Corinthian Colleges Drops as Forecasts Miss: Los Angeles

Corinthian Colleges Inc. (COCO), the owner of the for-profit Everest and Heald colleges, dropped the most in eight months after forecasting earnings and sales that fell short of analysts’ estimates.

Earnings for the current quarter will be 10 cents to 12 cents a share on revenue of $395 million to $405 million, the Santa Ana, California-based company said today in a statement. Analysts projected profit of 15 cents a share and sales of $421.6 million, the average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Corinthian fell 11 percent to $3.48 at 10:53 a.m. in New York. Earlier it slid 12 percent to $3.44, the biggest intraday decline since August.

The company is anticipating “a number of challenges” in the next fiscal year, which begins in July, including a loss of federal funding for students who lack a high school diploma or equivalency test, Chief Executive Officer Jack Massimino said in the statement. While new enrollment rose 1.8 percent last quarter, the total student population declined 4.2 percent from a year earlier.

Corinthian shares had gained 79 percent this year before today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Oliver Staley in London at ostaley@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Lisa Wolfson at lwolfson@bloomberg.net