Corinthian Colleges posts $6.5M fiscal 4Q loss

Associated Press

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — For-profit education company Corinthian Colleges Inc. said Monday it posted a $6.5 million fiscal fourth-quarter loss, hurt by lower revenue and losses from discontinued operations.

Corinthian, which operates 116 campuses of Everest, Heald and WyoTech colleges and offers online degrees, said that for the quarter ended June 30, its loss amounted to 8 cents per share and compared with a profit of $3.4 million, or 4 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.

The recent quarter's results included one-time charges partially stemming from the closing of a facility and a loss from discontinued operations of $14.8 million. Excluding those items, the company said it posted an adjusted profit from continuing operations of 10 cents per share.

Revenue fell 3.3 percent to $394.8 million from $408.2 million.

The results fell slightly short of Wall Street predictions. Analysts, on average, expected a profit of 11 cents per share on $403.2 million in revenue, according to a FactSet poll.

Corinthian said its student population totaled 91,460 as of June 30, up 1.1 percent from a year ago. The number of total new students rose 8.4 percent to 25,839.

For the full year, Corinthian posted a loss of $10.2 million, or 12 cents per share, compared with a loss of $111.2 million, or $1.30 per share, in fiscal 2011. Revenue fell to $1.61 billion from $1.78 billion.

The company said that over the year, it continued to focus on improving its student graduation and employment rates, while also cutting operating expenses.

Corinthian said it expects "a number of challenges" in the fiscal year that started in July, including a loss of federal funding for students who didn't graduate from high school. The Santa Ana, Calif.-based company said it is responding by expanding programs that help students get the equivalent of a high school diploma.

For the fiscal first quarter, the company said it expects to earn 3 cents to 5 cents per share on $395 million to $405 million in revenue. New student growth is expected to be relatively flat and range between down 1 percent to up 1 percent.

Analysts polled by FactSet expect a profit of 4 cents per share on $407 million in revenue.

In morning trading, shares of the company slipped 12 percent, or 30 cents, to $2.15.