HK/China Equity Long-Short

Osbert Tang, CFA

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

In Sep, various ministries and local governments have announced detailed regulations or opinion-seeking drafts for the implementation of central government's "Double Reduction" Opinions. The areas that covered by these regulations range from the qualifications of tutors to the advance collection of tuition fees. While this should be anticipated, we think there is risk of regulatory overshoot which will put further pressure on the after-school tutoring companies like <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/new-oriental-education-technology-group" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:32210:1" rel="noopener">New Oriental Education &amp; Technology Group (9901 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tal-education-group" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1124:1" rel="noopener">TAL Education (TAL US)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/gaotu-techedu-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28069:1" rel="noopener">Gaotu Techedu (GOTU US)</a>.We can see that the regulations are all targeted on off-campus after-school tutoring but not on the higher and vocational segment. In this regard, we believe <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-education-group-holdin" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18218:1" rel="noopener">China Education Group (839 HK)</a>, which focused on higher education, and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-east-education-holdings" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27843:1" rel="noopener">China East Education (667 HK)</a>, which focused on vocational training, are better positioned in this wave of regulatory crackdown.

In Sep, various ministries and local governments have announced detailed regulations or opinion-seeking drafts for the implementation of central government's "Double Reduction" Opinions. The areas that covered by these regulations range from the qualifications of tutors to the advance collection of tuition fees. While this should be anticipated, we think there is risk of regulatory overshoot which will put further pressure on the after-school tutoring companies like New Oriental Education &amp; Technology Group (9901 HK), TAL Education (TAL US) and Gaotu Techedu (GOTU US).We can see that the regulations are all targeted on off-campus after-school tutoring but not on the higher and vocational segment. In this regard, we believe China Education Group (839 HK), which focused on higher education, and China East Education (667 HK), which focused on vocational training, are better positioned in this wave of regulatory crackdown.

China Private Education: More Regulations Rolled Out Backing "Double Reduction"

Equity Bottom-Up

We take the recent newsflow on business development at <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-education-group-holdin" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18218:1" rel="noopener">China Education Group (839 HK)</a> positively. While the market may still skeptical towards the company due to the sector's regulatory worries, CEG is standing in a better position than many of its peers given its focus on the vocational and higher education segment. In our view, the beaten-down performance of CEG's share price is not justified, and it is an interesting time to look at its long-term promising outlook now.   The 58% increase in approval higher education enrollment quota for 2021/2022 academic year, upside from contribution of the newly added Chengdu Jincheng College, support from banks and IFC through provisions of seven-year loan facilities at low pricing, rapid execution of M&amp;A and further potential pipeline acquisitions all lend support to CEG's business prospects amid a turbulent time. Our belief is that at 13.5x PER for FY22, CEG is inexpensively priced relative to growth.

We take the recent newsflow on business development at China Education Group (839 HK) positively. While the market may still skeptical towards the company due to the sector's regulatory worries, CEG is standing in a better position than many of its peers given its focus on the vocational and higher education segment. In our view, the beaten-down performance of CEG's share price is not justified, and it is an interesting time to look at its long-term promising outlook now.   The 58% increase in approval higher education enrollment quota for 2021/2022 academic year, upside from contribution of the newly added Chengdu Jincheng College, support from banks and IFC through provisions of seven-year loan facilities at low pricing, rapid execution of M&amp;A and further potential pipeline acquisitions all lend support to CEG's business prospects amid a turbulent time. Our belief is that at 13.5x PER for FY22, CEG is inexpensively priced relative to growth.

