ARCE - Arco Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 Results

Arco delivers R$1,232.1 million in revenues and 36.0% adjusted EBITDA margin ¹ for FY2021 and confirms the ACV for 2022 above guidance at R$1,560 million

Arco Platform Limited, or Arco or Company (Nasdaq: ARCE), today reported financial and operating results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2021.

“We are excited with the conclusion of our 2022 commercial cycle and the outlook for the school year. As schools returned to in person classes and restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic were, and continue to be, gradually lifted, Arco resumed its growth trajectory, outpacing industry peers, as a result of our relentless pursuit of quality, superior value proposition and assertive go-to-market strategy. Our 2022 ACV bookings increased 46% year-over-year to R$1,560 million, above the guidance range provided in our 3Q21 earnings release, mainly driven by the healthy retention rate of our partner schools and price increase for our solutions, combined with robust organic growth for both our Core and Supplemental solutions, powered by our successful cross-selling initiatives. We are very confident we will be able to recognize revenues in line with ACV bookings as partner schools see their operations return to full capacity, and we expect another strong commercial cycle for 2023 as we now have the portfolio of Core solutions to cover all geographies, price points and methodologies across Brazil, together with our ability to service our partner schools with other relevant competencies covered in our Supplemental portfolio. On our integration agenda, we have the conviction that we are in the right path to become a more agile Company and deliver an even better user experience to our partner schools, students, and parents. Our commitment to efficiency led us to deliver the adjusted EBITDA margin for 2021 within the guidance, despite numerous challenges, and we believe this will allow us to improve profitability and cash generation this year and in the years to come. I would like to thank Arco’s team for their resilience and exceptional deliveries in such a difficult year”, said Ari de Sá Neto, CEO and founder of Arco.

Fourth Quarter 2021 Results

• Net revenue of R$460.8 million
• Gross profit of R$366.4 million
• Adjusted EBITDA of R$224.4 million
• Adjusted net income of R$88.7 million

Full Year Ended December 31, 2021 Results

• Net Revenue of R$1,232.1 million
• Gross Profit of R$937.7 million
• Adjusted EBITDA of R$430.9 million
• Adjusted Net Income of R$132.9 million

¹ Businesses acquired in 2021 were not considered in the 2021 adjusted EBITDA margin guidance (MeSalva!, Eduqo, Edupass, COC and Dom Bosco).

Key Messages

• Net revenues for the quarter were R$460.8 million, a 55% year-over-year increase, representing a 29.5% revenue recognition of 2022 ACV bookings. Core solutions totaled R$321.2 million (+42% YoY), while Supplemental solutions were R$139.6 million (+100% YoY). For the full year 2021, net revenues were 23% higher year-over-year, at R$1,232.1 million, with Core solutions totaling R$936.0 million (+11% YoY) and Supplemental solutions increasing 84% to R$296.1 million. Excluding the acquisitions concluded in 2021 (MeSalva!, Eduqo, Edupass and COC and Dom Bosco), net revenues increased 18% YoY in 2021.

• Gross margin for 4Q21 improved 1.9 percentage points YoY to 79.5% as our initial integration initiatives relating to the integration and improvement of our supply chain processes started to produce positive results. Gross margin for 2021 was 76.1%, versus 77.9% in 2020, as the impacts of integration initiatives in 4Q21 were offset by the 259% increase in disposal of books related to student dropouts in partner schools that impacted 9M21 results. Excluding the effect of the increased level of disposals, 2021 gross margin was 77.5%.

• Higher selling expenses excluding depreciation and amortization for 4Q21 (+53% YoY) and FY2021 (+35% YoY) reflect (i) expenses related to businesses acquired in 2021, and (ii) travel and marketing expenses, due to the resumption of traveling and marketing events, which are key to our commercial strategy. Excluding the effect of businesses acquired in 2021, selling expenses increased 40% in 4Q21 and 30% in 2021. Allowance for doubtful accounts increased 57% YoY in 4Q21 but decreased 23% YoY in 2021. Excluding businesses acquired in 2021, allowance for doubtful accounts increased 37% YoY in 4Q21, reflecting the increase in accounts receivables due to the strong commercial cycle for 2022, and decreased 27% YoY in 2021, reflecting improved cash collection processes.

• The quality of Arco’s receivables profile and strong credit and collection processes reduced allowance for doubtful accounts back to historical levels. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Arco supported its partner schools through the extension of payment terms. Delinquency also dropped to 4.1% in 2021, from 6.7% in 2020, and the coverage index remained at 13% in 2021 (flat versus 2020) and 15%, excluding receivables from transactions with no credit risk such as direct sales to parents using credit cards (also flat versus 2020).

