Earnings Labs

ATA Creativity Global (AACG)

Q4 2020 Earnings Call· Tue, Mar 30, 2021

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Greetings, and welcome to ATA Creativity Global Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2020 Financial Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Carolyne Sohn of The Equity Group. Thank you. You may begin.

Carolyne Sohn

Analyst

Thank you, operator, and hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us. The press release announcing ATA Creatively Global's or ACG's results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2020, is available at the IR section of the company's website at www.atai.net.cn. As part of this conference call, the company has the accompanying slide presentation available on its website. A replay of this broadcast will also be made available at ACG'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 contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terms such as anticipate, believe, expect, future, plan, outlook and will and include, among other things, statements regarding ACG's future growth and results of operations, ACG's plans for mergers and acquisitions generally, ACG's ability to operate efficiently and maintain continued financial strength under unusual circumstances, ACG's growth strategy, anticipated growth prospects and subsequent business activities, market demand for ACG's portfolio training programs and other education services, the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on ACG and its operations, ACG's plan and anticipated benefits of the measures implemented in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. 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 will prove to be correct. Information about the risks associated with investing in ACG is included in these filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which we encourage you to review before making an investment decision. The…

Amy Tung

Analyst

Thank you, Carolyne, and welcome everyone. Good evening to those in America. We appreciate everyone's time. In 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic presented a series of challenges to people and businesses at a level that nobody could have predicted. The virus has had tragic consequences for so many. At ATA Creativity Global, we were very fortunate to have been in the position to navigate the changes created by the critical public health situation in China in the first half of 2020. Having closed on our acquisition of Huanqiuyimeng in early August of 2019; our two companies had substantially assimilated by early 2020, when the significance of the pandemic is becoming increasingly apparent. This played a key role in our successful transitioning, of coursework to the online platform. We also work to upgrade technology systems that support the daily operations of the combined company and message of leadership in finance, management and analysis. We are proud that the team here at ACG demonstrated a strength and resilience under these unprecedented circumstances, putting the well being of our students and staff first by transitioning or investing coursework to online delivery in early February. And I would also like to applaud students, as well as the teachers and staff supporting them for their perseverance and dedication to the continuous pursuit of their creative education. The public health situation in China improved as we headed towards the middle of the year. And nearly all of our training centers were able to resume traditional in person delivery of coursework, by late second quarter. We did see that some students continued to push their coursework online, even when traditional delivery became available again, and we are pleased to continue offering online options for coursework, generally more introductory and lecture style in nature, which lends itself to…

Jun Zhang

Analyst

Thank you, Amy. I think most everyone is glad to put 2020 behind us despite the valuable lessons we have learned. I'm proud of the way everyone at ACG came together to overcome the challenges we faced and I believe our company is now stronger for it. We utilize technology platforms that we can now leverage as a delivery method for various courses and majors which will allow us to not only reach a wider student population, but also enables us to take advantages of our teaching resources making highly sought after teachers available to students in our geographic areas who might not otherwise have had the opportunity to learn from these instructors. We now have a more convenient and accessible support system for students and are also developing an internal system to more closely monitor sales leads. While ACG is known for the personal attention of its programs, we believe this can also translate to online programs if executed properly. As the public health situation in China remain stable. The combination of being able to continue our traditional in person delivery of coursework, and serving students we may not have been able to serve previously via distance learning will help drive enrollment growth in future periods. The work we did in 2020 has positioned ACG well to capitalize on our growth opportunities in 2021. We were pleased to see enrollments remain stable during the fourth quarter with portfolio training credit hours increasing slightly as many students work to complete their portfolios. Some students have already begun to see the results of their hard work as acceptance letters from some institutions that started to go out, but the majority will be in the middle part of the year. With the public health situation in China effectively contained, we continue to…

Operator

Operator

There seems to be no questions at this time. I would like to pass the floor back over to management for any closing remarks.

Amy Tung

Analyst

Thanks again to all of you for joining us. If anyone has questions for us, please feel free to reach directly to us or our Investor Relations from the Equity Group. We are always available to speak to investors and look forward to speaking with you during our next quarterly call. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

This concludes today's teleconference. You may now disconnect your line at this time. Thank you for your participation. And have a wonderful day.