China New Higher Education Group Announces 2024 Annual Results Laying the Foundation for High-Quality Development, Shaping the Future with 'Four More' Initiatives

      (29 November 2024, Hong Kong) Leading higher education group - China New Higher Education Group Limited ("New Higher Education Group", together with its subsidiaries referred to as the "Group", stock code: 2001.HK) is pleased to announce the audited annual results of the Group for the year ended 31 August 2024 ("Reporting Period").

 

The New Higher Education Group adheres to the strategy of high-quality development, takes "enabling every student to achieve career success and life fulfillment" as its mission, "building the most student-oriented university with a century-long vision" as its vision, and providing students with "better learning outcomes, higher employment quality, better service experience and more beautiful campus environment" as its development support. The Group has made precise efforts around the key nodes of the whole process which are closely related to the growth and development of our students. The quality of education and teaching has continued to improve; high-quality employment has been fruitfully achieved and various undertakings have developed rapidly. The Group’s benefits increased steadily and  core competitiveness was significantly enhanced. During the Reporting Period, the revenue from principal business increased by 13.8% year-on-year to RMB 2.41 billion; at the same time, adjusted net profit increased by 6.1% year-on-year to RMB 0.77 billion.

 

Deepening teaching reform and comprehensively improving student learning outcomes

 

The OBE-oriented "Wonderful Classroom" Teaching Reform Competition has been launched for 15 consecutive years. The Group has insisted on a rewarding mechanism for outstanding lessons and cross-school teaching and research, which has continuously stimulated teachers' enthusiasm for nurturing by focusing on the classroom and innovation. This year, the Group won 263 awards for teaching competitions out of 53 events recognized by the Ministry of Education, which has strongly guaranteed that students will get "better learning outcomes". The Group continues to deepen the integration of industry and education, with more than 1,000 industry-leading enterprises carrying out in-depth school-enterprise cooperation, and newly added 804 school-enterprise co-operation units and 272 interns practice bases. The Group intensified its efforts in professional construction, added 1 high-level major group and 7 undergraduate majors that are urgently needed for local regional development, and applied for 6 new majors that closely align with market demand and the schools’ educational positioning. 22 projects were approved to Gansu School as the first batch of industry-academia cooperation and collaborative education projects in 2024, which is a record high, and the total number of approved projects which is the highest among the universities in Gansu Province. The major of dentistry as a new major introduced by Central China School in 2024 was a national-controlled major, with the minimum admission cut-off score far exceeding the provincial-controlled line and its registering rate reaching 100%.

 

Strengthening employment services and achieving remarkable results in high-quality employment

 

The Group adheres to the principle of "high-quality employment is the foundation of a school" and endeavours to provide "higher quality employment". Our schools incorporated employment guidance and career planning into the teaching program and continuously provided graduates with improvement training on employment competitiveness, further enhancing their confidence and competitiveness in the job market. Through the three Employment and Entrepreneurship Service Centre in the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Group continues to exploring enterprises and expanding placement opportunities for graduates, and open up more high-quality employment resources. As of 31 August 2024, the initial employment rate of the 2024 graduates reached 95.09%. The proportion of high-quality employment of the 2024 graduates reached 33.21%, with one out of every three graduates being employed in high-quality job, of which the number of students employed by famous companies such as the Fortune 500 and  the National Top 100 increased by 62%.Guizhou School was awarded the "Demonstration Units of Employment and Entrepreneurship for Graduates of National College and Universities (全國高校畢業生就業創業工作示範單位)"; Zhengzhou School was awarded the Provincial Gold Award and National Bronze Award of First National University Career Planning Competition (首届全國大學生職業規劃大賽); Su Wanfang, a graduate from Gansu School, was honored with the "Ministry of Education 2023-2024 academic year grass-roots employment excellence scholarships"; Yunnan School won the Ministry of Education's Excellence Award for Grassroots Employment of College Graduates for the second consecutive years;30% of the graduates of Northeast School are employed in national central enterprises and Fortune 500 enterprises; Central China School is selected as a demonstration case of employment and entrepreneurship in Hubei Province; Guangxi Schools are honored as an outstanding unit of employment and entrepreneurship in general colleges and universities in the autonomous region.

