to management for closing remarks.
Shelly Jiang
Operator
Thanks again to all of you for joining us. If anyone has questions for us please feel free to reach out directly to us on our investor relations firm the Equity Group. We look forward to speaking with you all again during our third quarter 2017 financial results call. As always, we welcome any visitors to our office in Beijing. Thank you.
Operator
Operator
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen that concludes your conference call for today. You may now disconnect. Thank you for joining and enjoy the rest of your day.