• Higher G&A expenses excluding depreciation and amortization in 4Q21 and 2021 reflect (i) expenses related to businesses acquired in 2021, (ii) non-recurring third-party services related to these new businesses (mainly COC/Dom Bosco), and (iii) a fair value update related to Geekie’s SOP ¹ (management stock option plan). Excluding the impact of these businesses, G&A contracted 6% YoY in 4Q21 and increased 10% YoY in 2021. Excluding RSU expenses, G&A contracted 7% YoY in 4Q21 and increased 8% YoY in 2021 (contracted 17% YoY in 4Q21 and increased 4% YoY in 2021 excluding acquired businesses), reflecting initial efforts towards increased efficiency.

• Adjusted EBITDA was R$224.4 million in 4Q21, +78% YoY, and R$430.9 million in 2021, +13% YoY. As a result, the adjusted EBITDA margin was 48.7% in the quarter versus 42.5% in 4Q20, and 35.0% in 2021 versus 38.0% in 2020. Excluding the effect of businesses acquired in 2021, which were not included in the margin guidance, adjusted EBITDA margin for 2021 was 36.0% for 2021, within the 35.5% and 37.5% margin guidance.

• Adjusted net income in 4Q21 was R$88.7 million, 25% above 4Q20, with an adjusted net margin of 19.2%. In 2021, adjusted net income totaled R$132.9 million, 32% below 2020, impacted by lower revenue recognition in the first 9 months of 2021 and higher finance expenses, leading to an adjusted net margin of 10.8%. For purposes of the calculation of adjusted net income for 2021, we have excluded certain adjustments that we applied to the calculation of adjusted net income for prior periods. These adjustments will not be applied to the calculation of adjusted net income going forward. The adjustments are as follows: (i) Interest on acquisition of investments linked to a fixed rate, as it is similar to the cost of a finance line in which proceeds are used in M&A activities; (ii) Foreign exchange on cash and cash equivalents, as it is part of Arco’s cash management as an FPI; and (iii) Share of loss of equity?accounted investees, as despite not being controlled by Arco, these businesses are strategic to the company. We believe that eliminating these adjustments from our calculation of adjusted net income for 2021 and going forward does not impact investors’ ability to assess our operational results. We note that we have not retroactively restated net adjusted income for periods prior to 2021, but that we are excluding these adjustments from adjusted net income for 4Q20 and 2020 as indicated/ presented in this press release for comparison purposes only.

• Arco delivered a healthy operating profit in 2021, but the year required strategical use of cash with a long-term mindset. Cash flow from operations was mainly impacted by working capital: (i) higher receivables reflect the strong growth for 2022 and the addition of COC & Dom Bosco to the portfolio; and (ii) higher inventory as a result of the student dropouts at our partner schools associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The free cash flow was impacted by higher CAPEX as: (i) despite lower-than-expected revenues in 2021, our investment plan for content development and technology remained a priority as we prepared to benefit from the expected positive scenario post- COVID-19 pandemic; and (ii) we had a one-time PP&E addition due to a temporary change to the financing format of one of Geekie’s product, initial investments in COC & Dom Bosco and ArcoTech.

Quarter analysis

Annual analysis

• Arco’s corporate restructuring is ongoing. We expect to incorporate the recently acquired COC/Dom Bosco in 2022, followed by Pleno and Escola da Inteligência. As we keep incorporating other businesses into CBE ( Companhia Brasileira de Educação e Sistemas de Ensino , our wholly owned entity which incorporates acquired businesses) we will be able to capture additional tax benefits and therefore expect to further reduce our effective tax rate, currently at 17.8% for 2021 (versus 25.5% for 2020).

• Arco’s cash and cash equivalents plus financial investments position of R$1,184 million is currently adequate to meet obligations for the year of R$1,028 million in debt and accounts payable to selling shareholders. Arco finished the period with a Net Debt/Adjusted EBITDA of 3.9x and we expect this ratio to gradually decrease as Arco generates more cash on the back of stronger results. As a subsequent event, on January 3, 2022, Arco repaid a loan in full through one of its subsidiaries in the amount of R$202 million.

• We had a very strong commercial cycle outcome for the 2022 school year, with a clear acceleration in the pace of organic growth versus 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic scenario in Brazil improved significantly. Our 2022 ACV bookings were R$1,560 million, above the guidance range of R$1,475 million to R$1,515 million provided in the 3Q21 earnings release, representing a 46% growth versus 2021 pro forma net revenues of R$1,069 million (2021 cycle net revenues of R$1,057 million plus annualized revenues of businesses acquired in 2021 of R$12 million), or 32% organic growth. We are confident we will be able to recognize revenues in line with ACV bookings in 2022 as partner schools gradually see their operations return to full capacity.

