Cross Country Healthcare Inc. (NASD: CCRN) reported first-quarter revenue fell 7.2% to $195.2 million, the lower end of its guidance range, primarily due to lower volumes across most of its businesses. The Boca Raton, Fla.-based healthcare staffing provider reported physician staffing revenue was down 25.1% while nurse and allied revenue fell 4.9%.

Cross Country ranks third on Staffing Industry Analysts’ 2018 list of largest healthcare staffing firms in the US.

Revenue from search services also decreased.

Revenue by segment

Quote

“Following my first few months back with Cross Country, I am pleased with the progress we are making, and I am seeing momentum across our teams,” said President and CEO Kevin Clark, who co-founded Cross Country in 1986 and returned in January to lead the firm. “We continue to see favorable market dynamics and we are making the necessary changes to our business in order to best position the Company for success.”

In a conference call with investors, Clark noted employee morale and the addition of Steve Seville as executive VP for operations.

Clark also announced a second-quarter branding campaign.

“Over the years, Cross Country has gone to market under a multi-brand approach for both customers and candidates,” Clark said in the call. “With the evolution of recruitment technology, the multi-brand strategy has become less important in our market leading to inefficiencies and a lower return on investment. While some of our brands will remain as is due to their respective market position, we will be tightly aligning the organization around a master brand strategy leveraging the Cross Country brand to the greatest extent.”

Guidance

Cross Country forecast second-quarter revenue of between $197 million and $202 million, a year-over-year decrease of between 1% and 4%.

Share price and market cap

Cross Country shares were up 2.86% to $7.20 at 10:53 a.m. Eastern time; the company had a market cap of $253.00 million, according to FT.com.