Shares of Corinthian Colleges Inc. are down 7% to a market value of about $114 million on financial results that missed expectations for the December quarter.
The Santa Ana-based for-profit school operator reported earnings of $200,000 this quarter, which reflected $1.1 million in severance expenses and a $3.3 million charge for discontinued operations during the period.
Analysts had expected about $1.7 million in earnings for the period.
Corinthian reported $369.9 million in revenue for the quarter, a decrease of 8.9% compared with $406.1 million for the same period a year earlier.
The number of students at Corinthian’s various colleges dropped 11.1% to 77,584. Fueling the decline was a drop in new enrollments, which totaled 19,760, a 14.4% decrease over the same period last fiscal year.
“New student enrollment remains challenging, reflecting general market conditions as well as internal factors,” said Jack Massimino, Corinthian’s chairman and chief executive. “Our total new student enrollment declined more than expected … primarily driven by a higher-than-expected decline in new online students.”
