Good evening and good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for standing by for 17EdTech's third quarter 2023 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After management's prepared remarks, there will be a question and answer session. As a reminder, today's conference call is being recorded. I'll now turn the meeting over to your host for today's call, Ms. Lara Zhao, 17EdTech's Investor Relations Manager. Please proceed, Lara.
Thank you, operator. Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Our earnings release was distributed earlier today and is available on our IR website. Joining us today are Mr. Michael Du, Director and Chief Financial Officer, and myself, Investor Relations Manager. Michael will walk you through our latest, our latest business performance and strategies, and I will discuss our financial performance in, in more details. After the prepared remarks, Michael will be available to answer your questions during the Q&A session. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that this conference call contains forward-looking statements as defined in SEC Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
These forward-looking statements are based upon management's current expectations and current market and operating conditions, and it relates to events that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, all of which are difficult to predict, and many of which are beyond the company's control. These risks may cause the company's actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially. Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties, or factors is included in the company's filings with the U.S. SEC. The company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required under applicable law. I will now turn the call over to our Director and Chief Financial Officer to review some of our business development and strategic direction. Michael, please go ahead.
Thank you, Lara. Hello, everyone. Thank you all for joining us on our third quarter 2023 earnings call. Before we begin, I would like to note that the financial information and the GAAP numbers in this release are presented on a continuing operations basis in the RMB and USD, unless otherwise stated. Let me start with our latest business updates. In this quarter, our business continued to evolve, and we made progress in establishing additional billing models to remain flexible under the current economic environment. We managed to deliver a higher value of projects compared to the same quarter last year. However, the decrease in our total revenue compared to the same quarter last year was because of the cessation of our self-directed learning products and services and our other educational services due to regulatory environment change. There are two positive trends worth noting.
We managed to sign contracts of higher value in the third quarter of 2023 than the second quarter of 2023, when we exclude the RMB 116 million long-term Minhang project. And two, an increasing number of projects are now being signed under the SaaS billing model, which although generates revenues over a longer period of time, but is more likely to be recurrent in nature. This will allow the company to accumulate a healthier and a recurrent project portfolios that will lead to a healthier financial foundation. At the same time, we continue to pursue improvements in operational efficiency and then reduce operational expenses. We are committed to building a business that enhances teachers' teaching and students' learning experiences throughout our deep insights into education and technology. Now, please allow me to go into more details.
During the quarter, the company successfully won the bid for a new smart pen and intelligent homework-based digital transformation service projects in Shanghai, Changning District project, valued at RMB around 6 million. The project includes 290 classes in 18 middle schools in the district, spanning across grades six to eight, covering over 10,000 students. Additionally, the company secured another project involving smart pen and intelligent homework platforms in Shanghai, Changning District's primary schools on November 8, 2023. This newly won project extends further to 28 primary schools, incorporating 128 classes and benefiting more than 4,000 students. These projects have engaged more schools in our teaching and learning platform, further broadening our impact and reach in distributing our high, high quality solutions.
It signifies a continued partnership between these education bureaus and 17 EdTech, marking the second collaboration since our initial engagement last year. This recurring partnership has demonstrated our recognized leadership and capability in the smart in-school learning and teaching solutions across China. In the third quarter, we are delighted to observe consistent development in our key teaching and learning projects that we have earned, won earlier. These progressions are reflected not only in our recognized revenue, but also that the growing number of signed contracts. The smart pen and intelligent homework-based education digital transformation projects in Shanghai, Minhang District, continue to generate substantial revenue in the third quarter of 2023, following a successful delivery and acceptance by our clients. Similarly, the Beijing Xicheng Cloud Classroom Evaluation System project also recognized corresponding revenues in the second phase.
These developments have represented steady progress in our business operations, ensuring a consistent revenue stream. During this quarter, we pursued innovative approach and flexible structures, targeting additional customer groups in this space, including private schools and the leading public schools groups. These clients tend to be more demanding in the details and the solutions we provided, and are most receptive for more innovative and full suite products and services solutions. Through deep co-collaborations with these clients, our aim is to reach out to more schools and students, and enrich their teaching or learning experiences through digitalized and intelligent means, which will be enhanced on top of our module-based district solutions. Specifically, on October the 30th, 2023 , we initiated a strategic partnership with Kunshan Liren Foreign Language School, aiming to strengthen its digital education infrastructure.
