Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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And this itself, as we are still growing both B2P and B2B, we can get this more efficient and get more margins as well. All of them being supported by this zero budget product, a project that we implemented for the budget of 2024. We are very confident that we can gain some efficiencies on the holding levels in each one of the segments that will be supported. And that’s why we established this guidance that is implied in the midpoint of the guidance, as you mentioned, margin expansion.

Virgilio Gibbon: Lucca, just an additional point about the dynamic on undergrad here. If you remember, during the three first quarters, we were losing margin, gross margins on the undergrad segment. And the reason of that was not only because of the physician, but most of them come from the maturation, the maturation of the six Mais Medicos campuses that was launched in 2022. In 2021, they were maturing as they have only 60 seats. The margin coming from these campuses was very low. The gross margin coming from this campus was lower. And then in the fourth quarter, if you take a look on the spreadsheet that we are releasing also together for our financial statement, is the first quarter that we have higher gross margin on the undergrad segment when you compare to the fourth quarter 2022. So that’s a very good trend that will keep the same trend on 2024, but also pushing that will be pushed also for the other two segments as Blanco mentioned.

Lucca Marquezini: That’s very clear. Thank you, guys.

Renata Couto: Thank you, Luca. So just a reminder, if you want to ask a question, please raise your hand. Our next question comes from Leandro Bastos from [Indiscernible]. Leandro, you may now ask.

Unidentified Analyst: Yes, thank you. Thank you, Renata. Hello, guys. Good evening. Just one question on our side. If you could comment a little bit on the latest intake cycle we have for prep courses, how you saw competition, the new strategy for Medcel, how was acceptance from the students? As much as you could share, I think it would be helpful to hear. Thank you.

Virgilio Gibbon: Leandro, thank you for your question here. So we are not tracking here only the prep course intake, but not for residency, but also all the prep for title that we are offering with another brand here, that is papers, the card papers, not only for residence, but also for title. But take a look product by product on the Medicel, there’s a focus on residency prep programs. The fourth quarter was the first quarter since the last two years that will have a higher intake and higher sales volume when you compare to the last year. On the other hand, for title prep, we are boosting our operation here when you compare to last year, growing more than 30% year-over-year when you take a look for the papers and all. All of this is combined on our digital operation. It’s one of the reasons why we also leverage margins along 2024.

Unidentified Analyst: Okay, that’s clear. Thank you so much.

Renata Couto: Thank you, Leandro. And our next question comes from Lucas Nagano from Morgan Stanley. Lucas, you may now go.

Lucas Nagano: Thank you, Renata. I have a follow up question on the Supreme Court debate. The vote by André Mendonza [ph] seemed a little open to different scenarios for us. First, does it count as a vote against the injunctions? And second, you commented on some things about reviewing the Mais Médicos policy. Does it imply any change to the current Mais Médicos program taking place now?

Virgilio Gibbon: Hi, Lucas. We are seeing the André Mendonza vote as a very strong argument against not the Mais Médicos 3, but all the noise that is coming from the injunctions. So what we still have to wait is another vote. If we have another vote against the modulation, that is the modulation to the second modulation where the Ministry of Education is allowed to analyze some injunctions process after some stage, that will finish all the questions about that. But one thing is true. All of the changes on Mais Médicos 3 is creating some noise. I hope they fulfill their schedule now and we can release our proposals by July this year and wait for the final answer in the beginning of 2025 to start working on the new campus and the new programs released to the market.

Lucas Nagano: Okay, Virgilio, thanks.

Renata Couto: We do not have any other questions. So if you want to have a follow up question, please just contact our IR team. We’ll be happy to help you. Have a good night, everyone.

Virgilio Gibbon: Thank you.

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