Lincoln Educational Services Corporation (LINC) swung to a net loss for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016. The company has made a net loss of $18.63 million, or $ 0.79 a share in the quarter, against a net profit of $8.56 million, or $0.37 a share in the last year period.     

Revenue during the quarter dropped 4.19 percent to $50.35 million from $52.55 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter contracted 38 basis points over the previous year period to 55.21 percent. Operating margin for the quarter stood at negative 0.18 percent as compared to a positive 11.15 percent for the previous year period.

Operating loss for the quarter was $0.09 million, compared with an operating income of $5.86 million in the previous year period.

However, the adjusted EBITDA for the quarter stood at $7.94 million compared with $8.62 million in the prior year period. At the same time, adjusted EBITDA margin contracted 64 basis points in the quarter to 15.76 percent from 16.40 percent in the last year period.

“Our financial results for the fourth quarter and full year help illustrate the increasing level of consistent progress our team is generating for our students, corporate partners and shareholders,” commented Scott M. Shaw, president and chief executive officer. "For our students, we continued to invest in our curriculum and launched several new transportation and skilled trades programs. Our enhanced curriculum and expanded programs provide our students with the potential to earn a higher return on their investment from their Lincoln education through higher paying entry level jobs and we believe contributed to an increase in segment student starts during the fourth quarter."