Vasta Platform Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
November 8, 2023

Key Takeaways

  • Net revenue grew 24% to BRL 1.437 billion in the 2023 cycle, driven by an 18% rise in subscription revenue (22% ex‐textbooks), 42% growth in complementary solutions, and BRL 81.2 million from B2G sales.
  • Adjusted EBITDA increased 23% to BRL 411 million with a margin near 29%, while free cash flow surged 167% to BRL 145 million, boosting FCF-to-EBITDA conversion from 16% to 35%.
  • A one-off BRL 9 million provision for doubtful accounts from a bankrupt retail customer and higher paper costs trimmed gross margin by 30 bps, but cost efficiencies and a stronger product mix helped offset these headwinds.
  • The company’s B2G segment generated BRL 40.7 million in Q3 and BRL 81.2 million in the cycle from a State of Pará contract, establishing a baseline for further public sector growth in 2024.
  • Strategic initiatives include launching the Start Anglo franchise for bilingual education, scaling the Plurals digital platform to over 2 million students, forming the Eduol partnership, and publishing its second sustainability report under GRI standards.
AI Generated. May Contain Errors.
Earnings Conference Call
Vasta Platform Q3 2023
00:00 / 00:00

Transcript Sections

Skip to Participants
Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. My name is Bhavesh, and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Vasta Platform Third Quarter 2023 financial results conference call. At this time, all lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you'd like to ask a question during this time, simply press the star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, please press the star followed by the one once again. Before we begin, I would like to read a forward-looking statement. During today's presentation, our executives will make forward-looking statements.

Operator

Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or future financial or operating performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this presentation include, but are not limited to, statements related to our business and financial performance, expectations for future periods, our expectations regarding our strategic product initiatives and their related benefits, and our expectations regarding the market. Forward-looking statements are based on our management's beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to our management. These risks include those set forth in the press release that we are issuing today, as well as 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 today.

Operator

You should not rely on them as predictions of the future events, and 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. The non-IFRS financial measures are not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for results pre-prepared in accordance with IFRS. Thank you so much. I will now hand the call over to Marcelo Werneck of Investor Relations. You may begin your conference.

Marcelo Werneck
Marcelo Werneck
Investor Relations at Vasta Platform

Good evening, everyone. Thank you for joining us in the conference call to discuss Vasta Platform third quarter 2023 results. I am Marcelo Werneck, Vasta's Investor Relations, and today we have the presence of Guilherme Mélega, Vasta's CEO, and Cesar Silva, Vasta's CFO, who will be joining me on the call. During the call, we'll cover key highlights, financial insights, and strategic developments that have shaped our performance in the 2023 commercial cycle. Let me now hand over the floor to Guilherme Mélega, our CEO, to make his opening statements.

Guilherme Mélega
Guilherme Mélega
CEO at Vasta Platform

Thank you, Marcelo. Thank you all for participating in our earnings release call. I'd like to cover slide 3 with some highlights of our 2023 commercial cycle. In this quarter, we concluded the 2023 commercial cycle, and we believe that the commercial cycle is the best way to understand our business. Our net revenue increased 24% to BRL 1,437 million, mostly due to the conversion of 2023 ACV into revenue, and also due to the performance of the non-subscription products and B2G. Vasta subscription revenue has reached BRL 1,207 million,18% increase over the 2022 sales cycle, or 22%, excluding textbook subscription products, PAR.

Guilherme Mélega
Guilherme Mélega
CEO at Vasta Platform

Our complementary solution segment continues to stand out, showcasing the highest growth rate among our business segments, with a 42% increase in the current cycle. Moreover, as mentioned in the last quarter, in 2023, Vasta started to offer its products and services to the Brazilian public sector, B2G. In the third quarter of 2023, we generated BRL 40.7 million in revenues with the B2G sector, and in 2023 sales cycle, we generated BRL 81.2 million in revenues with the B2G. Moving to the company's profitability, in the 2023 commercial cycle, our adjusted EBITDA experienced a growth of 23%, reaching BRL 411 million, while maintaining an adjusted EBITDA margin close to 29%. Finally, this was another year of significant improvement in our cash flow.

