Humansoft Holding Company K.S.C.P. ($HUMANSOFT)

Hello, everyone. This is Mirna Maher from EFG Hermes, and welcome to Humansoft's First Quarter 2026 Results Conference Call. I'm pleased to be joined today by Mr. Mayank Baxi, Vice Chairman; and Mr. Anup Dhand, CFO. We will first start the call with a quick update from management, and then we'll open the floor for the Q&A session. Mr. Baxi, please go ahead.

Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Humansoft Q1 2026 Results Conference Call. I hope you and your loved ones are keeping safe. Thank you, team at EFG for facilitating this call. I am Mayank Baxi, Vice Chairman at Humansoft; and along with our CFO, Mr. Anup Dhand, together, we would like to briefly mention some of the key highlights and then run the Q1 2026 financial highlights. And at the end, we will leave the floor open for questions and answers. At the outset, I would like to mention that any forward-looking statements or views discussed during this call are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results to differ. Humansoft does not assume any obligation to update such views or statements nor make any announcements regarding any revised circumstances. The cash dividend of 275 fils per share for the year 2025 was approved at the Humansoft Annual General Meeting of the shareholders held in March 2026 and was subsequently distributed in April 2026. Both our institutions, AUM and ACM continue to focus on enhancing students' overall development, preserving its economic achievements and leadership in the market. Subsequent to our financial year 2025 results call, several key events and achievements were made. In light of the regional situation, AUM and ACM successfully ensured the continuity of learning during spring 2026 through a seamless transition to online classes. This was achieved through the integration of online teaching, securing online exams, uninterrupted student services and comprehensive technical and economic support safeguarding the quality of learning experience. AUM successfully completed the continuous improvement review by the AACSB, securing reaccreditation for an additional 6-year cycle. This recognition confirms that all undergraduate and MBA programs within the College of Business Administration meet the highest international standards of excellence in business education. This milestone reflects a sustained commitment to academic excellence and accreditation across both AUM and ACM. The sixth edition of AUM Startup Challenge, the university's flagship entrepreneurship initiative was held in February 2026. It continues to foster innovation by enabling students to develop and present high-impact start-up ideas. The winning teams will represent AUM at the Boston -- at the Babson Global Student Challenge 2026. A range of social and academic activities were delivered both on and off campus, including participation in regional forums, innovation challenges, guest lectures and sports events. AUM and ACM continue to remain as the institutions of first choice in the measures offered by them and the top rankings enable them to attract dedicated students, robust and strengthen its leadership position in the higher education sector. Now I would like to invite Mr. Anup Dhand, CFO of Humansoft, to give a brief about Q1 2026 financial highlights.

Thank you, Mr. Baxi, and good afternoon to all the attendees. I am Anup Dhand, CFO of Humansoft, and I would like to present the financial highlights for Q1 2026. Humansoft's Q1 2026 revenue was KWD 19.1 million as compared with Q1 2025 revenue of KWD 20.2 million, mainly due to recording revenue in the first quarter of 2026 as net of the reduction in library, Internet and students activity fees for scholarship students and due to the change in the number of enrolled students. Q1 2026 EBITDA was KWD 9.5 million in comparison with Q1 2025 EBITDA of KWD 10.7 million. 2026 net profit was KWD 8.7 million in comparison with Q1 2025 net profit of KWD 9.9 million. Net profit margin for Q1 2026 was 46% and EBITDA margin for Q1 2026 was 50%. The earnings per share was 65 fils during Q1 2026 as compared to 74 fils during Q1 2025. Humansoft had a net cash position of KWD 92 million as at March 31, 2026. Total equity was KWD 82.5 million as at March 31, 2026 and the annualized return on average equity for Q1 2026 amounted to 36%. Total assets was KWD 154.1 million as at March 31, 2026. The annualized return on average assets for Q1 2026 amounted to 24%. Humansoft's fortress balance sheet, return on average assets and return on average equity provides protection and resilience and enables Humansoft to remain robust. With this, we now open the floor for questions and answers. We request that you please introduce yourself with your name and the institution you represent when you have any questions. Thank you, and over to you, EFG.

[Operator Instructions] We will take the first question from the line of [indiscernible].

I had a question -- I had a couple of questions, but I'll just go with the first one for now. We noticed that your cost of operations as a percentage of revenue has increased sharply to 27.1% compared to the 2-year average of around 22%. So is this mainly driven by your fixed staff costs? And given the decline in your student enrollment, how are you planning to manage and control these costs going forward?

See, you rightly observed the cost is mainly due to the cost of the manpower faculty as well as faculty. And we have been mentioning this in the previous calls also that we should be going back to the levels of 2019 for the cost of the various elements within the structure. And as far as the margins are concerned, we are still at 45% plus. So I think it's a very comfortable margin. The previous couple of years, the margins were high because there was the continuing effect of the disruptions from the COVID time and then we were building up the team, which had gone out during the COVID time. So gradually, we are now getting back to normal, plus additionally, some additional expenses related to staff and their allowances would also have contributed. So I think we, as of now, would just like to say that this is the foreseeable time, we will expect this kind of cost to continue.

Okay. If I may ask another question, if that's all right?

Yes, sure.

Yes. So regarding your nursing program, there wasn't any meaningful update on that for quite some time. So is the delay primarily related to Humansoft constraints? Or is it due to government licensing and regulatory approval?

See, we -- from our end, preparation are done, we are now awaiting final approval to start. And just that's the only stage at which we are right now.

[Operator Instructions] We don't have any other questions at this stage. So back to you, Mr. Baxi, if you have any concluding remarks.

Sure. Thank you very much to all the participants for taking out time and attending this call. We'll stay connected. Bye.

Thank you, everyone, for joining. This concludes today's call.

Thank you.