QuantaSing Group Limited

Good morning and good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by, and welcome to Qantas Things Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. We will be hosting a question-and-answer session after management's prepared remarks. Please note that today's event is being recorded. I now turn the conference over to Ms. Leah Guo, Investor Relations Associate Director of the company. Please go ahead, ma'am.

Qantas Things Earnings Thank you. Hello, everyone, and welcome to QuantumScience Earnings Call for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2023. With us today are Mr. Peng Li, our founder, chairman, and CEO, and Mr. Tim Xie, our CFO. Mr. Li will give a general business overview for the quarter, then Tim will discuss the financials in more detail. Following their prepared remarks, Mr. Li and Tim will be available for the QA session. I will translate for Mr. Li. You can refer to our full fiscal quarter financial results on our IR website at ir.quantusin.com. You can also access a replay of this call on our IR website when it becomes available a few hours after its conclusion. Before we continue, I would like to refer you to our safe harbor statement in our earnings press release, which also applies to this call, as we will be making forward-looking statements Please note that all numbers stated in the following management prepared remarks are in IMB terms, and we will discuss non-GAAP measures today, which are more thoroughly explained and reconciled to the most comparable measures reported in our earnings release and filings with the SEC. I will now turn the call over to the CEO and founder of QuantumSync, Mr. Li.

