University of Phoenix owner Apollo Education posts 2Q loss

Listen to this article

PHOENIX (AP) – For-profit education company Apollo Education Group posted a second-quarter loss and said student enrollment fell at its flagship University of Phoenix. The company also offered a disappointing revenue outlook for the year.

The company said enrollment at its University of Phoenix fell nearly 15 percent to 213,800 in the quarter, compared to 250,300 in the same period a year ago. New enrollments fell 13 percent to 28,300.

Enrollments at for-profit schools have been falling amid increased government scrutiny of the industry. Another for-profit education company, Corinthian Colleges Inc., is closed or is selling campuses as it faces state and federal investigations.

Apollo Education reported a fiscal second-quarter loss of $33.6 million, or 31 cents per share, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier.

Losses, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 10 cents per share. The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of 16 cents per share.

It posted revenue of $578.6 million in the period, missing Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $584 million.

Apollo said it expects full-year revenue in the range of $2.63 billion to $2.68 billion, below the $2.73 billion analysts expected, according to FactSet.