China Education (839 HK): More Flows of Positive Development

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-education-group-holdin" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18218:1" rel="noopener">China Education Group (839 HK)</a> (CEG) reported an impressive 50.2% YoY growth in its adjusted net profit for 1H21, driven by the combination of good organic momentum and contribution from new schools added. By segment, higher education and global education are the key underpinning factors, as vocational education enrollment has disrupted more by COVID-19.In the post-1H21 result call, management revealed that 6 M&amp;A projects are now in advance discussion and expects many of them can be concluded in this year. This will add to the organic growth backed by higher enrollment, increase in tuition and efficiency enhancement. We take the guidance of a 32-41% of adjusted net profit growth for FY21 positively, and so is the market as the share price was up 7% so far today. Its valuation multiples are highly justified by the earnings growth prospects, execution capability and quality management, in our view.

China Education Group (839 HK) (CEG) reported an impressive 50.2% YoY growth in its adjusted net profit for 1H21, driven by the combination of good organic momentum and contribution from new schools added. By segment, higher education and global education are the key underpinning factors, as vocational education enrollment has disrupted more by COVID-19.In the post-1H21 result call, management revealed that 6 M&amp;A projects are now in advance discussion and expects many of them can be concluded in this year. This will add to the organic growth backed by higher enrollment, increase in tuition and efficiency enhancement. We take the guidance of a 32-41% of adjusted net profit growth for FY21 positively, and so is the market as the share price was up 7% so far today. Its valuation multiples are highly justified by the earnings growth prospects, execution capability and quality management, in our view.

China Education Group (839 HK): Encouraging Takeaways from 1H21 Result Call

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-yuhua-education" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:23627:1" rel="noopener">China Yuhua Education (6169 HK)</a> posted a 39.7% YoY growth in adjusted net profit as its higher education segment turned into a key earnings engine. Decent 4pp margin expansion was achieved from higher enrollment, hike in tuition and excellent cost control. We also saw an impressive 127.8% YoY increase in operating cash flow.Management points to further margin expansion for most of its universities, and this will drive contribution to net profit (91% of 1H21 profit from higher education). While M&amp;A activities have slowed, organic growth is expected to stay at least at 25% for the near term. Given its sufficient capacity, there is no need for fund raising from the market. In our view, its 16.3x PER and 4.8x P/B (FY21F ROE: 32%) are highly justified, and Yuhua Education remains one of our top picks as stated in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/china-private-education-this-is-where-the-future-lies" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:48727" rel="noopener">China Private Education: This Is Where the Future Lies</a>.

China Yuhua Education (6169 HK) posted a 39.7% YoY growth in adjusted net profit as its higher education segment turned into a key earnings engine. Decent 4pp margin expansion was achieved from higher enrollment, hike in tuition and excellent cost control. We also saw an impressive 127.8% YoY increase in operating cash flow.Management points to further margin expansion for most of its universities, and this will drive contribution to net profit (91% of 1H21 profit from higher education). While M&amp;A activities have slowed, organic growth is expected to stay at least at 25% for the near term. Given its sufficient capacity, there is no need for fund raising from the market. In our view, its 16.3x PER and 4.8x P/B (FY21F ROE: 32%) are highly justified, and Yuhua Education remains one of our top picks as stated in China Private Education: This Is Where the Future Lies. 

China Yuhua Education (6169 HK): Decent 1H21, Key Takeaways from Post-Result Call