Guilherme Mélega
Guilherme Mélega
CEO at Vasta Platform

In the 2023 sales cycle, free cash flow totaled BRL 145 million, a 167% increase from BRL 55 million in the 2022 cycle. The last twelve months, free cash flow to adjusted EBITDA conversion rate improved from 16%-35%. I will now turn back to Marcelo to talk about the financial results of the quarter and the 2023 commercial cycle.

Marcelo Werneck
Marcelo Werneck
Investor Relations at Vasta Platform

Thank you, Mélega. In this slide, we present the composition of Vasta's net revenue. On the left side, you can observe the significant organic year-on-year growth in total net revenue for the third quarter, which increased by 37%, reaching BRL 258 million. On the right side, let's detail the key components of this revenue growth. Subscription revenue had an increase of 15%, excluding PAR. Our subscription revenue experienced a growth of 20% year-on-year. During the third quarter of 2023, we successfully generated another BRL 41 million in revenue from the B2G sector. And finally, the non-subscription revenue increased by 17%, reaching BRL 22 million. Moving to slide number five, we analyze the net revenue for the 2023 commercial cycle. In 2023, we achieved an organic net revenue growth of 24%, amounting to BRL 1,437 million.

Marcelo Werneck
Marcelo Werneck
Investor Relations at Vasta Platform

As you can see on the right, our total subscription revenue increased by 18% on an organic basis to BRL 1.207 billion. Subscription revenue, excluding PAR, had an increase of 22%, reaching BRL 1.095 billion. However, PAR, our textbook subscription product, declined by 11%, amounting to BRL 112 million. Subscription revenue continues the major contributor to our total, net revenue, representing 84% of the revenue share. Also, our successful expansion into the Brazilian public sector, B2G, has yielded promising results, contributing to 10% of our overall revenue in the 2023 cycle and generated BRL 81 million in revenues. Non-subscription revenue now comprises only 10% of the total revenue and increased by 12%, primarily driven by the introduction of the new revenue streamline from our flagship school, Start Anglo.

Marcelo Werneck
Marcelo Werneck
Investor Relations at Vasta Platform

Moving to slide number six. In this quarter, our adjusted EBITDA amounts to $39 million, with a margin of 15%. This positive performance is attributed to several factors, including strong sales results, cost dilution, and operational efficiencies. On the right side, the adjusted EBITDA for the 23 cycle increased by 23% to reach $411 million, with a margin of 28.6%. In the next slide, you'll see the breakdown of the adjusted EBITDA margins. In slide 7, the EBITDA margin show a slight decrease of 40 basis points compared to the last cycle, from 29% to 28.6%. Firstly, our gross margin declined 30 basis points, as 2023 was a year that the industry faced higher inventory costs, costs caused by rising inflation on paper and production costs.

Marcelo Werneck
Marcelo Werneck
Investor Relations at Vasta Platform

Moreover, opr provision for doubtful accounts, PDA, grew 150 basis points compared between the commercial cycles. This increase in PDA is impacted due to the provision of 100% of accounts receivable from a large Brazilian retail company undergoing bankruptcy proceedings in the amount of BRL 9 million in the 2023 commercial cycle, which contributes to 80 basis points in our EBITDA margins. We also experienced 70 basis points in our generic PDA, which will be explored further ahead in our presentation. Despite this challenge, there are several positive aspects to highlight as we managed to offset these negative impacts through significant operational efficiency gain and cost-saving measures. An improved product mix, fueled by the growth of our subscription products, has played a crucial role.

Marcelo Werneck
Marcelo Werneck
Investor Relations at Vasta Platform

As a percentage of the net revenue, our commercial expenses had an improvement of 40 basis points, indicating greater cost effectiveness in our sales and marketing efforts, and our adjusted G&A expenses improved by 100 basis points. Moving to slide number eight, the adjusted net loss in the third quarter of 2023 amounts to BRL 30 million, comparing to a net loss of BRL 42 million in the comparable quarter of 2022. As you can see on the right side, our adjusted net profits in the 2023 commercial cycle has shown an improvement, increasing by 83% compared to the 2022 cycle, which reaching BRL 36 million. Finance costs in a scenario of a spiking interest rate continues to impact our bottom line. However, we have remained committed to the deleveraging, as you'll see further in this presentation.

