èßäÊÓƵ Group Announces Increase in Revenue of 34% for Fiscal 2015 Fourth Quarter

èßäÊÓƵ

Nursing School Now Represents 42% of Degree-Seeking Student Body

Over 1,000 Students Now Using Monthly Payment Methods

NEW YORK, July 28, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- èßäÊÓƵ Group, Inc. (OTCBB:ASPU), a nationally accredited online post-secondary education company (èßäÊÓƵ University), today announced results for its fiscal 2015 fourth quarter ended April 30, 2015.

Results from the Fourth Quarter include:

  • Revenues of $1,555,516, a 34% increase from the comparable prior year period, an acceleration from 28% year-over-year growth in the previous quarter;
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  • Degree-seeking enrollments increased 89% year-over-year, as èßäÊÓƵ set a quarterly enrollment record with 444 new student enrollments;
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  • èßäÊÓƵ University's School of Nursing student body grew from 828 to 1,374 students or 66% year-over-year; and now represents 42% of èßäÊÓƵ's total full-time degree-seeking student body;
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  • As of July 10, 2015, èßäÊÓƵ has over 1,000 students utilizing one of èßäÊÓƵ's monthly payment methods (monthly payment plan and monthly installment plan), generating in excess of $200,000/month in recurring tuition revenue.

"Since èßäÊÓƵ announced its debtless education solution last year, already over 1,000 degree-seeking students are paying their tuition utilizing a monthly payment method – that's more than 45% of the total degree-seeking students that were active in a course in the last 90 days," said èßäÊÓƵ Group Chairman and CEO Michael Mathews. "As a result of our enrollment records this past quarter, and because our students are overwhelmingly adopting monthly payment methods, we expect our top line year-over-year growth rate to accelerate to 45% - 48% in our upcoming first fiscal quarter ending July 31, 2015," continued Mathews.

Fourth Quarter Highlights

For the fourth quarter, revenues increased 34% from the comparable prior year period to $1,555,516. In particular, Nursing program revenues rose 73% year-over-year to $748,611 to represent 48% of èßäÊÓƵ's revenues.

èßäÊÓƵ's School of Nursing student body grew by 223 students in the quarter, from 1,151 to 1,374 students. That represented 75% of the growth of èßäÊÓƵ's full-time degree seeking student body in the quarter, from 3,011 to 3,309. èßäÊÓƵ's School of Nursing now accounts for 42% of èßäÊÓƵ's full-time degree seeking student body.

Adjusted Gross Profit, a non-GAAP financial Measure, increased 30% from the comparable prior year period to $903,979 or 58% margin. GAAP Gross Profit increased 34% from the comparable prior year period to $775,576 or 50% margin.

Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure, improved to a loss of ($268,685), a sequential improvement of 55%. Net loss applicable to shareholders was ($1,028,344), a sequential improvement of 17%.

First Quarter Guidance

èßäÊÓƵ Group, Inc. expects revenues for the first fiscal quarter ending July 31, 2015 to be in the range of $1.7 million to 1.73 million, which would represent a year-over-year growth rate of 45% - 48%.

* Non-GAAP – Financial Measures

This press release includes both financial measures in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or GAAP, as well as non-GAAP financial measures. Generally, a non-GAAP financial measure is a numerical measure of a company's performance, financial position or cash flows that either excludes or includes amounts that are not normally included or excluded in the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP. Non-GAAP financial measures should be viewed as supplemental to, and should not be considered as alternatives to net income, operating income, and cash flow from operating activities, liquidity or any other financial measures. They may not be indicative of the historical operating results of èßäÊÓƵ Group nor are they intended to be predictive of potential future results. Investors should not consider non-GAAP financial measures in isolation or as substitutes for performance measures calculated in accordance with GAAP.

Our management uses and relies on Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Gross Profit, each of which are non-GAAP financial measures. We believe that both management and shareholders benefit from referring to the following non-GAAP financial measures in planning, forecasting and analyzing future periods. Our management uses these non-GAAP financial measures in evaluating its financial and operational decision making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparison. Our management recognizes that the non-GAAP financial measures have inherent limitations because of the excluded items described below.

èßäÊÓƵ Group defines Adjusted EBITDA as earnings (or loss) from continuing operations before preferred dividends, interest expense, collateral valuation adjustment, bad debt expense, depreciation and amortization, warrant conversion expense, non-recurring charges and amortization of stock-based compensation. èßäÊÓƵ Group excludes the charges from collateral valuation adjustment, bad debt expense and stock based compensation because they are non-cash in nature. The preferred dividends were derived from èßäÊÓƵ University. Upon the closing of the Reverse Merger in March 2012, èßäÊÓƵ University preferred stock was exchanged for èßäÊÓƵ Group common stock and dividends will not accrue in the future. In 2014, èßäÊÓƵ Group excluded non-recurring charges.

