ChinaCast Education Corporation Provides Business Update Summary and Reiterates Annual Guidance

BEIJING, Oct. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- ChinaCast Education ("ChinaCast" or the "Company", Nasdaq GS: CAST), a leading post-secondary education and e-learning services provider in China, today provided a summary of relevant information provided on its shareholder update conference call with investors last Thursday, October 6, 2011, in order to maintain full disclosure practices.

• For the 2011-2012 academic year starting September 2011, post-secondary student enrollment for its Traditional University Group ("TUG") business segment increased 9% year-over-year to over 35,000 total students.  Average tuition rates are expected to increase by approximately 5% year-over-year.
• ChinaCast expects to invest approximately 200 million RMB (US$31.3 million) over the next 12 to 18 months to expand the capacity of the Foreign Trade and Business College ("FTBC") campus from 15,000 to 20,000 students and the Lijiang College ("LJC") campus from 10,000 to 15,000 students.
• The Company received the official renewal licenses from the PRC Ministry of Information Industry for its VSAT satellite and internet content provider telecom/IT services. The licenses are required for ChinaCast to operate its nationwide distance learning services which are part of the E-Learning Group business segment ("ELG").  The renewal of the licenses had no effect on the ELG service operations.

For the fiscal year ending December 31, 2011, the Company reiterates its guidance as follows:

• Total net revenue will be between $97 million to $99 million representing a year-on-year increase of at least 24%.
• Adjusted net income excluding share-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangibles, gain on disposal of property and equipment and impairment expenses (non-GAAP) is expected to be at the higher end of $32 million to $34 million representing a year-on-year increase of at least 25%.
• Based on the current weighted average shares and the higher tax rate accrual used in computation, adjusted diluted EPS (non-GAAP) is expected to be at the higher end of $0.64 to $0.68.
• Adjusted EBITDA excluding share-based compensation (non-GAAP) is expected to be at the higher end of $50 million to $52 million representing a year-on-year increase of at least 25%.

Ron Chan, Chairman and CEO of ChinaCast Education explained, "It is our intention to always maintain full transparency with our shareholders.  Since we know not everyone was able to participate in the call last Thursday, we took the proactive approach to publicly disclose the material information discussed.  Our business remains strong and we look forward to providing our shareholders further updates to our business when we report our third quarter earnings in early November."

About ChinaCast Education Corporation

Established in 1999, ChinaCast Education Corporation is a leading for-profit, post-secondary education and e-learning services provider in China. The Company provides post-secondary degree and diploma programs through its three fully accredited universities:  The Foreign Trade and Business College of Chongqing Normal University located in Chongqing; Lijiang College of Guangxi Normal University located in Guilin; and Hubei Industrial University Business College located in Wuhan.  These universities offer four year and three year, career-oriented bachelor's degree and diploma programs in business, finance, economics, law, IT, engineering, hospitality and tourism management, advertising, language studies, art and music.

The Company also provides e-learning services to post-secondary institutions, K-12 schools, government agencies and corporate enterprises via its nationwide satellite broadband network. These services include interactive distance learning applications, multimedia education content delivery and vocational training courses. The Company is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market with the ticker symbol CAST.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release may contain statements that are forward-looking, as that term is defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements express our current expectations or forecasts of possible future results or events, including projections of future performance, statements of management's plans and objectives, future contracts, and forecasts of trends and other matters. These projections, expectations and trends are dependent on certain risks and uncertainties including such factors, among others, as growth in demand for education services, smooth and timely implementation of new training centers and other risk factors listed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this filing, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise such statements to reflect new circumstances or unanticipated events as they occur. You can identify these statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historic or current facts and often use words such as "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "believe," "will likely result," "outlook," "project" and other words and expressions of similar meaning. No assurance can be given that the results in any forward-looking statements will be achieved and actual results could be affected by one or more factors, which could cause them to differ materially. For these statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act.

Contact:

ChinaCast Education Corporation
Michael Santos, President-International
+1-347-482-1588
[email protected]

MZ-HCI
Ted Haberfield, President
+1-760-755-2716
[email protected]  

SOURCE ChinaCast Education Corporation