Marcelo Werneck
Marcelo Werneck
Investor Relations at Vasta Platform

Moving to slide number nine, we show the free cash flow evolution. We continue to observe the normalization of the company's cash flow generation. In the third quarter of 2023, the free cash flow totaled BRL 58 million, representing a solid increase compared to BRL 17 million in the third quarter of 2022. Moreover, to the right side, in the 2023 cycle, our free cash flow reached BRL 145 million, a one hundred and 67% increase from the BRL 50 million in 2022. On another important metric, our last 12-month free cash flow to adjusted EBITDA conversion rate improved from 16% to 35%, reinforcing the message that, that cash generation continues to be a key focus area of our business. Moving to slide number 10, let me give you more details on the provision for doubtful accounts.

Marcelo Werneck
Marcelo Werneck
Investor Relations at Vasta Platform

Total expenses with PDA in the third quarter of 2023 totaled BRL 50 million, representing 6% of the net revenue, compared to the expenses of BRL 5 million in the comparable quarter. Moving to the right side of the slide, we can observe that PDA for the 2023 commercial cycle, where reported provision for doubtful accounts grew 150 basis points between the comparable cycles, from 2.4% to 3.9% of net revenue. This increase in PDA is impacted due to the provisioning of 100% of accounts receivable from a large Brazilian retail company undergoing bankruptcy procedures in the amount of BRL 9 million in the 2023 sales cycle, combining with the revised credit landscape. This has necessitated a prudent approach to risk management and credit provision with the prevailing market conditions.

Marcelo Werneck
Marcelo Werneck
Investor Relations at Vasta Platform

All factors considered, the participation of PDA in relation to Vasta's net revenue increased to 3.9% in the 2023 commercial cycle, compared to 2.4%. However, excluding this one-off effect of the larger retail provisioning, the normalized PDA should be 3.1% of the net revenues, which is more in line with the typical course of our business. Moving to the next slide, we observe that the average payment terms of Vasta's accounts receivable portfolio was 118 days in the third quarter of 2023, which is 31 days lower than the second quarter of this year. I will now conclude my part of this presentation with slide number 12.

Marcelo Werneck
Marcelo Werneck
Investor Relations at Vasta Platform

At the end of the third quarter of 2023, Vasta achieved a reduction in net debt, which amounts to BRL 998 million, an improvement of BRL 60 million compared to the net position in the second quarter of 2023. This achievement is due to the positive cash flow generated during the period in the amount of BRL 58 million, which surpasses the impact of interest accrue of BRL 36 million and the share buyback program in the amount of BRL 6 million in cash outflows. On the right side of the slide, we can observe that in third quarter 2023, the net debt, the last twelve months adjusted EBITDA ratio, ratio extends at 2.48x, which marks an improvement of 0.14x compared to the second quarter of 2023, and an improvement of 0.5x when compared to the third quarter of 2022.

Marcelo Werneck
Marcelo Werneck
Investor Relations at Vasta Platform

With that being said, I'll pass the word to our CEO, Guilherme Mélega.

Guilherme Mélega
Guilherme Mélega
CEO at Vasta Platform

Thank you, Marcelo. Moving to slide 14. In this quarter, we released our sustainability report for the year of 2022. This report, which is company's second report, was prepared in accordance with international standards for reports of this category and showcases the implementation of our corporate strategy, challenges, and achievements, while also reaffirming our commitment to transparency and sustainability. The report complies with the Global Reporting Initiative and also considers other standards recognized in Brazil and abroad, such as the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board guidelines for education sector. We are proud to say that we made strides in increasing the visibility of our ESG strategy in all three pillars. In the environmental pillar, we published our first greenhouse gas inventory. We increased renewable energy consumption. We reduced our water intake.