Okay. Hello, everyone, and thank you all for joining us today. Despite the challenges presented by the current state of China's economy, we found ourselves well-placed to benefit from new opportunities in the adult learning market. While the fourth quarter of our fiscal year is usually a period of moderation, we recorded an impressive 31.7% year-over-year growth in revenue from the same period last year. Additionally, our adjusted net margin has improved significantly, reaching 10.9% compared to 0.7% during the same period last year. Our success has fueled by our robust pipeline visibility, diverse revenue streams, and an effective strategy approach. I would now like to reflect on our recent success and broader performance and share some operational updates. As of June 30, 2023, we had around 94.3 million registered users, representing a significant increase of 50.6 percent compared to the previous year. The number of paying learners rose as well, increasing by 29.9 percent compared to the previous year. Our focus on flexible and scalable business models has allowed us to quickly add more costs. This in turn attracts more users and fosters constant growth. We offer a diverse array of courses, each thoughtfully tailored to our distinct customer groups. For instance, for our financial literacy content, we offer accessible courses that guide beginners through topics such as asset management and achieving stable returns. Our learners can further explore specialized courses like financial analysis and family asset allocation. We diligently update and enhance our courses to align with shifts in industry policies. This ensures our learners have access to the most up-to-date market insights. Our focus on improvement has led to better customer experience. Thanks to our operational enhancement, our user survey shows that our financial literacy cost completion rate now stands at an impressive 97%. We are constantly updating our intelligence learning tools to act as a learning companion for our users. These tools use engaging AI interactions to assist the users in pulling key financial metrics from financial statements. During the first quarter, we once again co-authorized the financial literacy white books with industry experts and authoritative organizations in China. This was our 30th year doing so. The white book faces the financial literacy of Chinese residents across various demographics. This research serves as a guiding light for the institution seeking to expand financial learning across the nation. Our participation reflects our standing in the realm of financial literacy. We take immense pride in our contribution and are eager to help enhance financial literacy levels within society. Beyond our financial literacy efforts, We have also taken steps to boost user engagement and enhance our online cost repurchase reach. During the fourth quarter, we organized a series of offline competitions. One such event was a calligraphy competition targeted at senior adults. applied what they learned from our courses, showcasing their learning outcomes while enjoying face-to-face interactions with fellow learners. The participants created around 400 calligraphy works during the competition. To determine a winner, we engaged our broader community in the voting process. This type of offline event motivates learners to stick with their studies. It also encourages them to invite friends to join our courses. We believe that this offline competition helps foster a technic sense of community among our learners. We see them as both means of promoting courses and as a way to build community. As a part of our growth strategy, we are eager to bring our customers new opportunities for learning. One core part of this strategy is the creation of new personal interest courses. These courses are carefully designed to meet a diverse range of interests and tap into unrealized market potential. They help to enhance our appeal and boost engagement levels. Furthermore, the repeat purchase rate for other personal interest causes has risen to 18%. By refining our cost offerings, We enable learners to complete an in-depth learning circle on our platform. For instance, in our short video production course, we guide learners through the entire creation process. This encompasses subject selection, clip editing, content creation, and even using short videos to promote products on the live streaming platforms. In a similar way, we have fine-tuned the content of our memory courses to be more practical instead of theoretical. This empowers learners to apply their knowledge in real-life situations Ultimately, this leads to a more fulfilling learning experience. Meanwhile, our draft goal market remains extensive. As outlined in Frost and Sullivan's industry report on the adult learning market in China released on September 6, 2023, the Frost and Sullivan report affirms the significant market demand for senior citizen education. According to the report, the size of the senior adult learning market, as measured by revenue, is expected to reach RMB 120.9 billion by 2027. This estimate assumes CAGR of 34% from 2022 to 2027. We are well positioned to cater to this demographic. Many of our thoughtfully designed courses address the specific needs and interests of senior learners. As always, we remain committed to creating inclusive and accessible learning opportunities for people of all ages. Our courses aimed at senior citizens are specially crafted to bring them valuable knowledge and skills. This helps provide a sense of enrichment and foster a feeling of continued growth and success. We are actively building new carpets that cater to the interests of older learners. For example, we have developed a course on standing meditation, a traditional practice that combines fitness, strength, and inner peace. Our program emphasizes a holistic approach, boosting meridian flow, vital energy, and overall physical resilience. This cost has proven to be a mega-hit. It has accrued over $1.2 billion. 4 million registered users as of August 31, 2023, and its monthly growth building reached around 17 million RMB. As a company that provides itself on innovation, we are dedicated to enhancing our core business while exploring new opportunities for growth. We are excited to announce the launch of a dynamic new business initiative, Life eCommerce, with a strategic focus on the Chinese liquor market. Our decision to venture into Life eCommerce is rooted in a multi-faceted vision. This new business requires minimal capital investment with little operation risk. Well, also acting as a result to further foster our core business, we chose Chinese liquor as our entry point to the live e-commerce business. Chinese liquor holds an important place in Chinese society. especially when it comes to social interaction. Our target demographic is made up of individuals that are middle-aged and older. This demographic demands, robust demands for Chinese leaders. In the post-COVID era, online shopping has been become increasingly common, and that trend turns to the purchase of Chinese sneakers. At the forefront of online shopping today is live streaming e-commerce. On one of the live streaming platforms we operate on, there are over 300 million users with an interest in Chinese sneakers. indicated by a research report. This platform fosters an experience akin to one testing event, allowing users to share their insights about Chinese liquor through live streaming. Recognizing this market opportunity, We aim to provide our users with an all-in-one experience that combines goods and services into a single platform. Our learning-deepness model is also very mature. This is shown by our effective extensions of our Changsha and Jiangzhen brands, which follows by the success of our older Chinu brands. We invest in traffic at the front end, which is then converted into our private social media group. Through years of operation, we have built up substantial user insights. This allows us to effectively locate and acquire customers. We also have a well-developed a well-developed array of marketing tools. This allows us to lock in traffic, locate loyal customers, and convert registered users to paying learners. By leveraging our experience in the adult learning business, we are now acquiring customers for our live e-commerce business in the same way. A replicable approach gives us control over our costs and ROI, even during the early stages of a new business. Since launching the new business in June 2023, we have been very pleased with its operation results. We have generated RMB 13.3 in GMV during August. While we expect a slight adjustment in our gross margin, we are confident that this new initial will have a positive impact on our net margin and strengthen our financial resilience. While we maintain our revenue growth, We continue to improve our operation efficiency and expand our positive cash flow. Tim will explain our financial results in more detail later. We are leveraging AI to help improve our operating efficiency. For example, we are using AI-powered intelligent voice messages to demand learners to join our courses. AI-generated content, or AIGC, has also empowered us to provide a better, more efficient experience when learners pose questions. With AIGC, learners' questions are categorized, and the answers are generated automatically. Tutors simply need to double-check the answers before sending them out This has largely reduced the tutor workload during classes and improved learners' experience without sacrificing factual accuracy. Regarding content development, we are implementing a 4-in-1 interface that combines transcripts, presentation like chat and course requirements. At the same time, we also embraced the template-driven bulk generation of short videos, infographics, and more. This has greatly enhanced our content development efficiency. Despite the present state of the macro, we continue to refine our operations to meet persistent demands from individuals seeking improved quality of life and overall well-being. At the same time, we are strengthening our position as a reliable partner in cooperative and development. Our ability to innovate and explore new ideas has generated outstanding outcomes for our business. Despite a seasonal low, we generated robust year-over-year top-line growth, and our operational focus remains solid with strong pipeline visibility. we made the decision to drastically expand into live e-commerce. This will leverage our existing strengths to enhance profitability. As we navigate the ever-changing dynamics of the market, we are confident in our ability to generate sustainable long-term growth and success. We are grateful for the continued trust and the partnership of our shareholders. With that, I will turn the call over to Tim to discuss the details of our financials. Thank you all.

