Laureate Education, Inc.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Q2 2021 Laureate Education Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you need to press star one on your telephone. If you require any further assistance, please press star then zero. I would like to turn the call over to your host, Adam Morse.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us on today's call to discuss Laureate Education's second quarter 2021 results. Joining me on the call today are Iliff Sercanton, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Rick Buskirk, Chief Financial Officer. Our inks press release is available on the investor relations section of our website at laureate.net. We have also posted a supplementary presentation to the website, which we'll be referring to during today's call. The call is being webcast and a complete recording will be available after the call. I would like to remind you that some of the information we are providing today, including, but not limited to, our financial and operational guidance, constitutes forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable U.S. securities laws. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may change at any time, and therefore, our actual results may differ materially from those we expected. Important factors that could cause action results to differ materially from our expectations are disclosed in our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, our 10-Q filed earlier this morning, as well as other filings made with the SEC. In addition, all forward-looking statements are based on current expectations as of the date of this conference call, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Additionally, non-GAAP measures that we discuss, including, among others, adjusted EBITDA and its related margin, total cash, net of debt, and free cash flow, are also detailed and reconciled to their GAAP counterparts in our press release or supplementary presentation. With that, let me turn the call over to Ayla.

Thank you, Adam, and good morning, everyone. The second quarter marked a key inflection point for L'Oreal on two fronts. First off, from an operational perspective, we are now at total enrollment volume levels that are above pre-pandemic levels. The resiliency of L'Oréal's business model has been proven throughout this pandemic, and we have no return to growth. Our operating performance through the first six months of the year was robust and ahead of expectations, and on the strength of that performance, we are now increasing our guidance for the full year 2021. Second, following the successful closing of the sale of our operations in Brazil, we repaid our outstanding senior notes and a note in a net cash position of $354 million as of end of June. After closing the pending sale of Walden University, which we anticipate to occur shortly, our pro forma June cash balance would equate to approximately $1.65 billion, which is more than $8 per share in cash value. As discussed previously, we plan to return excess capital to shareholders in the coming months and are evaluating the most tax-efficient ways of doing so. In addition to having a strong balance sheet, Our operating models in Mexico and Peru are cash-accretive. We are operating in attractive markets with favorable growth dynamics and expect to be able to deploy capital efficiently to generate strong returns for our shareholders. As a reminder, the demand for higher education in both Mexico and Peru is large and growing, fueled by rising participation rates. We have top ranked brands in both markets serving the traditional segment via our premium brands and the more price sensitive segment via our high quality value brands. We have over 50 campuses throughout Mexico and Peru that anchor our strong brands and are leveraging that brand power to become the market leader in online education. Digital delivery is increasingly important in both markets, as students expect to be able to access affordable quality education via flexible hybrid delivery mode. This trend has been further accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. We believe that we are well positioned to take advantage of this growing market dynamic during the next three to five years. I will now turn the call over to Rick Buskirk for a more detailed financial overview of the second quarter and year-to-date performance, as well as our guidance outlook. Rick?