(Yicai Global) Jan. 10 -- Shares of New Oriental Education and Technology jumped after the founder of the Chinese education technology giant said it has come through despite revenue diving 80 percent last year due to the impact of new government policies and the Covid-19 pandemic.

After surging as much as 2.5 percent today, New Oriental [HKG: 9901] finished 1.5 percent higher at HKD14.46 (USD1.85). The stock plummeted 88 percent last year.

“In the past six months, thanks to everyone’s endeavors, New Oriental managed to survive and preserve a certain strength,” Yu Minhong said on his personal WeChat account on Jan. 8, after uncertainty surrounded the Beijing-based company in 2021.

New Oriental said on Nov. 14 that it would stop teaching kindergarten to grade nine, or K-9, by the end of the year following government guidelines released in July to ease the ‘twin pressures’ of excessive homework and off-campus tutoring on children in compulsory education. Income from the K-9 business accounted for about 60 percent of total revenue, Yu said.

New Oriental made 60,000 employees redundant as a result, Yu said, and also lost nearly CNY20 billion (USD3.1 billion) because of the lay-offs as well as tuition and rent refunds. New Oriental is shifting focus to literacy, research study, and camp education, and will invest more in the college student market and overseas Chinese language courses.

Koolearn Technology Holding, a unit of the company, set up Dongfang Zhenxuan, an e-commerce platform specializing in the sale of farm produce. Its first live show aired on Dec. 28. New Oriental’s shares sank almost 22 percent the day after, as investors balked at the firm’s new direction.

“Work hard, study hard, and find new directions will be my three major subjects this year,” Yu said.

Editor: Futura Costaglione