(Yicai Global) Jan. 11 -- China's New Oriental Education and Technology Group has sought to mitigate the impact of its founder's claims of the private education provider's poor financial performance and massive layoffs. But its shares slumped.

Chairman Yu Minhong’s article published on his personal WeChat account has not been authorized by the company and it does not represent the firm's views, the Beijing-based tutoring enterprise that is adjusting its core business said in a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange yesterday.

The company is reviewing its financial performance as of Nov. 30, 2021, and will disclose it no later than in mid-2022, it added.

Shares of New Oriental [HKG: 9901] dived as much as 5.3 percent in Hong Kong to HKD13.64 (USD1.80). The shares have lost more than 90 percent of their value over the past 12 months.

The New York-listed stock price [NYSE: EDU] dropped 4.8 percent to USD1.77 yesterday. But it was 1.1 percent up in after-hours trading.

New Oriental was surrounded by uncertainties in 2021 due to various factors such as policies, the Covid-19 pandemic, and international relations, Yu said in the article posted on his WeChat account on Jan. 8, prompting speculation online about the company's direction.

The after-school service provider said in November that it will stop teaching students from kindergarten to ninth grade by December after the government limited after-school tutoring businesses to ease children's educational burdens.

The change affected the tutoring company's business. "New Oriental plunged 90 percent in market value, with an 80 percent revenue drop, and layoffs of 60,000 people," said Yu. The firm lost nearly CNY20 billion (USD3.1 billion) because of the layoffs, as well as tuition and rent refunds, he added.

"Someone suggested shutting New Oriental at once, but it is impossible," the founder posted in another article yesterday. "It is unacceptable emotionally, and unfeasible in reality." The company still has about 50,000 employees and teachers, he added.

The company relies on its training courses for income. New Oriental’s revenue was USD4.3 billion in the first four months of 2021, and training courses made up more than 92 percent of the total, according to the firm's financial report. Books and other services accounted for the remainder of USD340 million.

The firm is trying to diversify. New Oriental has established 89 new companies in fields such as live streaming, stationery, and farm produce retail, since last July, according to corporate data platform Qichacha.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi