TAL Education Group Q4 Adj. Profit Tops View; Issues Q1 Revenue Outlook

(RTTNews) - TAL Education Group (XRS) reported that its net income attributable to the company for the fourth quarter decreased 17.8% to US$13.7 million, from US$16.7 million in the prior year quarter. Net income per ADS were US$0.17, down from US$0.21 last year.

Non-GAAP net income attributable to TAL dropped to US$19.0 million or US$0.23 per ADS from US$19.3 million or US$0.24 per ADS in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2014. On average, 5 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.21 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Quarterly net revenues were US$123.21 million, up 41.6% from US$87.00 million in the comparable quarter last year, while six analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $117.78 million. The increase was mainly driven by an increase in total student enrollments.

Total student enrollments increased by 44.4% to approximately 502,350 from approximately 348,000 in the same period of the prior year. The increase in total student enrollments was driven primarily by increases of enrollments in the small class offerings.

Looking ahead to the first quarter, the company expects total net revenues to be between US$122.0 million and US$124.6 million, representing an increase of 37% to 40% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect the company to report revenues of $117.90 million for the first-quarter.