Laureate Education, Inc.

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Q1 2026 Laureate Education, Inc. 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. To ask a question during the session, you'll need to press star 1-1 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star 1-1 again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your first 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 Laurier to Education's first quarter 2026 results. Joining me on the call today are Iliff Sarkanson, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Rick Buskirk, Chief Financial Officer. Our earnings 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 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 action 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, followed 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-GET measures that we discuss, including and among others, adjusted EBITDA and its related margin, adjusted NIN income, adjusted earnings per share, total debt, net of cash and cash equivalents, and free cash flow are also detailed and reconciled to their GAAP counterparts in our press release or supplementary presentation. Let me now turn the call over to Ayla.

Thank you, Adam, and good morning, everyone. 2026 is off to a good start, and we are encouraged by the results from our recently completed enrollment intake cycles, which included Peru's primary intake and a smaller secondary intake for Mexico. Enrollment results came in line with our expectations for both markets, with year-over-year new enrollment growth of 13% in Peru and 4% in Mexico through completion of the intake cycles by the middle of April. With the intake snow finalized, we have good visibility into the remainder of the year, and we are reaffirming our full-year guidance for enrollment, revenue, and adjusted EBITDA. We are increasing our guidance for adjusted earnings per share to reflect the $105 million in share buybacks completed during the first quarter. And we anticipate further share buybacks through the remainder of 2026 as return of excess capital remains a priority for the company. The enrollment intake results for the first cycle we're in line with the macroeconomic trends we discussed during our last call for both Mexico and Peru. In addition, Peru is benefiting from continued strong penetration for our online offerings for working adult students. As a reminder, our business model is loosely correlated with economic cycles. In periods of robust GDP growth, such as the current environment in Peru, we have historically benefited from strong enrollment momentum. During a softer macroeconomic backdrop, as we are currently experiencing in Mexico, our growth tends to moderate a bit, but we are still doing well as families continue to prioritize spending on higher education due to the strong value proposition. In Mexico, GDP growth for 2026 is expected to remain relatively modest, albeit slightly better than 2025. President Shandong's pragmatic leadership has helped preserve stability in the U.S.-Mexico relationship, providing for a constructive backdrop for the upcoming USMCA trade negotiations. Many economists are projecting an increase in economic activity for Mexico starting in the second half of 2026, setting the stage for more robust GDP growth in 2027. In Peru, the economy continues to perform solidly, bolstered by robust domestic demand, new mining projects, and strong commodity prices. The Peruvians just elected a new Congress, which reaffirmed a business-friendly center-right majority, and their presidential run of election is set for June. Regardless of the outcome of the presidential election, Peru has historically demonstrated economic strength and stability underpinned by strong underlying governmental institutions, a representative Congress, an independent central bank, and a history of strong fiscal discipline. The foundation of our strong track record of performance is our mission. A mission to deliver affordable, high-quality education to prepare students for successful career and lifelong achievement while building pride, trust, and respect within the communities we serve. We remain committed to transparency and accountability, measuring the outcomes that matter most and continuously improving how we track and report these results to all of our stakeholders. Earlier this month, we published our 2025 Impact Report. I encourage you to visit our website and download a copy to learn more about the impact of the outstanding work of our students, faculty, and institutions are currently doing in their communities throughout Mexico and Peru. Let me briefly highlight some of the most important measurable outcomes we delivered. Half of our newly enrolled students are first-generation university attendees for whom a degree leads to their first professional role and a long-term economic upward mobility for their families. Nine out of 10 of our job-seeking graduates secure employment within 12 months of graduation, underscoring the relevance of our programs strong alignment with industry needs, and the expertise and commitment of our faculty and staff to prepare students for successful careers. And graduates of laureate universities in on-campus programs recover the normal cost of their education in approximately three years through increased earnings compared to high school graduates of the same age. And the payback period is even shorter for working adults in our fully online programs. These measurable outcomes align perfectly with our mission, which is focused on quality, affordability, and lifelong achievement. This concludes my prepared remarks, and I will now turn the call over to Rick Bosker for a more detailed financial overview of our first quarter performance, as well as further details on our 2026 full-year outlook.