Balance Sheet, Cash Flow and Capital Structure
Laureate has a strong financial position with significant liquidity. As of December 31, 2021, Laureate had $324.8 million of cash, and gross debt of $157.3 million. Accordingly, total cash, net of debt, was $167.5 million as of December 31, 2021.
In addition, $74 million of the Walden sale transaction value was paid into an escrow account, which will be released in full or in part to Laureate in August 2022 pursuant to the terms and conditions of the escrow agreement.
As previously announced, in connection with the adoption of a plan of partial liquidation providing for the distribution of the net proceeds from the sale of Walden University, on October 29, 2021, Laureate made a special cash distribution of approximately $1.3 billion in the aggregate, equal to $7.01 per share, and on December 28, 2021, Laureate made a special cash distribution of approximately $0.1 billion in the aggregate, equal to $0.58 per share.
Outlook for Fiscal 2022
Based on the current foreign exchange spot rates2, Laureate currently expects its full-year 2022 results to be as follows:
| • | | Total enrollments expected to be in the range of 405,000 to 415,000 students, reflecting growth of 5%-7% on an organic basis versus 2021; |
| • | | Revenues expected to be in the range of $1,169 million to $1,194 million, reflecting growth of 8%-10% on an organic constant currency basis versus 2021; and |
| • | | Adjusted EBITDA expected to be in the range of $320 million to $330 million, reflecting growth of 19%-22% on an organic constant currency basis versus 2021 (up 26%-30% on an as-reported basis). |
Reconciliations of forward-looking non-GAAP measures, specifically the 2022 Adjusted EBITDA outlook, to the relevant forward-looking GAAP measures are not being provided, as Laureate does not currently have sufficient data to accurately estimate the variables and individual adjustments for such outlooks and reconciliations. Due to this uncertainty, the Company cannot reconcile projected Adjusted EBITDA to projected net income without unreasonable effort.
Please see the “Forward-Looking Statements” section in this release for a discussion of certain risks related to this outlook.
Conference Call
Laureate will host an earnings conference call today at 8:30 am ET. Interested parties are invited to listen to the earnings call by dialing 1-855-307-2849 (for U.S.-based callers) or 1-703-639-1262 (for international callers), and requesting to join the Laureate conference call, conference ID 1958307. Replays of the entire call will be available through March 3, 2022 at 1-855-859-2056 (for U.S.-based callers) and at 1-404-537-3406 (for international callers), conference ID 1958307. The webcast of the conference call, including replays, and a copy of this press release and the related slides will be made available through the Investor Relations section of Laureate’s website at www.laureate.net.
2 Based on actual FX rates for January 2022, and current spot FX rates (local currency per U.S. Dollar) of MXN 20.56 and PEN 3.86 for February - December 2022. FX impact may change based on fluctuations in currency rates in future periods.