The China Private Education Sector presents an exciting growth story, riding on the increase in spending on education, rise in demand for quality education, support from local governments for private investments and increase in acceptance towards online delivery mode, among others. These positive factors, however, are balanced by the decrease in birth rates and the tight regulatory regime. Despite so, we continue to see good prospects given that earnings growth will remain ahead of the overall market by significant magnitude. Meanwhile, valuations have already returned to more reasonable levels, with investment value started to emerge on some names.Companies in the sector have different focuses, including K-12 education, higher education, vocational education, tutoring (online) and tutoring (online and offline), and we have to be very selective. We prefer companies that focus on higher education which face lower regulatory risks, have a clear defined expansion strategy and specialise in a niche market segment. Out of the ten companies covered in this Smartkarma Original, we put forward <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-education-group-holdin" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18218:1" rel="noopener">China Education Group (839 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tianli-education-internation" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27210:1" rel="noopener">Tianli Education (1773 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-yuhua-education" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:23627:1" rel="noopener">China Yuhua Education (6169 HK)</a> as our top picks.<h2>What's Original?</h2>This Smartkarma Original takes an in-depth analysis on 10 companies in the Private Education Sector in China, covering stocks listed in the HKEx, NYSE, Shenzhen Stock Exchange as well as dual listings. In the A-share space, we cover <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/wuhu-yaxia-automobile-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:9979:1" rel="noopener">Offcn Education Technology (002607 CH)</a>, which is sizeable (market cap of almost HK$210bn) and with unique exposure to the civil servants recruitment examination training.Besides addressing the key evolving trends of the industry and the all-important regulatory issues, we also touched on the private funding aspects for some prominent unlisted companies and the IPO trends of the industry. Where appropriate, we share some of our on-ground experiences with the aim to provide a closer feel on the industry and companies. We hope this Smartkarma Original will be a comprehensive and updated reference for China's Private Education Sector.

The China Private Education Sector presents an exciting growth story, riding on the increase in spending on education, rise in demand for quality education, support from local governments for private investments and increase in acceptance towards online delivery mode, among others. These positive factors, however, are balanced by the decrease in birth rates and the tight regulatory regime. Despite so, we continue to see good prospects given that earnings growth will remain ahead of the overall market by significant magnitude. Meanwhile, valuations have already returned to more reasonable levels, with investment value started to emerge on some names.Companies in the sector have different focuses, including K-12 education, higher education, vocational education, tutoring (online) and tutoring (online and offline), and we have to be very selective. We prefer companies that focus on higher education which face lower regulatory risks, have a clear defined expansion strategy and specialise in a niche market segment. Out of the ten companies covered in this Smartkarma Original, we put forward China Education Group (839 HK), Tianli Education (1773 HK) and China Yuhua Education (6169 HK) as our top picks.What's Original?This Smartkarma Original takes an in-depth analysis on 10 companies in the Private Education Sector in China, covering stocks listed in the HKEx, NYSE, Shenzhen Stock Exchange as well as dual listings. In the A-share space, we cover Offcn Education Technology (002607 CH), which is sizeable (market cap of almost HK$210bn) and with unique exposure to the civil servants recruitment examination training.Besides addressing the key evolving trends of the industry and the all-important regulatory issues, we also touched on the private funding aspects for some prominent unlisted companies and the IPO trends of the industry. Where appropriate, we share some of our on-ground experiences with the aim to provide a closer feel on the industry and companies. We hope this Smartkarma Original will be a comprehensive and updated reference for China's Private Education Sector.

China Private Education: This Is Where the Future Lies

China

Offcn Education Technology Co Ltd offers education training services. The Company provides civil servants, institutions, and teachers training services. Offcn Education Technology mainly operates businesses in China

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Offcn Education Technology (002607 CH)

China Private Education: More Regulations Rolled Out Backing "Double Reduction"

More detailed regulations on after-school tutoring have been rolled out by various ministries and local governments in Sep. The higher education...

Osbert Tang, CFA

China Education (839 HK): More Flows of Positive Development

Good enrollment quota growth, confidence from banking community and IFC and rapid execution of M&As are driving FY22 outlook for CEG, and this...

Osbert Tang, CFA

China Education Group (839 HK): Encouraging Takeaways from 1H21 Result Call

After the good 1H21 result, CEG continues to suggest a robust outlook for the rest of the year, and guided for good full-year growth. More M&As are...

Osbert Tang, CFA

China Yuhua Education (6169 HK): Decent 1H21, Key Takeaways from Post-Result Call

Yuhua Education should see good organic earnings prospects as it benefits from higher student enrollment, hike in tuition and cost control. There...

Osbert Tang, CFA

China Private Education: This Is Where the Future Lies

Profit growth at China Private Education Sector will speed ahead and outperform overall market significantly. With valuations retreated to more...

Osbert Tang, CFA

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