èßäÊÓƵ Group defines Adjusted Gross Profit as revenues less cost of revenues (instructional costs and services and marketing and promotional costs), but excluding the amortization of courseware and software. Adjusted Gross Profit excludes non-cash items and permits our management to focus on core operating results.

We have included a reconciliation of our non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. We believe that providing the non-GAAP financial measures, together with the reconciliation to GAAP, helps investors make comparisons between èßäÊÓƵ Group and other companies. In making any comparisons to other companies, investors need to be aware that companies use different non-GAAP measures to evaluate their financial performance. Investors should pay close attention to the specific definition being used and to the reconciliation between such measure and the corresponding GAAP measure provided by each company under applicable SEC rules.

The following table presents a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to Net loss, a GAAP financial measure:

Ìý Three Months Ended
Ìý 4/30/2015 1/31/2015 4/30/2014
Net Loss Ìý$Ìý(1,028,344) Ìý$Ìý(1,244,322) Ìý$Ìý(1,122,763)
Interest expense, net of income Ìý30,460 Ìý34,532 Ìý85,287
Bad debt expense Ìý38,426 Ìý12,228 Ìý5,895
Depreciation and amortization Ìý138,790 Ìý133,966 Ìý123,762
Receivable collateral valuation reserve Ìý-- Ìý-- Ìý--
Amortization of prepaid services Ìý-- Ìý-- Ìý--
Amortization of debt issue costs Ìý-- Ìý-- Ìý54,599
Amortization of debt discount Ìý-- Ìý-- Ìý120,289
Warrant conversion exercise expense Ìý333,323 Ìý-- Ìý--
Other Miscellaneous Incomes Ìý Ìý Ìý
Stock-based compensation Ìý122,148 Ìý123,085 Ìý212,489
Non-recurring charges Ìý96,512 Ìý339,989 Ìý144,722
Adjusted EBITDA (Loss) Ìý$Ìý(268,685) Ìý$Ìý(600,522) Ìý$Ìý(375,720)

The following table presents a reconciliation of Adjusted Gross Profit, a non-GAAP financial measure, to gross profit calculated in accordance with GAAP:

Ìý For the
Ìý Three Months Ended
Ìý April 30,
Ìý 2015 2014
Ìý Ìý Ìý
Revenues $Ìý1,555,516 Ìý$ 1,164,225
Ìý Ìý Ìý
Costs of revenues (exclusive of amortization shown separately) 651,537 469,321
Ìý Ìý Ìý
Gross profit (exclusive of amortization) 903,979 694,904
Ìý Ìý Ìý
Amortization expenses excluded from cost of revenues 128,403 114,451
Ìý Ìý Ìý
GAAP gross profit Ìý$Ìý775,576 Ìý$Ìý580,453

Conference Call

èßäÊÓƵ Group, Inc. will host a conference call to discuss its April 30, 2015 fiscal year fourth quarter financial results and business outlook on Tuesday, July 28, 2015, at 5:00 p.m. (ET).ÌýThe conference call can be accessed by dialing toll-freeÌý(844) 452-6823Ìý(U.S.) orÌý(731) 256-5216Ìý(international).Ìý Subsequent to the call, a transcript of the audiocast will be available from the Company's website at ir.aspen.edu.

About èßäÊÓƵ Group, Inc.

èßäÊÓƵ Group, Inc. is an online postsecondary education company. èßäÊÓƵ University's mission is to offer any motivated college-worthy student the opportunity to receive a high quality, responsibly priced distance-learning education for the purpose of achieving sustainable economic and social benefits for themselves and their families. èßäÊÓƵ is dedicated to providing the highest quality education experiences taught by top-tier faculty - 60% of our adjunct faculty hold doctoral degrees. To learn more about èßäÊÓƵ, visit .

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements including our student growth rate and projected revenues.

The words "believe," "may," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "should," "plan," "could," "target," "potential," "is likely," "will," "expect" and similar expressions, as they relate to us, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from those in the forward-looking statements include unexpected adjustments made during the year-end audit.ÌýFurther information on our risk factors is contained in our filings with the SEC, including our Form 10-K filed on July 28, 2015.ÌýAny forward-looking statement made by us herein speaks only as of the date on which it is made.ÌýFactors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them.ÌýWe undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

CONTACT: Media Contact:
         èßäÊÓƵ Group, Inc.
         Michael Mathews, CEO
         914-906-9159

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Source: èßäÊÓƵ Group, Inc.