RYB Education (RYB.US), a leading early childhood education service provider in China, announced it unaudited financial results for the first quarter of 2020. Total net revenues decreased by 49.5% to $17.3 million, compared with $34.3 million for the first quarter of 2019. Net loss increased by 1092.6% to $32.01 million, compared with $2.694 million for the same period last year. Cash used in operating activities was $14.0 million, compared with $13.2 million generated from operating activities during the first quarter of 2019.
Net revenues come from services and products. Service revenues in Q1 2020 decreased by 47.3% to $16.8 million, from $31.8 million for the same quarter of 2019, which is mainly due to reduced tuition fees as the company closed the facilities in China amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Besides, the number of students enrolled at directly operated kindergartens was 31,251, compared with 30,806 in 2019.
The financial report also pointed out that due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Singapore, RYB Education temporarily suspended school operations in April and May 2020. During these two months, the company received relief aid or subsidy from the Singapore government and is currently expected to reopen its facilities in Singapore, starting in early June 2020.
As business operations are gradually recovering and local authorities have announced back-to-school schedules, the company expects that the majority of their kindergartens and offline centers will be able to resume operations. With various cost-control measures, the company predicts that in the second quarter of 2020, the net revenues will be between $11.0 million and $11.8 million in the second quarter of 2020.
Gu Hao, the CFO of RYB Education, said that the company would adopt a set of actions including strict cost control measures and more prudent investment strategies to ease the shocks triggered by the coronavirus. In the future, the company will continue to upgrade its educational services and products, primarily through digital technology to improve learning experiences and strive to achieve long-term values.