• Arco’s main priorities for 2022 include:

1) Use the power of our platform to boost growth;
2) Integrate to unlock efficiencies and benefits of scale;
3) Improve cash generation to strengthen our balance sheet and allow for future investments?; and
4) Continue expanding disclosure on ESG initiatives and increase our impact?.

• Arco has today released its 2021 ESG report, in which we are detailing our 2025 Goals, listing our projects to achieve it, and updating the main metrics in our three material pillars:

Impact on Education: We have increased our number of students in 2022 to 2.3 mm from 1.8 mm in 2021; our core NPS increased to 84 from 82; and students approved in universities through SISU grew 27%. Our priorities for the year are to measure the evolution in learning in our partner schools and increase the number of students learnings 21st century skills.

Focus on People: We are launching two internal initiatives regarding diversity: a mentoring program among senior female leaders and other women in the path to assume those positions and a Racial Diversity Learning Group to expand our teams’ knowledge on the theme. Our priorities for the year are to reduce the turnover, increase the employees’ NPS and strengthen our diversity programs.

Strong & Sustainable Structure: We have reduced in 72% the number of our suppliers aiming increased efficiency and sustainability in our supply chain, and our paper is 100% FSC certified. Our priorities for the year are to map our paper life cycle and to start measuring our carbon emissions.

For further information, please see our 2021 ESG Report published on our IR website ( https://investor.arcoplatform.com/esg/ ) .

Conference Call Information

Arco will discuss its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2021 results today, March 31, 2022, via a conference call at 6 p.m. Eastern Time (7 p.m. Brasilia Time). To access the call, please dial: +1 (412) 717-9627, +1 (844) 204-8942 or +55 (11) 4090-1621. An audio replay of the call will be available through April 6, 2021, by dialing +55 (11) 3193-1012 and entering access code 1608874#. A live and archived webcast of the call will be available on the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website at https://investor.arcoplatform.com/ .

Information related to COVID-19 pandemic

As of December 31, 2021, there was a total net impact of R$1,798 thousand on the Company's condensed consolidated financial statements related to the COVID-19 pandemic, mainly related to: (i) additional expenses of R$2,071 thousand related to health care in food and emotional health programs provided to the Company’s employees, and (ii) savings on rent concessions, in connection with leased buildings, as a direct consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, amounting to R$273 thousand.

The Company assessed the existence of potential impairment indicators and the possible impacts on the key assumptions and projections caused by the pandemic on the recoverability of long-lived assets and concluded that there are no indications that demonstrate the need to recognize a provision for impairment of long-lived assets in the consolidated financial statements.

The future impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on an ongoing basis is still uncertain, and the Company’s management team will continue to closely monitor and assess the potential impacts it may have on the Company’s business, its financial performance and position.

For full disclosure regarding the COVID-19 discussion, please refer to the December 31, 2021, condensed consolidated financial statements submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Form 6-K.

About Arco Platform Limited (Nasdaq: ARCE)

Arco has empowered hundreds of thousands of students to rewrite their futures through education. Our data-driven learning methodology, proprietary adaptable curriculum, interactive hybrid content, and high-quality pedagogical services allow students to personalize their learning experience while enabling schools to thrive.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements as pertains to Arco Platform Limited (the “Company”) within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, the Company’s expectations or predictions of future financial or business performance conditions. The achievement or success of the matters covered by statements herein involves substantial known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, including with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic. If any such risks or uncertainties materialize or if any of the assumptions prove incorrect, the Company’s results could differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the statements we make. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Forward looking statements are made based on the Company’s current expectations and projections relating to its financial conditions, result of operations, plans, objectives, future performance and business, and these statements are not guarantees of future performance.

Statements which herein address activities, events, conditions or developments that the Company expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. You can generally identify forward-looking statements by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “can,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “evaluate,” “expect,” “explore,” “forecast,” “guidance,” “intend,” “likely,” “may,” “might,” “outlook,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “probable,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “view,” or “will,” or the negative thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology. All statements other than statements of historical fact could be deemed forward looking, including risks and uncertainties related to statements about our competition; our ability to attract, upsell and retain customers; our ability to increase the price of our solutions; our ability to expand our sales and marketing capabilities; general market, political, economic, and business conditions in Brazil or abroad; and our financial targets which include revenue, share count and other IFRS measures, as well as non-IFRS financial measures including Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Adjusted Net Income (Loss), Adjusted Net Income (Loss) Margin, Taxable Income Reconciliation and Free Cash Flow.

Forward-looking statements represent the Company management’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date such statements are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.

