Laureate Education, Inc.

Hello, and welcome to Laurean Education Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results. 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 the question during the session, you will need to press star 11 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again. I would now like to turn the call over to Adam Morse, You may begin.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us on today's call to discuss Laureate Education's third quarter 2026 results. Joining me on the call today are Eilif Serck-Hanssen, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Rick Buskirk, Chief Financial Officer. 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 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, 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 and among others, adjusted EBITDA and its related margin, adjusted net income, and adjusted earnings per share, total debt and of cash and 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 Eilif.

Thank you, Adam, and good morning, everyone. Today, we are pleased to report strong financial performance for the third quarter, along with the results of our current intake cycle. Third quarter revenue was $485 million, and adjusted EBITDA was $147 million. Both metrics were ahead of the guidance we provided three months ago, aided by favorable foreign exchange rate. In Mexico, the primary intake is largely completed with new enrollment growth of 8% versus comparable intake period last year, driven by a very successful launch of our new campus in Puebla, as well as continued growth in existing campuses and online. In Peru, we are seeing a 9% increase year-over-year in new enrollments during the secondary intake, which will be fully completed in November. Our Peru intake benefited from our leading fully online capabilities, which generated strong demand from working adult students. The strong results from our combined intake cycles confirm the three main growth levers in our business and that they are all working well. These three growth drivers are, number one, same-store growth enabled by rising participation rates and market share gains. and secondly, new campus expansions in new zip codes and new cities in Mexico and Peru. And thirdly, our rapidly scaling fully online portfolio for working adult learners. Since the start of 2025, we have opened three new campuses and we expect two additional campuses opening in 2027. Our Southern Lima campus remains on track to open in the first quarter, followed by our new Mexican campus in Merida, which is expected to open prior to the September 2027 main intake. Beyond these projects, we have a strong multiyear pipeline of attractive campus expansion opportunities across Mexico and Peru. And we have already secured multiple sites to support future growth and expect to accelerate our new campus openings in 2028. During our next earnings call, we will provide some additional details on the pipeline and its deployment cadence going forward. Upon completion of this intake cycle, we have good visibility into the remainder of the year, as well as the jump-off point for 2027. That gives us the confidence to reaffirm the full year guidance expectations and announce an additional $150 million increase to our stock repurchase program reinforcing our disciplined capital allocation strategy and commitment to long-term shareholder value creation. Let me now provide some color on the geopolitical and macro conditions in our markets. Mexico's economy continues to show signs of improvement during 2026. The second quarter GDP grew by 2.1% year over year, the strongest gain since 2024, supported by broad-based growth across industrial production, services, and agriculture. And importantly, foreign direct investment hit a record level for the first half of this year, highlighting the renewed confidence in Mexico's role as the preferred supply chain partner to the United States. While conditions are improving, and, in line with our expectations for the second half of 2026, overall economic growth in Mexico continues to be below its full potential. In the medium to long term, we remain confident that Mexico's deep integration with the U.S. economy will provide attractive structural growth opportunities for the Mexican economy. In Peru, President Keiko Fujimori's election win provides greater clarity on economic policy, which now focuses on reducing red tape, increasing investments in core industries, and lifting the growth rate for the economy. Strong domestic demand, large investment into the mining sector, and elevated commodity prices further support Peru's momentum of GDP growth above 3%. As for Peru's El Niño preparedness, the country has drawn lessons from previous events and is today better prepared than during past extreme weather occurrences. The government has improved their forecast capabilities and increased investments in storm and flood mitigation activities, including river dredging and drainage systems. Further, L'Oréal's ability to deliver high-quality hybrid and online learning should help to partly mitigate the potential disruption to our operations during the peak of the El Niño event forecasted to take place between November 2026 and February 2027. In summary, Peru's solid fundamentals continue to support our bullish medium and long-term growth outlook for the country. That concludes my prepared remarks, and I'm now handing the call over to Rick for the financial overview for the quarter, as well as more details on our outlook. Rick?