Thank you. Before I go into the details of our financial results, please note that all amounts are in RMB terms. That reporting period is the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023, ended on June 30. 2023, and that in addition to gap measures, we'll also be discussing non-gap measures to provide a greater clarity on the change in our actual operations. For the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023, we grew our total revenues by 31.7% year-over-year and 2.6% quarter-over-quarter to $828.3 million. mainly driven by the growth from other personal interest courses. Among our revenues, revenues from individual online learning services grew by 25.2% year over year to $721.1 million, or 87.1% of total revenues, mainly due to continued demand for other personal interest courses. Consistent with our strategy, to diversify course offerings. Our gross billing of individual online learning services increased by 23% year-over-year to $748.8 million. Revenues from enterprise services increased by 102% year-over-year to $103.8 million, or 12.5% of total revenues. primarily driven by continued robust demand from both existing and new enterprise customers for marketing services. Gross profit was $712.2 million, representing a gross margin of 86%, compared to 82.9% in the same period last year. Total operating expenses decreased to $668 million 4.7 million from 726.7 million last year. To break this down, sales and marketing expenses were 573 million, representing a change of 7.8% year-over-year as we adjusted our staffing budget and increased spending on marketing and promotional activities for other personal interest courses. As a percentage of total revenue, non-GAAP sales and marketing expenses, which include share-based compensation, decreased to 67.8% from 75.1% a year ago. Research and development expenses were 53.6 million, representing a decrease of 59.6% year-over-year, primarily driven by a decrease in share-based compensation. As a percentage of total revenue, non-GAAP R&D expenses, which excluded share-based compensation, decreased to 5.5% from 6% a year ago. General and administrative expenses were $38 million, representing a decrease of 39.3% year-over-year, primarily due to decreases in share-based compensation. As a percentage of total revenue, non-GAAP G&A expenses, which excluded share-based compensation, decreased to 3.2% from 4.6% a year ago. Net income was $52.7 million, excluding share-based compensation. Adjusted net income was $90.4 million. representing an adjusted net margin of 10.9% during the quarter. Basic and diluted net income per share for RMB 0.31 and RMB 0.30 respectively during the quarter. Adjusted basic and diluted net income per share for RMB 0.54 and RMB 0.52 respectively during the quarter. Turning to our balance sheet, as of June 30, 2023. Our company held $930.6 million in cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments compared to $399.1 million as of June 30, 2022. Lastly, I want to provide some color on our last part look for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024, which ends on June 30, 2024. We expect revenues to be between 780 million and 810 million, representing a year-over-year increase of between 18.3% and 22.8%. These projections take into consideration the current market conditions prevailing in the industry. We remain committed to providing high-quality, personalized online learning services and offering a diverse range of courses. At the same time, exploring new business opportunities to improve our profitability. These initiatives helped drive our strong performance in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023. Moving forward, we will be utilizing AI to optimize our cost structure and expenses, enabling us to operate more efficiently and effectively. With our strong financial position and diversified revenue streams, we are well equipped to overcome any challenges that may arise and capitalize on growth opportunities while continuing to generate value for our customers and shareholders. That concludes my prepared remarks. Operator, let's open up the call for questions. Thank you.