We provided our offerings to junior high school classes and students in grades three to six of elementary schools. Leverage our core competency in technologies and extensive big, big data profiles in teaching and learning process. We focus on the value of personalized learning for the better development of each student. Looking ahead, we see great potentials from these initiatives and expect continued growth and positive outcomes in subsequent quarters. Such services will allow us to cover more types of clients with different funding sources to remain agile under the current economic environment. In addition, we have successfully signed multiple new representative SaaS-based contracts with private schools. This includes smart pen and intelligent homework-based, high quality operation project services to a leading private school of more than 4,500 students in Changsha, Hunan Province, and another project with a private school group in Hunan Province.
Both of these projects have an expected annual revenue of approximately RMB 10 million or more, and is likely to be recurrent. Going forward, we expect SaaS billing model to pick up gradually as the market is getting more familiar with it. Despite the lower initial revenue recognized under such model, we see strong benefit of its recurring nature as our business continues to grow. In the aspects of product and services offerings, we have been constantly refining our core offerings to align with our customers' needs and enhance user experiences, promoting regular usage within school. This strategy not only enhance the value we provide to our customers, but also gains customer recovery recognitions that will assist future recurring revenues.
During these quarters, we innovate by integrating traditional interactive classrooms with cloud recording, which aids efficient teaching, elevate classroom cust-, quality, and supports daily teaching, supervision and assessment. We continue to explore the application of artificial intelligence in our real teaching scenarios, a venture that has already begun to yield results in our ongoing projects. On the hardware front, thanks to IoT smart management, our smart pen consistently performs on an optimal level, with nearly 200,000 units already delivered and being used. Our self-development smart pen projects have successfully completed the pilot testing phases. We plan to gradually increase its productions in the fourth quarter of this year, targeting to achieve mass distribution by next year.
During this quarter, we actively participate in several premier education technology conferences, such as the Shanghai Education Expo, the GET 2023 Technology Conference, and the 82nd China Education Equipment Exhibition Forum. These forums are industry-leading platforms that facilitate meaningful dialogues between practitioners and decision makers regarding the future of education. We shared our experiences and a practice in one teaching, one learning SaaS platform that provides insights into our overall high-quality intelligent homework solutions in the digital transformation of regional schools for mass scale and the regular use. They have received broad recognition and attracted substantial attention from educational authorities and attendees. In terms of other educational services business, as the company shifts its strategic focus towards teaching and learning SaaS operations due to regulatory environments, we have observed a diminishing trend in their contribution to revenue.
The demands for these projects, for these products, is highly dependent on the regulatory environment and the provision of competing services types. Moving forward, we remain committed to explore educational products and services that comply with regulatory environments. Now, I will turn the call over to Lara to walk you through our latest financial performance. Thank you.
Thanks, Michael, and thank you everyone for joining us on the call. I will now walk you through our financial and operating results. Please note that all financial data I talk about will be presented in RMB terms. I would like to remind you that the quarterly results we present here should be taken with care and not as a reference to our potential future performance and are subject to potential impacts from seasonality and one-off events as a result of the series of regulations introduced in 2021, and corresponding adjustments to our business model, organization, and workforce.
During the quarter, the company continues to pursue improvements in operational efficiency and innovative strategies to broaden our customer base, leveraging artificial intelligence to further enhance user experience and improve efficiency capabilities. Our strong focus on innovation, customer experience, and exploring new business models has put the company in a strong position for future success.
In the third quarter of 2023, we recorded net revenues of RMB 45.1 million, compared with RMB 69.2 million in the second quarter, representing a 63.8% decrease on a quarter-on-quarter basis. The net loss for the third quarter of 2023 was RMB 72.9 million, compared with RMB 47.9 million in the second quarter of 2023, and RMB 25.5 million for the third quarter of 2022. The adjusted net losses for the third quarter of 2023 was RMB 53.7 million, compared with the adjusted net income non-GAAP of RMB 8.3 million in the third quarter of 2022, and RMB 28.6 million on a quarter-on-quarter basis.