Guilherme Mélega
Guilherme Mélega
CEO at Vasta Platform

We have been FSC certified for sustainable paper sourcing, ensuring exclusive partnership with similarly certified suppliers. We developed and distributed content related to sustainability, among several other achievements. In the social pillar, we launched our first affirmative internship program, Somos Afro. We enhanced regulatory tools with clear goal-driven policies. We continued our efforts with the Somos Institute. For every BRL 1 invested by the Somos Institute, BRL 11 were returned to society. In the governance pillar, I can highlight that we have committed to the UN Global Compact ten principle in human rights, labor, the environment, and antitrust, and we have the Women on Board certification due to the presence of women on the board of directors. I encourage you to visit our website and access our full sustainability report, which is available both in Portuguese and English. I finalize my presentation with slide 15.

Guilherme Mélega
Guilherme Mélega
CEO at Vasta Platform

To mark the closure of 2023 business cycle, I would like to highlight six key elements that I believe have shaped this cycle. Our brands. Our journey of evolution was marked by the continuous evolution of our core and complementary brands. For example, our Pitágoras brand, which is celebrating 57 years of excellence, has rejuvenated its brand, modernizes itself, and brings transformation in the pedagogical structure. We also redefined the educational experience with the migration from the Eleva brand to, to our new identity, Amplia. In complementary segments, the launch of Eduall, in the partnership with Macmillan Education and Nile, marked a significant milestone for the 2023 cycle. Exceptional academic results. Our dedication to educational quality was reflected in outstanding academic achievements. Anglo continued to lead the university acceptance across the country. pH experienced a remarkable 35% growth in acceptances.

Guilherme Mélega
Guilherme Mélega
CEO at Vasta Platform

Amplia and Fibonacci also earned their place as top performers in the ENEM examinations. Revenue growth in new avenues. The launch of Start Anglo franchise, combining bilingualism with academic excellence, represents a strategic expansion in our pursuit of new revenue streams. The first units are set to operate in 2024, marking the beginning of an exciting journey. Innovative technology. Our Plural platform proved to be a valuable ally for foreign students and teachers, leading the K-12 web traffic with 32% traffic share in Brazil. We surpassed the milestone of 2 million enrolled students. Also, our adaptive learning and artificial intelligence solutions, such as Plural Adapt and Redação Nota Mil, demonstrate our commitment to driving educational innovation. Solid financial results. Our financial indicators speaks for themselves.

Guilherme Mélega
Guilherme Mélega
CEO at Vasta Platform

We achieved 24% growth in revenue, 22% in EBITDA, and an increase of 167% in free cash flow. These numbers reflect our commitment to financial stability and value creation. B2G, we successfully ventured into the public sector, generating revenue of BRL 80 million by serving other 300,000 students. With all this in mind, 2023 was an extraordinary year, a milestone in our journey. These achievements position us favorably to face the challenges that the future holds. We have the confidence that we are on the right path to continue delivering outstanding results for our shareholders, solidify strong partnerships, and make a significant contribution to our country's education. Having said that, I finish our presentation and invite you all to the Q&A session.

Operator

Thank you. At this time, I would like to remind our teleconference participants, in order to ask a teleconference question, please press the star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. We'll pause for just a moment to compile the Q&A roster. Our first question comes from the line of Lucas Nagano from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead with your question.

Lucas Nagano
Lucas Nagano
Equity Research Analyst at Morgan Stanley

Hi, good evening, everyone. Thanks for taking our questions. We have two questions. The first one is related to the 2024 ACV. If you could give us some color on the expectations. So for example, core revenue grew 15% this cycle. It was a little bit dragged by PAR, but we were just wondering if this is the new expected level from now that the penetration of learning system is more mature? And in complementary, you delivered 40% growth, and we were wondering if this is sustainable for a few more years. The second question is related to B2G. If you could provide us some details on if this was related to one or a few or many contracts, and what type of service was provided.