Yes, thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your touchtone phone. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. When asking a question in Chinese, please translate your question to English for the convenience of everyone on the call. Please ask one question at a time. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble the roster. And today's first question comes from Kai Ni Wang with CICC.

Good evening, management. I have two questions here. So firstly, given the recent relatively soft capital market, how should we expect the next year growth of Xenio in terms of the number of users as well as the ASP? And secondly, could you please elaborate our growth strategy on the brand new live streaming business? Thank you.

Thank you. In terms of the financial literacy courses and its market chain and also our performance, I think you asked a good question. For this market, we see first, I think for this, in terms of segmentation, First, let me clarify. I think for our financial literacy courses, we treat it as part of one of the categories of our total revenues. So for this kind of revenue, our management reviews our consolidated results when making decisions about resource allocation and then assigning the group's performance. As such, the group has only one reportable segment. And also in terms of the future outlook for our financial literacy courses, it is possible that we will see year-over-year decrease in the absolute dollar amount we generate. This is in line with our strategy of developing a broad range of courses which appeal to learners with diverse interests and backgrounds. In addition, we have taken proactive steps to identify users with low Return Over Investment, which is ROI, to ensure sustainable growth for our company as a whole. Doing so means we can utilize our resources more efficiently and ensure that our cost offerings get the attention of users who will be genuinely interested. And for macro environment, now on the macro, you mentioned that the macro environment may affect the company's revenue first. Let me clarify that our core customer base is made up of the mass public consumers. Demand for our financial literacy courses does not rely on professional investors. As such, the performance of our financial literacy courses is not tied to the performance of the capital market directly. Second, I think it's important to note that the content of our financial literacy program covers a wide range of topics, not limited to the stock market. Even if the markets kind of perform or maybe have some fluctuation, the idea of investing temporarily loses appeal, customers we'll be able to leverage our courses to gain knowledge in other areas of financial literacy. To this point, we have not observed a direct correlation between the stock market and the growth of the registered users for our financial literacy courses. I think the key is to use our business methodology to treat our revenue as a whole and to see the market opportunity and to to our business based on the ROI and also the revenue diversification strategy. Meanwhile, our average revenue per user or upper has maintained a steady upward trend. This is due to our focus on delivering high-quality courses and value-added services. This success reflects our company's callability to attract new users and to provide value-added services that existing users appreciate. So I hope that answers your question.

Yeah, that's very clear. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. And the next question comes from Steve Silver with Argus Research.

Hi, and thank you for taking my question. In the commentary, you mentioned the minimal capital required to launch some of the new growth opportunities like e-commerce. I'm curious as to with that and the continued build out of the technology platform, I'm wondering if there are any other areas of higher capital that are expected over the next few years or whether we should expect the company to be able to balance these investments with its growth and continue to grow cash flows and adjusted net income consistently from current levels.

Thanks for the question. In terms of the new initiative of the e-commerce, I think for the capital investment and also and also maybe the cash need of the business. I think, first, all of the new initiatives are based on our current key capability, including our accumulated operating expenses in the online operating costs live streaming sales process and also the technology base we have built for our current platform. And also we can use and leverage the current experiences and systems to do the live streaming because we currently sell the online courses and serve the customers through the whole online process very smoothly and gaining a very effective result. Based on this infrastructure, we can leverage all of the resources to do our live e-commerce business, which has also proved that, because you see the August number, it proved a preliminary success. In terms of the future development, I think when we do the e-commerce, we may purchase stocks, but for the Chinese leaker, the stock turnover is very fast. And also, we collect the cash because our customers, the individuals, we collect cash very quickly. And also, I think overall speaking, the cash flow, the operating cash flow is not a big problem. And also, we also anticipate maybe a a very similar cash generating pattern as that of our current business. In terms of the technology investment, I think based on our live streaming system, which we have developed by ourselves several years ago and improved continuously in these years, it's provided us a very solid base to do the live e-commerce business. and maybe some slight improvement in terms of the specific business needs and systems to implement, which do not need a huge capital investment to the technology. So in a sum, I think first we can leverage our current experiences, systems, and also the technology. And second, we see the live streaming e-commerce business, its business model is very similar to that we currently doing for the online courses selling business. We sell the courses and also we sell the goods, the Chinese liquor, through live streaming business model, which is very similar. And also the last point is that all of the, both the online courses and online learning business through live streaming and also the online e-commerce live streaming business has to generate maybe very similar financial results in the business model. I think this is my answer. I think that may help you understand the business.

