Laureate Education, Inc.

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Laureate Education Second Quarter 2025 earnings conference 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. After the speaker's presentation, to ask a question during the session, you will need to press star one one on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Adam Morse, Senior Vice President of Finance. Please go ahead.

Good morning and thank you for joining us on today's call to discuss Laureate Education Second Quarter and -to-date 2025 results. Joining me on the call today are Alex Sirkansen, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Rick Buskirk, Chief Financial Officer. Our earnings release is available on the Invest Relations section of our website at laureate.net. We've also posted a supplementary presentation to the website, which we will 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 cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations are disclosed in our annual report on Form 10-K, followed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, our 10-Q, followed 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-GET measures that we discuss, including and among others adjusted EBITDA and its related margin, adjusted net income, and adjusted earnings per share, total cash and equivalents, net of total debt, and free cash flow are also detailed and reconciled to their gap counterparts in our press release or supplementary presentations. Let me now turn the call over to Ilas.

Thank you, Adam, and good morning, everyone. I am pleased to report strong execution across the board for the second quarter and the first half of the year. Through -to-date tune, new and total enrollments were up 7% and 6% respectively, versus the comparable period in the prior year, driving 9% growth in revenue on a timing-adjusted and constant currency basis. We are also advancing our operating efficiency efforts and remain on track to expand adjusted EBITDA margins by approximately 150 basis points this year. In addition to solid operating results, we are also benefiting from favorable currency trends in the past few months. As a result, we are raising full year 2025 outlook at the midpoint by $55 million for revenue and $16 million for adjusted EBITDA. I'm also pleased to report that our two new campus openings scheduled for September are on track, and we will be welcoming new students in both locations this upcoming intake cycle. These new campuses in Monterrey, Mexico, and Lima's Atte district are key components of our growth strategy and underscore our long-term commitment to expanding access to quality higher education where demand continues to rise. We have two additional new campus projects underway, one in each market, and expect those to open late next year or early 2027. Beyond that, we have identified numerous other cities and site locations in both Mexico and Peru that are ripe for development over the next five-year period. From a geopolitical perspective, we continue to closely monitor the macro development in both markets. While the global operating environment remains complex, Mexico continues to demonstrate resilience supported by solid financial systems, prudent fiscal management, and continued interest rate cuts by the central bank. Inflation is largely contained, and we believe that the country is well-positioned to support improved GDP growth in 2026 and beyond. The momentum of the GDP growth will depend on the outcome of the pending US-Mexico trade renegotiation, which are an important priority for both countries. A favorable trade agreement should provide added clarity and enhanced conditions for foreign direct investment, which in turn will likely be an important accelerator for growth in Mexico. Moving on to Peru. Peru's economy has lapped the recession with solid broad-based momentum as evidenced by 14 consecutive months of expansion, bringing -to-date GDP growth to 3.1%. This strong economic turnaround was also evidenced by the strength of our primary intake completed in April, where we delivered over 6% growth in new enrollments year over year. Peru's macroeconomic resilience is supported by abundant natural resources, stable inflation, low interest rates, and solid business and consumer confidence levels. We believe that these factors will position Peru for sustained growth and continued outperformance versus peers in Latin America. Regardless of political and macroeconomic trends, our business model has historically proven to be very resilient. We remain confident in the growing demand for quality, affordable higher education across both markets, and our ability to capitalize on those growth opportunities given our leading brands, strong value proposition, and industry-leading digital capabilities. Finally, I want to congratulate my academic teams in both Mexico and Peru for continuing to strengthen our brands and deliver great outcomes for our students. On a daily basis, our team members are demonstrating their commitment to quality, innovation, and impact. Some recent achievements we are especially proud of include, in Mexico, UVM recently celebrated its 65th anniversary, marking a long legacy of preparing professionals to contribute to society. UVM also recently completed its re-accreditation process and was awarded the highest institutional accreditation level achievable by the Federation of Private Mexican Higher Education Institutions, also known as FIMPUS, covering the next seven-year period. In Peru, UPC continues to lead the way in the market, earning the distinction of the top ranked university in the country in the 2025 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, which measures a university's contribution to society based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. That concludes my prepared remarks, and I will now turn the call over to Rick Boskirk for more detailed financial overview of our second quarter and -to-date performance, as well as further detail on our 2025 full-year outlook.