Apollo Education Q3 Profit Down, Cuts FY Outlook; Shares Slip 5%

(RTTNews) - Apollo Education Group Inc. (APOL), a for-profit education provider, Monday reported a drop in profit for the third quarter as revenues continue to slip on lower student enrollments. Looking ahead, Apollo lowered its revenue guidance for the full year, sending its shares down five percent in the after hours trading.

Phoenix, Arizona-based Apollo Education's third-quarter profit dropped to $48.1 million or $0.44 per share from $66.0 million or $0.51 per share last year.

Excluding special items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $57.5 million or $0.53 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.47 per share for the third quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Apollo's revenues for the third quarter fell to $681.5 million from $793.6 million a year earlier. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $698.57 million for the third quarter.

During the quarter, new degreed enrollment at University of Phoenix slipped 13.3 percent from last year to 29,400 and degreed enrollment dropped 14.5 percent to 206,900. Apollo Education has been grappling with lower enrollments over the past several quarters.

Looking forward, the company lowered its fiscal year 2015 revenue outlook to a range of $2.60 billion to $2.62 billion from its prior outlook of $2.63 billion to $2.68 billion. Analysts currently expect the company to post revenue of $2.63 billion for the fiscal year 2015.

APOL closed Monday's trading at $15.54, down $0.81 or 4.95%, on the Nasdaq. The stock further dropped $0.79 or 5.06% in the after-hours trade.