Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for waiting. Welcome to Cruzeiro do Sul's conference call to discuss the second quarter of 2021 results. Today with us we have Mr. Fábio Figueiredo and Renato Padovese, Co-CEOs, Antonio Cavalcanti, CFO, Wilson Diniz, Commercial Officer, Luis Felipe Bresaola, IR Officer, and Bruno Szarf , Human Resources Officer. We would like to inform you that during the company presentation, all participants will be in listen- only mode. At the end, we will begin a Q&A session when further instructions will be given. Should you need assistance during the call, please request the operator's help by pressing star zero. We would like to inform you that this call will be in Portuguese, then presented by the company's management, and for the English conference, there will be simultaneous translation. This event is being broadcast simultaneously on the internet via webcast.
Before proceeding, we would like to clarify that forward-looking statements that might be made during this call in relation to the company's business outlook, operating and financial projections and targets, our beliefs and assumptions of the company's management, as well as information currently available to the company. Forward-looking statements are no guarantee of performance. They involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions as they refer to future events, and therefore depend on circumstances that may or may not occur. Investors should understand that general economic conditions, industry conditions, and other operating factors may affect the future results of the company and may lead to results that differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. Now, we turn the floor over to Mr. Fábio Figueiredo, who will start the presentation. Mr. Figueiredo, you may proceed.
Good afternoon, everybody, and thank you for participating in Cruzeiro do Sul Educacional earnings call. I am Fábio Figueiredo, Co-CEO of the company, and with me are Renato Padovese, Co-CEO, Wilson Diniz, Commercial Officer, Antonio Cavalcanti, CFO, Luis Felipe Bresaola, IR Officer, and Bruno Szarf , our new Human Resources Officer who joined the Cruzeiro do Sul team in late July. I would like to start by talking about our hiring Fabio Fossen as the new CEO of the company as of August 27, replacing myself and Renato Padovese, who will act in the strategic scope of the Board of Directors and theme committees. This is the first time that we will have an executive who's not a member of the founding families in the main position in the company. This was already foreseen and expected within the new context and the new challenges faced by the company and the sector. The choice of Fossen was based on two main criteria.
The first is that we were looking for an executive with experience as CEO of a company the same size or bigger than ours. The second is that we wanted somebody with no experience in the sector, and the reasons were the following. It is the first time in over 50 years that the company will have as CEO, not a member of the founding families, which means that we will be learning about this, and it was extremely important to choose somebody with previous experience in the leadership position. The second point is that we wanted somebody who could add to the executive committee and not replace anything.
Our executive committee is made up of executives who have been in the education market for a long time as well as our board, and we want to add people who may bring knowledge from sectors, thereby helping in the company transformation process. Another theme that I would like to stress is the announcement of the first acquisition since our IPO in February, and in July, we signed a contract to acquire the Centro Universitário Moura Lacerda for BRL 54 million, still pending adjustment. With approximately 3,000 students, Moura Lacerda is a centenary institution with a relevant brand and the opportunity to grow the portfolio both in on campus and on DL. The university center did not have a DL modality. Besides, we reinforced our presence in the Ribeirão Preto region, adding to the Unifran operation in Franca, about 90 km distant.
Still on expansions, we announced the opening of a Unipê unit in Campina Grande, Paraíba, with the second highest GDP of the state, thus expanding the ranges in on campus of the brand, which was limited to João Pessoa. In the academic area, we started operation of 37 DL learning centers with specific labs for practical activities, which allows us to offer courses in engineering, civil, production, electrical, mechanics, environmental, mechatronics, nutrition, pharmacy, biomedicine, and gastronomy, among others in DL modality. We expanded our ranges and the offering of the DL graduation portfolio to 163 courses, of which 136 are 100% digital and 27 new courses with synchronous biweekly meetings. Besides, the law course received a favorable opinion with maximum grades to offer the DL modality.
In the last few months, we received visits in four of the six institutions with request for a seat in the MEC for the higher learning course of the four institutions which request, two already received the maximum grades. Another relevant theme that is present in this company DNA is ESG. Last Thursday, we gave an important step with the publication of our first annual sustainability report, following the international guidelines of GRI and IIRC. With that, we reaffirm our commitment to promote quality education to our students and the development of Brazil by education. We reported our main social, environmental, and governance activities implemented in 2020, a year marked by the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last but not least, is the intake process of the second semester, which shows positive indicators and a probable recovery in on-campus student enrollment.