Lucas Nagano
Lucas Nagano
Equity Research Analyst at Morgan Stanley

We wanted to kind of assess the level of recurrence and the ability to scale up this type of solution. Thank you.

Guilherme Mélega
Guilherme Mélega
CEO at Vasta Platform

Thanks, Lucas. Let me address your questions. First, about 2024 ACV. Let me give you some color about that. First, let's keep in mind that our ACV for the last four commercial cycles, so since the ACV of 2019 until now, we have a compound growth of 20.5%. So we just delivered the last ACV that when you compare the last four cycle, we reached more than 20%. That's the trend that we want to keep on our company, and we do not expect any different trend from that. Since our core is still growing, we have very reputable brands, and they are very important for learning system growth.

Guilherme Mélega
Guilherme Mélega
CEO at Vasta Platform

And complementary, although it's growing fast, we have a very low penetration yet on our base and on the total schools. So we definitely foresee this level of growth for complementary. So we definitely expect to keep the trend. On Cogna Day, on December seventh, we will deliver our guideline, and we will wait until then, since we are on the peak of the campaign. But just giving you some color, we do not expect any difference on the trend. B2G, we recognize the second half of the same contract that refers to the state of Pará. We delivered the first half of the year, now we deliver the second half of the year. So it's a single contract, and the contract with the public entity must be renewed every year.

Guilherme Mélega
Guilherme Mélega
CEO at Vasta Platform

So although we believe we set the baseline to growth on next year, it represents a single contract for us, but definitely we expect growth coming from the B2G from this baseline for next year.

Lucas Nagano
Lucas Nagano
Equity Research Analyst at Morgan Stanley

That's very clear. You mentioned that for next year there is a baseline, but should there be, like, some kind of volatility in the process, like, in the next quarter, in the next two quarters? Thank you.

Guilherme Mélega
Guilherme Mélega
CEO at Vasta Platform

Sure. We do not expect any new revenue in Q4 since this product is related to SAEB, and the SAEB exam is in November. So we already delivered all our product and services for this year. But we expect to renew the contract or to acquire new contracts for next year. And normally, the revenue recognition should be Q2 and Q3. But that's not, that's not a rule.

Lucas Nagano
Lucas Nagano
Equity Research Analyst at Morgan Stanley

Perfect. Thank you.

Operator

As a reminder, if you'd like to ask a question, please press the star followed by the one on your telephone. Our next question comes from the line of Marcelo Santos from JPMorgan. Please go ahead with your question.

Marcelo Santos
Marcelo Santos
Stock Analyst at JPMorgan

Hi, good evening, Mélega, Cesar, Marcelo. Thank you for opportunity to make questions. I have two also on our side. The first, if you could comment a bit, the margin outlook for the coming cycle. So you said, like, this cycle, you had a slight decrease. You listed the issues like a little bit of bad debt, production cost and paper. How do you see the outlook for the coming cycle? And the second question is, if you could comment a bit on Educbank. Is there any metric of performance that you could share? We see still generating net losses, but is in early stages. So is there any insight you could provide on this initiative? Thank you.

Guilherme Mélega
Guilherme Mélega
CEO at Vasta Platform

Hi, Marcelo. Thank you for your question. Regarding margins, we expect to have better margins for next year. We are always pursuing the 30% adjusted EBITDA margin. We will not expect new impacts from paper for next year, so we already recognize our inventory levels is already at the old price level. We do not expect new paper price increases. Of course, there are inflation, but we have been able to move a cost-based price adjustment. So, our pricings for next year is around the double-digit level. So we expect to recover some of our margins for 2024. And, regarding Educbank, Educbank, we're very excited with Educbank performance.

Guilherme Mélega
Guilherme Mélega
CEO at Vasta Platform

This year, the company was able to fund themselves with BRL 70 million securitization, and they have new credit lines in place to fund the growth. We expect to end this year, December, with 85,000 students billed, and next year, December next year, with 220,000 students billed. So it's a very fast growth company that have funded by itself in the market, that proves the confidence that everybody has with the business model. And in terms of PPV, we are reaching the BRL 50 million level right now, and obviously, this will grow with the billed students for the new billed students level for next year.

