National Education Corp. / IRVINE

Nature of business: Vocational training and educational publishing. Total employees: 4,500 In Orange County: 269 Stock listing in The Times: On NYSE “NatEdu” Ticker symbol: “NEC” Friday’s stock close: $6.50 One-week change: Unchanged

*

Analyst review: “This is a critical period for National Education, because it is working very hard to turn around its on-the-job training group. A lot is riding on this division’s performance in the third and fourth quarters. In 1992 it experienced 26.8% lower revenues and a $23.7 million operating loss. It has since developed new training vehicles, including personal computers, client/server networks, computer-aided design and object-oriented programming. Efforts are also being made to restructure other aspects of its operations, including its vocational schools.” - John T. Mahoney, analyst Raymond James & Associates, St. Petersburg

Revenue and Profit

Dollar amount in millions

1992 1993 1990 1991 1992 2 quarters 2 quarters Revenue 371 385 375 179 172 Profit -14.9 5.4 .515 -2.4 -7.9

Corporate outlook: “We believe we are moving strategically in the right direction. We have two businesses achieving record performances and two undergoing continued restructuring efforts to return them to strong, competitive positions. As a result, we will take $23 million in charges, which will be offset by a gain of $21.3 million from the IPO of 18% of our publishing subsidiary shares.” -- Jerome W. Cwiertnia, president/CEO RETURN ON INVESTMENT: 3-YEAR SUMMARY AND YEAR-TO-DATE:

Fiscal year ending Dec. 31 Dec. 31 Dec. 31 2 qtrs. 1990 1991 1992 1992 1993 52-week high $8.13 $9.88 $12.25 $12.25 52-week low $1.88 $3.13 $4.63 $7.75 Book value per share 4.61 $4.13 $3.98 $3.98 Price per share $4.25 $8.88 $6.88 $8.25 Net earnings (loss) per share ($0.50) $0.18 $0.02 ($0.08) Price-to-earnings ratio N/A 49:1 344:1 N/A Avg. return on investor equity N/A 3.5% 0.3% N/A

Fiscal year ending 2 qtrs. 1990 52-week high $8.13 52-week low $5.13 Book value per share $3.82 Price per share $7.38 Net earnings (loss) per share ($0.26) Price-to-earnings ratio N/A Avg. return on investor equity N/A

Note: 1992 figures include unusual items of $3.7 million in severance payments and lease termination charges and related write-down of fixed assets. For more information call or write, National Education Corp.: 18400 Von Karman Ave., Irvine, Calif., 92715. (714) 474-9400. Source: National Education Corp.; Bloomberg Business News.