Okay, thank you very much. That's very helpful and thanks for taking the question.

Thank you. Thank you. And the next question comes from Howard Halpern with Talbot Brothers.

Congratulations on the quarter, guys. If you could dive maybe a little bit more into the new e-commerce platform, could you describe, I guess, maybe the mechanics of it? Are you just connecting merchants with your customer base and collecting a fee, or is there more to it than that?

Yeah, I think, thanks for the question. Also, in relation to our new initiatives for the live streaming, our basically, our current business model is to acquire our learners through live streaming, through free courses, and then some of the learners will convert to our paid learners. And basically, the business model for the live streaming e-commerce is very similar to that. launch our live streaming room online to advertise and to attract the traffic to our live streaming room and they sell the Chinese liquor to the audience. And we have several business models. One is we purchase the Chinese liquor from the supplier and then we will leverage our live streaming capability and our user base to sell such kind of products to the customers. Some of the customers are our current users and maybe some customers who have learned our courses and who have learned our free courses and a majority of that may be from the new traffic, the new audience, and also the new demographic from each source, especially the short video social platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou. And also we have some other business models, We will act as, because of our capability for the live streaming, we will act as an agent to have some brands to sell their products initially. Maybe I think in the long run we can, because of our capability to sell, especially sell the Chinese leapers through live streaming is very important. I think our capability can leverage all of our resources to secure the best goods, the best Chinese liquor, the supply chain to our current and future customer base.

Okay, that was very helpful. One final question I have is what do you envision the opportunity is to go international beyond China and how would that process unfold?

Yeah, thank you. That's a good question. We have placed our strategy to seek opportunities both domestically and overseas. And we've been keeping a close eye on the growth of the international learning market for contact. A report by Global Market Insights estimated the global e-learning market to be valued at a very large scale. So the Asia, especially the Asia-Pacific market alone was valued at upwards of 60 billion U.S. dollars market size, I remember. With increasing penetration of the Internet and the mobile learning, More people than ever are turning to e-learning platforms to learn new skills, foster personal growth, and improve their quality of life. So as a part of our strategy planning, we have been continuously assessing our capabilities for international expansion. As you know, our business is focused on the domestic market currently. And we built up a solid foundation based on three key factors. I think the first is our solid technology supports our operations. Over the past few years, our online learning platform has evolved and is now highly stable and scalable. As such, we are well equipped to adapt to differences in demand that we could experience in different regions. Secondly, we have built up a strong business network. and a number of comprehensive partnerships over the past few years. This gives us access to valuable market resources and insights, which help keep us at the forefront of the industry. And third, we have a healthy balance sheet, strong cash reserves, and we have been generating operating cash flow, generating positive operating cash flow. These factors provide us with a strong foundation to begin exploring opportunities in the international market. But meanwhile, we have proven in the past that we are willing and able to effectively adjust our operating strategies and our product and services offering. Our approach is open-minded and we are always seeking out our users' feedback to better address their needs. This adaptability has been key to our success. Whether we are talking about the current brand, Qinyou, Qianzhi, and Jiangzhen, as we set our sights on going global, we will continue to keep an open mind and benefit from external feedback. By doing so, we can understand what potential users want and tailor our cost offerings to effectively meet their needs. And lastly, I want to point out that we will speak to our business philosophy and operation methodology to try to be open-minded and to try each kind of opportunity on effective and efficiency, maybe starting from very small scale after which prove that this model is successful. We will enlarge and expand this business overseas very quickly in the future.

Thank you. Thanks, and keep up the great work, guys. Thank you.

Thank you. The next question comes from Hunter Diamond with Diamond Equity Research.

Firstly, congratulations on the results. So could you provide further insights into the adult financial learning segment? We've observed, you know, noteworthy recovery in this area since the start of the fiscal year. So if you could give more details on the performance projections for this segment going forward. And additionally, how do you perceive the competitive landscape evolving in this market?