Our managerial figures show an increase in intake, both on campus and DL year-on-year. In on campus, it is important to stress that we have covered 77% of the way, and the numbers remain at a good level. These were initial remarks that I wanted to make, and now I would like to give the floor to Renato Padovese to talk about the highlights of the quarter.
Thank you, Fábio. Now let's talk about the highlights. For the first time, the on-campus intake process was extended until the end of April. There was an expectation regarding the volatility of the latent enrolled student base, but it remained sustainable with a dropout rate under control and a stable ADA. We ended the quarter with a student base 6.7% higher year-on-year, reaching 366,000 students.
On campus dropped 7.1%, still impacted by the pandemic dropout rate, in spite of the success of the first semester admission exams, which was equal to 2020 before the pandemic. In DL, we grew 17%, showing the resilience and attractiveness of our model. I should mention the progress in the hybrid modality present in DL, which has been increasing penetration consistently, reaching about 13% of the DL base up to August 9. Consolidated revenue reached BRL 478 million, 0.8% lower year-on-year, impacted by the mandatory discount injunction in Unipê amounted to BRL 9 million. Net of this impact, our revenue would have increased 1.1%, benefiting from the DL expansion that mitigated the impact of the smaller on-campus student base.
Adjusted EBITDA reached BRL 133 million, with a 27.8% margin, 50.1% higher than the BRL 89 million in 2Q 2020, with a margin of 18.4%, resulting from the strong impact of the pandemic inception and the integration of Braz Cubas, which achieved an adjusted net income of BRL 45 million, vis-à-vis BRL 5 million in the second quarter of 2020. Here I end my remarks, and I give the floor to Felipe Bresaola, who will get into details about the 2Q 2021 results.
Thank you, Renato. Moving on to slide eight, I will comment on the performance of the student base in 2Q 2021 compared with Q1. We ended the quarter with 366,000 students, up 2.3% over first quarter 2021. As regards on campus, the student base grew 1.3% quarter-on-quarter, benefiting from an intake process that was extended until April. As for distance learning, our student base increased by 2.9% over Q1, with an intake process that grew more than 50% over the same period of 2020, which helped mitigate higher dropout rates in undergrad and grad courses compared with last year. On the next slide, average ticket for undergrad courses adjusted for the mandatory discount injunction at Unipê. The ticket was impacted by the seasonal mismatch of a late intake process.
This year, we had students enrolling in April, which did not happen in 2020, and these students recorded fewer monthly payments in the term. For comparison's sake, excluding this event, adjusted average ticket would increase by 4.1% over 2Q 2020. Now moving to net revenue. In 2Q, we recorded BRL 478 million, down 0.8% compared with 2020, mainly due to the negative impact of Unipê's mandatory discount injunction amounting to BRL 9 million, or 1.9% of the revenue. Net of this effect, revenue would have grown by 1.1%, benefiting from the DL business growth, which mitigated the reduction in on campus, which was in turn impacted by the COVID pandemic. On slide 11, we present our gross margin of 48.7%, up 1.8 percentage point over last year, stemming from greater DL share, gains of scale, and the academic model with greater digital content.
Adjusted EBITDA was BRL 133 million, up more than 50.1% year-over-year, resulting in a 27.8% margin, more than 9 percentage points higher than last year. The change in the revenue mix with greater share of DL increased the digital content in on campus. The positive performance of ADA, which improved 5.6 percentage points, reaching 5.5% of the revenue, and the integration of the acquired units are the main reasons explaining our improved profitability. On slide 13, we show you the performance of our adjusted net income, which increased from BRL 5 million in Q2 2020 to BRL 45 million in Q2 2021, primarily impacted by the company's EBITDA performance. On the next slide, we present the evolution of our accounts receivable with average collection period of 42 days, an improvement of approximately two days compared with June 2020, and one day compared with December 2020, a similar period to June.
