Cross Country Healthcare Inc (NASDAQ:CCRN) was one of the worst performers on Wall Street after the healthcare recruiter’s fourth-quarter earnings disappointed investors.
The Boca Raton-based group posted a profit of 77 cents per share and earnings, adjusted for one-time items, came to 17 cents a share. That was on revenues of US$219.7mln.
Hurricanes effected staff placements
The results were below analyst estimates, with Wall Street number crunchers looking for earnings of 19 cents a share and revenue of US$226.3mln.
Cross Country blamed the poor performance on a slowdown in its nurse and allied staffing divisions, as well as in its premium rate business.
On top of that, the company said it had seen “disruptive effects” from Hurricane Irma on fourth-quarter placements.
Pressures to be short-lived
Thankfully for investors, Cross Country expects the pressures that hurt it towards the end of 2017 to be short-lived and it expects a pick-up in performance as it moves through 2018.
Already in the first-quarter, the group said it is seeing an uptick in its renewal rate and an increase in orders.
“Cross Country has experienced tremendous growth over the last four years and we expect to see growth continue as we progress into 2018, led by our high growth, high margin education healthcare staffing business,” said chief executive William J. Grubbs.
“While we expect near-term pressures on top-line growth to dissipate, management has also moved decisively to focus attention on improving costs and operational excellence which we believe will drive greater focus, accountability, and agility in our decision-making and overall performance.”
For the year Cross Country reported a profit of US$37.5mln, or US$1.01 per share, on revenue of US$865mln.
Looking ahead, for the current quarter ending in April, management is guiding for per-share earnings of between 1 and 3 cents and revenue of between US$205mln and US$210mln.
Shares were down 17.3% to US$10.71 shortly before the markets closed in New York.