Yeah, thank you. I think, as I just mentioned, financial literacy courses is just one category of the courses, one SQ in our total interest with courses package. We will treat all of our SQ interest with courses as a whole to grow the revenue, which is based on our methodology that and also our key capability is that we are a very capable company which can develop, which can see the market trend, customer needs, and customer demand, and create the pillar made very interesting, inclusive, and accessible content for our customers, which can be proved by our historical track record. For example, we have launched Jiangzhen and Qianshi step-by-step using the same methodology to see the market trend and customer needs to promote the short-lived production courses and etc. So as a whole, I think even though some saturation of the revenue for our financial literacy courses currently, the few very optimistic in terms of the interest-based course revenue growth in the future because we have the key capability to see the market trend, the business opportunity. We have a dedicated content creation team to create the content, to launch the courses, which all generate very positive net results in the history So, I think in the future, even though the financial literacy courses may decrease, maybe in short term, I think as a whole of the revenue, all of the categories of our interest rate courses will grow.

Yeah. Great. Thank you for the additional color. And then just one more question and I'll open the line to other analysts. The recent presentation alluded to inorganic growth and geographic diversification. And given the liquidity and cash investments on your balance sheet, how do you see acquisitions fitting into your investment orientation?

May I repeat your question? You mean the potential acquisition of new businesses?

Correct.

Yeah. Yeah, I think even though we have generated positive operating cash flow and also in the fourth quarter we generated a huge amount of net profit, both adapted and non-adapted net profit, I think even though we have a very solid financial position and enough financial resources, we still speak to our business discipline and business methodology to start from a small scale to prove the business model. And only after that we will grow the business, even though maybe by ourselves or by acquisition of some companies or some assets, they're open to every business opportunity. Only if that it is a successful business model.

Great. That makes perfect sense. So again, thank you for taking my questions. Thank you.

Thank you. And the next question comes from Pat McCann with Noble Capital Markets.

Hey, congrats on the continued growth. I have two questions. The first one has to do with the online learning side of the business. when it comes to the other personal learning courses, do you have any in the pipeline? Are you looking to expand the course offerings here in the short term in fiscal 2024?

Actually, I think we have a methodology to do the research, market research, and to collect customer feedback in terms of our content development and also the cost development. Basically, we have a pool to run several courses to test the market and also to seek feedback from our customers. But only when we prove that the customer lacks it and also the net result of the ROI is okay. We will expand the scale of that kind of process. So I think actually we definitely have a pipeline and we have a solid tool to prepare for the future growth and future revenue growth. And I think this is our capability and also which has been proved in the past four years. We are able to launch new courses which cater to the customer's needs and also can develop our own business position and also our own strength in the market. In the summer, I think we definitely have the pool for our pipeline. And also, we will launch such kind of courses in due course when we think it is possible.

Okay, thank you. And then on the e-commerce side of the business, is Chinese liqueur, you know, that's currently obviously the... the target market? Are you looking to, is that something that you want to kind of stay laser focused on that product offering for the time being? Or is that, you know, sort of a launch pad to get into other products to, you know, market through your e-commerce business?

Yeah, I think for our business methodology, I think the focus is very important. So even though we have a very solid infrastructure in terms of the live streaming technology and business model, we should focus on one thing, especially at the initial stage of the e-commerce development. So currently, I think this strategy proves to be successful because we can focus this product and focus on the whole streamline of the business operation and the business flow. leveraging our current resources. But actually, we are trying some more skill of other kinds of SQs through the live streaming. But at the current stage, the focus is Chinese liquor, which has proved successful initially at this stage. I think maybe in the future, we have the capability and we have the platform to enlarge our SQs and also the product mix. But currently, I think, in the short term, we will focus on this SQ and this new initiative. When we prove that it is a big success, we will launch and we will expand.

Great. Thank you, and congrats again on the quarter.

Thank you.

Thank you. And as there are no further questions, I would like to turn the conference back over to management for closing remarks.

Thank you again for joining our call today. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us or submit a request through our IR website. We look forward to speaking with everyone in our next call. Have a good day.

Thank you. The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines.