Florianopolis, Brazil, March 31, 2021 – Vitru Limited, or Vitru (Nasdaq: VTRU), leading pure digital education group in the post-secondary digital education market in Brazil, today reported financial and operating results for the three and 12 months period ended December 31, 2020 (fourth quarter 2020 or 4Q20 and full year of 2020 or 2020). Financial results are expressed in Brazilian Reais and are presented in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Vitru operates its hubs under the UNIASSELVI brand with almost 302 thousand students in digital education undergraduate and graduate courses, more than 3.5 thousand tutors and 709 hubs distributed throughout Brazil.
Vitru’s 2020 financial results boosted by a strong organic growth, market share increases and high quality indicators, which drove Adjusted EBITDA up 25%
To our shareholders
Pedro Graça, Vitru’s CEO, commented: “We are delighted that our full year results confirm our ability to deliver continued and sustainable growth despite all the challenges brought about by SARS COVID-19.
It has been a challenging year for most industries, including education, as well to ourselves as citizens. And I am very proud of the positive attitude and outstanding response of Vitru’s great team to keep providing a quality education experience and unparallel value proposition for our students.
Looking back to the beginning of 2020, it is possible to see how promptly Vitru adapted its processes and platforms to provide the necessary infrastructure to continue offering its hybrid classes, while at the same time the hubs, tutors and academic professionals stepped up to meet the challenges imposed by the pandemic.
This quick response is part of Vitru’s DNA. The disruptive hybrid student-centric model - which emphasizes flexibility, affordability and a strong relationship with all stakeholders engaged in our platform - is proving to be a successful strategy and delivering consistent growth across key academic, operating and financial metrics.
Vitru ended 2020 with 310 thousand enrolled students – 97% of them in digital education – representing a 28.5% growth over 2019 students base. Intake in our core business (Digital Education - or DE – Undergraduate) reached 132.0 thousand new students in the first half of 2020 and 109.4 thousand new students in the second half of the year, an increase of 30% and 40%, respectively when compared to the corresponding intake cycles of 2019. These increases, combined with the continued maturation of our hubs, have driven the 26% year over year growth in the Net Revenue of the Digital Education Undergraduate segment in 2020. Moreover, the Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA margin increased to 28.2% in 2020 vs 25.5% in 2019, given the continued improvement of our operational leverage.
Importantly, 2020 was a year with plenty of milestones to be celebrated. In September 2020, Vitru completed its initial public offering (IPO), becoming the sixth company in Brazil to have its shares traded on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange in the United States. Through a primary offering we raised US$96 million, which will be directed mainly to fund inorganic growth opportunities.
We have also developed and launched a new version of our Digital Platform for Content Delivery, aiming at improving even further the user’s experience, including through certain adaptative learning concepts. Our Leo app, which provides full mobile access for our students, was also upgraded throughout last year to bring even more flexibility and optionality in the academic journey. All our digital content is available in this mobile-friendly platform, in which the student has integrated support through WhatsApp and can also perform administrative and transactional tasks related to their studies. Besides, the internet access is paid by Uniasselvi, so the student has no additional cost to exploit the full capacity of the new Leo app.
In October, the most recent post-secondary education census was released by the Brazilian Ministry of Education (MEC), with figures as of 2019. It has confirmed that, in 2019, Vitru was the #1 pure distance