Further information on these and other factors that could affect the Company’s financial results is included in filings the Company makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time, including the section titled “Risk Factors” in the Company’s most recent Forms 20-F and 6-K. These documents are available on the SEC Filings section of the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website at: https://investor.arcoplatform.com/

Key Business Metrics

ACV Bookings: we define ACV Bookings as the revenue we would contractually expect to recognize from a partner school in each school year pursuant to the terms of our contract with such partner school, assuming no further additions or reductions in the number of enrolled students that will access our content at such partner school in such school year (we define “school year” for purposes of calculation of ACV Bookings as the twelve-month period starting in October of the previous year to September of the mentioned current year). We calculate ACV Bookings by multiplying the number of enrolled students at each partner school with the average ticket per student per year; the related number of enrolled students and average ticket per student per year are each calculated in accordance with the terms of each contract with the related partner school.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement the Company's condensed consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board—IASB, we use Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Net Income Margin, Free Cash Flow and Taxable Income Reconciliation which are non-GAAP financial measures.

We calculate Adjusted EBITDA as profit (loss) for the year (or period) plus/minus income taxes, plus/minus finance result, plus depreciation and amortization, plus/minus share of (profit) loss of equity-accounted investees, plus share-based compensation plan and restricted stock units, plus provision for payroll taxes (restricted stock units), plus M&A expenses, plus non-recurring expenses and plus effects related to COVID-19 pandemic. We calculate Adjusted EBITDA Margin as Adjusted EBITDA divided by Net Revenue.

We calculate Adjusted Net Income as profit (loss) for the year plus share-based compensation plan, restricted stock units and related payroll taxes (restricted stock units) plus amortization of intangible assets from business combinations (which refers to the amortization of the following intangible assets from business combinations: (i) rights on contracts, (ii) customer relationships, (iii) educational system, (iv) trademarks, (v) non-compete agreement and (vi) software resulting from acquisitions), plus/minus changes in fair value of derivative instruments (which refers to (i) changes in fair value of derivative instruments—finance income, plus (ii) changes in fair value of derivative instruments—finance costs), plus/minus changes in accounts payable to selling shareholders (which refers to changes in fair value of contingent consideration and accounts payable to selling shareholders—finance costs), plus interest income (expenses), net (which refers to interest expenses related to accounts payable to selling shareholders from business combinations adjusted by fair value), plus/minus changes in current and deferred tax recognized in statements of income applied to all adjustments to net income (which refers to tax effects of changes in deferred tax assets and liabilities recognized in profit or loss corresponding to financial instruments from acquisition of interests, tax benefit from tax deductible goodwill, share-based compensation and amortization of intangible assets), plus M&A expenses (which refers to non-recurring expenses related to the acquisitions of the year), plus non-recurring expenses, which are related to legal services (mainly due to International School arbitration) and consulting expenses for Sarbanes-Oxley implementation, plus effects related to COVID-19 pandemic, which includes the revision of the Company’s estimated credit losses from its trade receivables based on expected increases in financial default and in unemployment rates in Brazil for the year.

For purposes of the calculation of Adjusted Net Income for the year ended December 31, 2021, we have excluded the following adjustments that we applied to the calculation of Adjusted Net Income for prior periods: (i) Foreign exchange effects on cash and cash equivalents; (ii) share of loss of equity?accounted investees and (iii) Interest income (expenses) linked to a fixed rate (we will maintain the adjustment for Interest income (expenses) that refers to adjustments by fair value). These adjustments will not be applied to the calculation of Adjusted Net Income going forward. We believe that eliminating these adjustments from our calculation of Adjusted Net Income for the year ended December 31, 2021 and going forward does not impact our investors’ ability to assess our results of operations. We have not retroactively restated Net Adjusted Income for the periods prior to 2021.

We calculate Free Cash Flow as Net Cash Flows from Operating activities, less acquisition of property and equipment, less acquisition of intangible assets. We consider Free Cash Flow to be a liquidity measure that provides useful information to management and investors about the amount of cash generated by operating activities and cash used for investments in property and equipment required to maintain and grow our business.

We calculate Taxable Income Reconciliation as profit (loss) for the year (or period) adjusted for permanent and temporary additions and exclusions (for example, adjustments to provisions and amortizations in the period) and for all tax benefits that Arco is entitled to (for example, goodwill). The effective tax rate will be the current taxes for the period divided by the taxable income. In Brazil, taxes are charged based on the taxable income, not the accounting income, which means companies can have an accounting loss and a taxable profit. Additionally, Arco owns several companies and taxes are calculated individually.

We understand that, although Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Net Income Margin, Free Cash Flow and Taxable Income Reconciliation are used by investors and securities analysts in their evaluation of companies, these measures have limitations as analytical tools, and you should not consider them in isolation or as substitutes for analysis of our results of operations as reported under IFRS. Additionally, our calculations of Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Net Income Margin, Free Cash Flow and Taxable Income Reconciliation may be different from the calculation used by other companies, including our competitors in the education services industry, and therefore, our measures may not be comparable to those of other companies.