Furthermore, our gross margin has further improved to 54.1%, up 5.8 percentage point, compared with 48.3% in the second quarter of 2023. As of September 30, 2023, we have cash reserves of RMB 523.5 million on our balance sheet, providing sufficient funds for future development. Next, I will go through our third quarter financials in greater detail. Net revenues. Net revenues for the third quarter of 2023 were RMB 45.1 million, representing a year-over-year decrease of 63.8% from a hundred and RMB 124.6 million in the third quarter of 2022. This was mainly due to, one, the reduction in net revenues from other educational resources as we focus our resources on our core teaching and learning SaaS business.
And two, a higher proportion of new teaching and learning SaaS contracts we signed in the third quarter are under the SaaS billing model, which recognizes revenue over a longer period of time and a slower pace. This, along with the large amount of revenue recognized in association with the major delivery for Minhang project in the second quarter, contributed to the lower net revenues in the third quarter compared to the second quarter of 2023. Cost of revenues. Cost of revenues for the third quarter of 2023 was RMB 20.7 million, representing a year-over-year decrease of 34.7% from RMB 31.7 million in the third quarter of 2022, which was mainly due to cost reduction in third-party service providers of other educational services.
Gross profit for the third quarter of 2023 was RMB 24.4 million, representing a year-over-year decrease of 73.7% from RMB 92.9 million in the third quarter of 2022. Gross margin for the third quarter was 54.1%, compared with 74.5% in the third quarter of 2022. Total operating expenses for the third quarter of 2022 was RMB 103.1 million, including RMB 19.2 million share-based compensation expenses, representing a year-over-year decrease of 14.5% from RMB 120.5 million in the third quarter of 2022. Loss from operations for the third quarter of 2023 was RMB 78.7 million, compared with RMB 27.6 million in the third quarter of 2022.
Loss from operations as a percentage of net revenues for the third quarter of 2023 was -174.4%, compared with -22.2% in the third quarter of 2022. Net loss for the third quarter of 2023 was RMB 72.9 million, compared with net loss of RMB 23.5 million in the third quarter of 2022. Net loss as a percentage of net revenues was -131.6% in the third quarter, compared with -18.9% in the third quarter of 2022. Adjusted net loss non-GAAP for the third quarter of 2023 was RMB 53.7 million, compared with adjusted net income non-GAAP of RMB 8.3 million in the third quarter of 2022.
Adjusted net loss Non-GAAP as a percentage of net revenues was -119.1% in the third quarter of 2023, compared with 6.7% of adjusted net income as a percentage of net revenues in the third quarter of 2022. Please refer to the table captioned Reconciliation for Non-GAAP measures to the most comparable net GAAP measures at the end of this press release for reconciliation of net loss under U.S. GAAP to adjust net income or loss Non-GAAP. Cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, short-term investments, and term deposits were RMB 523.5 million as of September 30, 2023, compared with RMB 585.7 million as of June 30, 2023.
As we look to the future, the rise of digital transformation in education marks a significant shift in evolving, in this evolving era of educational development. The rapid evolution of digital technology is driving, is driving transformative changes within the education sector. Committed to the mission of making learning a wonderful experience, 17EdTech will utilize these advanced educational technologies, high quality educational content, and an enduring passion for education to make insightful contributions to regional digital transformations in education and contribute to the high quality of education. With that, that concludes our prepared remarks. Thank you. Operator, we are now ready to begin the Q&A session. Thanks.
Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, please press star one one on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Again, to ask a question, please press star one one on your telephone keypad. It's star one one for questions. I am showing no questions, and I'll turn the conference back to Ms. Lara Zhao for any additional closing comments.
Thank you, operator. In closing, on behalf of 17Ed Tech 's management team, we'd like to thank you for your participation on today's call. If you require any further information, please feel free to reach out to us directly. Thank you for joining us today. This concludes the call.
Thank you. That concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.