ITT Educational Services Inc.'s (ESI) fourth-quarter profit rose
4.1% as revenue climbed more than expected but new-student
enrollment declined again.
For-profit educators such as ITT Educational--which operates its
namesake technical schools and offers degrees in fields such as
electronics, information technology and industrial design--have
seen earnings soar as unemployment hovers at an elevated level. ITT
said enrollment growth slipped in the third quarter.
For the fourth quarter, New-student enrollment decreased 9.4%,
though total student enrollment was up 4.9% to 84,686 from a year
earlier. Revenue per student fell 1.4%.
ITT Educational and its peers are facing new regulatory hurdles
as the U.S. Department of Education prepares to implement a series
of rules related to recruiter compensation, state authorization of
programs and a number of other topics.
Last week, Apollo Group Inc. (APOL) reported its fiscal
first-quarter earnings fell as the owner of the University of
Phoenix and other for-profit schools posted a sharp drop in new
students.
For the latest quarter, ITT Educational reported a profit of
$97.5 million, or $3.14 a share, up from $93.6 million, or $2.56 a
share, a year earlier. Revenue improved 9.5% to $410.1 million.
Analysts estimated earnings of $3.10 on revenue of $407 million,
according to a poll by Thomson Reuters.
Operating margin slipped to 39.6% from 40.8%.
Shares of ITT Education were inactive premarket and closed
Wednesday at $62.74. The stock is down 36% in the past year.
-By Lauren Pollock and Jenny Roth, Dow Jones Newswires;
212-416-2356; lauren.pollock@dowjones.com