Jinwu Financial News | New Oriental (09901) announced that for the third quarter ended February 29, 2024, net profit attributable to shareholders was US$87.167 million, up 6.8% year on year; operating profit of US$113 million, up 70.6% year on year; and non-GAAP operating profit was US$142 million, up 60.3% year on year. New Oriental should account for basic net profit of $0.53 per ADS.
During the period, net revenue was US$1,257 million, an increase of 60.1% over the previous year, mainly due to the company's new education-related business and the increase in revenue driven by Oriental Select's proprietary products and live streaming e-commerce business. In addition, the Group achieved net revenue of US$3.177 billion in the first nine months of fiscal year 2024, an increase of 48.6% year on year; net profit attributable to shareholders of US$283 million, an increase of 90.5% year on year; and New Oriental's basic net profit per ADS of US$1.71.
New Oriental expects total net revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024 (March 1, 2024 to May 31, 2024) to be between US$1,102 billion and US$1,127 million, with a year-on-year increase of between 28% and 31%. Net revenue in RMB is expected to increase by between 34% and 37% in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024.
As of February 29, 2024, the total number of schools and learning centers was 911, an increase of 68 compared with 843 as of November 30, 2023; compared with 712 as of February 28, 2023, an increase of 199. As of February 29, 2024, the total number of schools was 81.
On July 26, 2022, New Oriental's board of directors authorized a share repurchase plan. The company can repurchase the company's American depository shares or common shares for an amount not exceeding US$400 million between July 28, 2022 and May 31, 2023. The company's board of directors further authorized the extension of its share repurchase program for 12 months until May 31, 2024. As of April 23, 2024, the company has repurchased approximately 6 million American depository shares in the open market in accordance with the share repurchase plan, with a total value of about US$195 million.