Strayer Education Posts Loss For Q4

(RTTNews) - Strayer Education, Inc. (STRA) a company that provides post-secondary education services to working adults through its subsidiary Strayer University, Friday reported a loss for the fourth quarter chiefly on account of decrease in revenue, and restructuring charges.

For the fourth quarter, the company reported loss of $18.96 million or $1.80 per share, compared with a profit of $16.63 million or $1.47 per share reported for the same period last year.

Strayer University had initiated a restructuring during the fourth quarter, and the results for the period included approximately $33.0 million after-tax charges related to the restructuring.

The company expects the restructuring to bring about a reduction in operating expenses of $50 million, beginning in 2014.

Excluding the charges related to restructuring, fourth-quarter earnings were $13.97 million or $1.32 per share.

On average, 11 analysts polled by Thomson-Reuters estimated the company's earnings to be $0.98 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Winter term enrollment decreased by 14 percent to 41,098 students from 47,926 students in the same period last year. New students enrollment declined 2 percent and continuing student enrollments decreased 17 percent.

Revenues decreased 13 percent to $124.08 million from $141.93 million a year earlier, primarily due to lower enrollment.

For the full-year 2013, profit declined to $16.42 million or $1.55 per share, from $65.93 million or $5.76 per share in 2012. Annual revenues declined to $503.6 million from $561.98 million last year.