 

Increasing the high-quality of investments and laying a solid foundation for quality development

 

The Group has continued to invest in teaching workforce, teaching software and hardware, industry-teaching integration, specialised professions and student-teacher experience, with a view to creating a "more beautiful campus environment" and "stronger frontline services", and providing students with a "better service experience".  During the Reporting Period, the investment in teachers increased by 12.1% year-on-year. The number of "double-high" (high academic qualifications and high professional titles) teachers was expanded, the salaries and benefits of  "double- high" teachers were raised, and industry experts and subject leaders were introduced to create a high-quality teaching force. The Group invested more than RMB14 million cumulatively in the "Peak Experience" program at eight schools to continuously improve the experience of students and teachers, thereby greatly enhancing their satisfaction and the reputation of the schools. We have created "five-star" student flats, with 36 newly shared spaces for students, such as shared study rooms and shared kitchens, to enhance the accommodation experience of students. In addition, the Group has continued to introduce high-quality and well-known branded merchants to its campuses, adding 62 newly-admitted commercial brands, including Luckin Master Coffee Shop, Starbucks Reserve Shop and Haidilao, etc. At the same time, the Group has continued to optimize and transform the commercial landscape, resulting in a significant enhancement of students' sense of well-being in school life.

 

Further optimizing student source structure with effective enhancement of enrolment competitiveness

 

Owing to the steady implementation of the Group's high-quality development strategy, the branding effect of the Group's schools has been further highlighted and highly recognized by the authorities, the community and the industry. With a sustained growth in the average tuition fees, in the 2024/2025 academic year, the total number of students in the Group’s schools was approximately 139,000, with the proportion of new undergraduate students among the number of the newly enrolled students increasing by 4 percentage points and the proportion of undergraduate students in the total number of students increasing by 1 percentage point. In addition, the proportion of cross-provincial enrollment in the Group’s schools has increased consistently, with the minimum admission cut-off score far exceeding the provincial-controlled line. For example, in the first year of enrollment for the major of dentistry at Central China School, the minimum admission score ranked first among similar schools, with the registration rate of students reaching 100%. Guizhou School ranked first in terms of the minimum admission cut-off score among similar schools in the province in 2024. The brand competitiveness of the Group and its schools continues to strengthen.

 

Continuously implementing ESG principles to promote high-quality development of the Group

 

The Group attaches great importance to and actively implements the ESG development philosophy, integrating business development with environmental protection and ecological construction, actively fulfilling social responsibilities, optimizing the management of the Group and its schools, benchmarking international standards and global best practices for ESG, to continuously improve the overall ESG level of the Group. The ESG efforts of our Group and its schools' have also been recognized by the Government and capital markets. Yunnan School was selected as a " Green and Beautiful Campus " and a "Water-saving University", while Guizhou School and Central China School were also selected as "Water-saving Universities". The Group received an ESG score of 36 for the first time from Standard & Poor’s, one of the three major international rating agencies, ranking seventh in the world and first in China in the industry, and it is the highest score in the  education sector of China. At the same time, the Group has been selected as a member of S&P Global's "2024 Sustainability Yearbook (China)", making the Group the first and only enterprise in the diversified consumer industry to be included in the yearbook.

 

Continuing to adhere to "Four More" to create a better future, and creating value steadily

 The Group will continue to adhere to the "Four More": better learning outcomes, teaching students in accordance with their aptitude, health, positive mindset, and well-cultivated interpersonal skills; higher employment quality, providing accurate and warm services to help students find suitable platforms to achieve self-worth and contribute value; better service experience, providing warm and touching services to leave students with beautiful memories in terms of learning, living, and activities; and more beautiful campus environment, constructing a beautiful and pleasant, wise and dynamic cultural campus, to give students a stronger sense of belonging and pride.

 

Looking ahead, the Group will continue to deepen the "Three Continues": continue to increase investment to create and provide educational opportunities for high quality teaching, high quality employment and high quality experiences for our students. Guided by ESG, the Group will commit ESG philosophy, continuously and steadily create value, combine financial indicators such as stable performance growth, steady investment returns and sufficient cash flow with ESG, achieve long-term benefits and sustainable development, and achieve long-term win-win with investors. Through unremitting efforts, we will set sail towards the dream of the "most student-oriented university with a century-long vision", cultivate more high-quality talents with applied and technical skills who have comprehensive development in moral, intellectual, physical, artistic beauty, and create greater value for society, and continue to provide education that meets the satisfaction of the people.

 

 

 

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About China New Higher Education Group Limited（2001.HK）:

Founded in 1999, China New Higher Education Group is a leading higher education group in China. The Group fully implements Xi Jinping's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, implements the fundamental task of cultivating students' morality, and takes "enabling every student to achieve career success and life fulfillment" as its mission, committed to building a "the most student-oriented university with a century-long vision". The Group has 8 full-time colleges in 7 provinces across the country, with approximately 140,000 students and more than 10,000 faculty members. It has cumulatively trained more than 450,000 high-quality applied and technical talents for the society, making positive contributions to the high-quality development of national strategies and regional economies. As a leader in high-quality employment, the school of the Group have been awarded the "Top 50 in National Employment Services", "Top 100 Cases of Employment and Entrepreneurship for National College Graduates", and "Excellence Award for National College Graduates' Grassroots Employment" for multiple years in a row, with a far higher employment rate than the national average.