WASHINGTON — Sallie Mae’s stock price sank more than 10 percent Wednesday after the student lender cut its 2008 profit forecast and said it failed to revive interest from an investor group that once offered to buy it for $25 billion.
The company’s weakening outlook could bolster the investor group’s argument that it should not have to pay a $900 million fee for ditching the deal because of significant changes in economic or regulatory conditions affecting SLM Corp., Sallie’s formal name.
Reston, Va.-based Sallie, the nation’s largest student lender, lowered its earnings forecast for next year by more than 13 percent, blaming a new law that reduced federal subsidies and the need to hoard cash to offset bad student loans. Sallie’s shares sank $3.45, 10.8 percent, to $28.49 a share.