We continue on our strategy of maintaining a low penetration of students on student loan programs. On slide 15, we present investments made by the company in Q2 2021 in the total amount of BRL 23 million, an increase over the BRL 6 million invested last year, driven by the resumption of investments projects and maintenance that had been halted in the beginning of 2020 on account of the pandemic. We posted managerial operating cash generation of BRL 78 million compared to BRL 120 million last year. This reduction in operating cash generation was impacted primarily by a reduction in accounts payable, which benefited the year of 2020 due to the adoption of the provisions of MP 139 2020 regarding the postponement of taxes, which were paid in Q3 and Q4 2020, and zero-based budget terminations, mainly Braz Cubas and Universidade Positivo, which were paid only in July 2020.
Excluding these non-recurring impacts, managerial operating cash generation would total around BRL 90 million compared with BRL 161 million last year. Lastly, on slide 17, we comment on our net debt excluding leasing liabilities, which totaled BRL 488 million, down from BRL 1.5 billion last year, driven largely by the IPO in February, which added more than BRL 1 billion to the company's cash. As regards our debt amortization schedule, debt repayment trends remain under control with no large disbursement in the next two years. Thank you. Let's start the question- and- answer session. Thank you.
Now we will start the Q&A session. In case you have a question, please press star one. In case your question has already been answered, you may remove it from the queue by pressing star two. Questions will be answered in the order that they are received. Please do not use the speakerphone so that we may receive the best possible sound quality. Our first question from Samuel Alves, BTG Pactual.
Good afternoon, everybody. Good afternoon, Fábio, everybody. I have two quick questions. The first one has to do with the price dynamics in intake. Could you talk about the prices in the two segments? What about the performance currently? The second one is an update regarding the pipeline. Do you believe that the change in the interest rate might facilitate the execution of your agenda in M&A, for instance?
This is Wilson Diniz. I will take the first question and then we will address the second one. First, we are going to talk about the two modalities in intake. A very good performance vis-à-vis last year. The ticket is slightly higher than last year. Of course, in the case of on-campus, it is already completed, but in distance learning, we are halfway. This generates the tickets are higher vis-à-vis last year, both in on-campus and distance learning. Samuel, Fábio Figueiredo, about the M&A pipeline.
This is Fábio. I will answer your question about the pipeline of M&A and the variation in the interest rates. We have not seen any volatility in the appetite, so to say, because of the variation in the interest rate curve. I cannot say that this is a variable that determines the movement. We continue with our agenda.
As always, we have been having very good talks, and we are now working in the process of synergy in the first semester of 2022 of Moura Lacerda, which has a very good potential, and we continue with a very good target. According to the criteria that we always mention to you, regardless of other kinds of businesses or other kinds of products that we might offer or look at, the pipeline is okay. Things are going well. We continue the same pace and with the same appetite.
Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder, please dial star one. We have a question coming from the webcast in English from Cardial, asking for the update on opening of hubs and campuses. Looking forward.
Hello. To answer your question, we continue with our strategic plan to open new DL hubs. Our strategy is to have about 150 new DL hubs a year, and we continue to deliver to that target. This year, we are actually going to exceed it a little bit. In the case of on-campus in greenfields, we expect to open two units a year. As a reminder, this year we opened two new units here in the region of São Paulo. Last year and the year before the last, also new units. In the future, we are following the strategy of two new units per year.
This year, we are opening a third unit in Campina Grande in the state of Paraíba under the Unipê brand. We continue with our strategy of two campuses a year and 150 new DL hubs a year. We are doing quite well this year, and we expect to deliver to the goal in these two avenues of growth.
Ladies and gentlemen. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ask a question, please press star one. As there are no more questions, I would like to turn the floor back to Mr. Fábio Figueiredo for his closing remarks. Mr. Figueiredo, you may proceed.
This was a quarter in which we delivered what was in our business plan. The macroeconomic situation in Brazil continues to be challenging for the sector as a whole, and which is showing resilience and Cruzeiro do Sul even more so. The strength of the brand is very good, and the outlook for the medium and the long run are very good. We are very sure about our plan for the future. Our new CEO is already integrated, and he is interacting with us, and are very encouraged with this new phase of the company that will be starting the next few weeks.
Thank you very much and hope to see you soon.
Thank you very much. The Cruzeiro do Sul conference call