Marcelo Santos
Marcelo Santos
Stock Analyst at JPMorgan

Just a clarification. The BRL 50 million is what if you annualize, like, today's student, it's BRL 50 million, or it's BRL 50 million for this year? Just to understand.

Guilherme Mélega
Guilherme Mélega
CEO at Vasta Platform

No, it's monthly. BRL 50 million, yeah, it's monthly. BRL 600 million annualized.

Marcelo Santos
Marcelo Santos
Stock Analyst at JPMorgan

Okay, BRL 50 million monthly, BRL 600 million annualized. Thank you very much. Very clear.

Guilherme Mélega
Guilherme Mélega
CEO at Vasta Platform

Thank you, Marcelo.

Operator

As a final reminder, if you'd like to ask a question, please press the star followed by the one on your telephone. We have a follow-up question from Marcelo Santos from JPMorgan.

Marcelo Santos
Marcelo Santos
Stock Analyst at JPMorgan

Hi, thanks for the follow-up. Just wanted to ask one single question. Usually, the third quarter was a very weak quarter in terms of margins, like seasonally speaking, and you have been proving that. What's happening? What's causing you to generate this improvement over the last several years? And is this something that we should start seeing more smooth EBITDA distribution in the coming years? Thank you.

Guilherme Mélega
Guilherme Mélega
CEO at Vasta Platform

Marcelo, the major contribution is volume. We are growing, and Q3 benefits from higher volumes, not only on the B2B segment, but also on the B2G. We just recognized BRL 40 million on the B2G. So margins are growing because the company is growing. That's pretty much it. There is no... And the seasonality, Q drives our margins. Q4 will be the biggest margin on our business, followed by Q1, and then we have Q2 and Q3, that we are stabilizing it on a new level of around 10%.

Marcelo Santos
Marcelo Santos
Stock Analyst at JPMorgan

Perfect. Thank you very much. Very clear.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Lucas Nagano from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead with your question.

Lucas Nagano
Lucas Nagano
Equity Research Analyst at Morgan Stanley

Thanks for the follow-up question. I have a question on PDA specifically. So looking at Q3 alone, the PDA expenses increased because of churn, mainly no premium brands, as you say. I just wanted to understand what causes churn, and how is the financial situation in those schools? 'Cause the hypothesis is that things should improve from now, led by macro indicators. So I just wanted to understand if there's, like, kind of any structural change there. Thank you.

Marcelo Werneck
Marcelo Werneck
Investor Relations at Vasta Platform

Hi. Hi, Lucas. Thank you. And you are right. Your hypothesis is right. We had a one-off in terms of Cycle. We had the recognition of BRL 9 million from the large retail company in bankruptcy procedures. Taking it disconsidering it, our PDA level is now at 3.1%, and this increase of 0.7% from the cycle of 2022 is pretty much due to macroeconomic environment. We are seeing a slightly delinquency increase in the entire economy, and the schools are also facing that. But 3.1, we believe it's still a very low PDA level and definitely is one of the lower in the industry.

Lucas Nagano
Lucas Nagano
Equity Research Analyst at Morgan Stanley

Okay, thank you.

Operator

There appear to be no further questions at this time. Marcelo Werneck, I'll turn the call back over to you.

Marcelo Werneck
Marcelo Werneck
Investor Relations at Vasta Platform

I'll take it here. Thank you all for participating in Q3 earnings release. We are very proud to deliver the cycle results that we just delivered with 24% revenue growth, 23% EBITDA growth, and the free cash flow EBITDA moving from 16%-35%. Moreover, to have implemented two very important growth avenues such as the B2G and the Start Anglo business. Looking forward to see you again, and we reaffirm our commitment and excitement for the new cycle, and looking forward to see you at the Cogna Day.

Operator

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. We will conclude today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

Executives
    • Guilherme Mélega
      Guilherme Mélega
      CEO
    • Marcelo Werneck
      Marcelo Werneck
      Investor Relations
Analysts
Powered by Quartr