First-quarter revenue at Cross Country Healthcare Inc. (NASD: CCRN) rose 5.6% to 207.6 million. Nurse and allied staffing provided the growth, with volume growth and improved pricing boosting revenue up 8.5% in that segment.

However, consolidated gross profit margin slipped to 25.7% from 26.0% in the year-ago quarter.

First-quarter revenue fell in both the company’s physician staffing and other human capital management services divisions. The decrease in physician staffing was primarily due to a decrease in volume.

Cross Country reported a net loss of $2.0 million compared to net income of $19.0 million in the year-ago quarter. The 2017 first quarter included a loss on early extinguishment of debt of $5.0 million, and both periods included gains on derivative liability of $1.6 million for the first quarter of 2017 and $16.4 million for the first quarter of 2016.

Quote

“Revenue from new business wins is ramping slower than forecasted due to longer implementation cycles,” CEO William Grubbs said. “With more than 30 new programs still scheduled for implementation, representing over $100 million of spend, we believe these opportunities will drive stronger growth as we get them up and running. The pipeline for new managed service programs remains strong and we expect to have another record year of new business wins.”

Revenue by segment

Guidance

Cross Country forecasts second-quarter revenue of between $207 million and $212 million, a year-over-year increase of between 4% and 6%.

Share price and market cap

Shares in Cross Country fell 11.52% to $12.59 in early afternoon trading today. The company had a market cap of $455.99 million, according to Yahoo.