Credit Corp, the largest and previously the most successful of the listed debt collection firms on the ASX, yesterday cut its forecast for net profit for the June 2008 year to a range between $10 million and $12 million. At the low end this is half the net profit reported in 2007. The company also cut its forecast of its EBITDA profit to a range between $83 million and $87 million, which is only a little lower than the 2007 result.The core factors behind the profit downgrade are the declining productivity of an expanded, and possibly high turnover, workforce in the company's call centres; a short-term focus on harvesting revenue from recently purchased debts that produce quicker revenue rather than the slog of harassing the most delinquent debtors (who have often skipped payments for several years) on the company's books; and crappy terms on a forward flow agreement with an unidentified financial institution.The company said 65 per cent of staff has less than 12 months experience, suggesting the staff costs will have to rise, both in base pay and training.Investment in refreshed information systems is also proving a drag on earnings.Few companies in the debt collection sector have lived up to the occasional hype of the revenue and earnings prospects from being better (or nastier) at chasing up those shirking or unable to pay debts than the lenders that created the debt in the first place.Credit Corp yesterday announced a strategic review, the resignation of its chair, Christopher Deane, and the elevation of newish director Richard Thomas in his place.Thomas has plenty of experience, or form, in the debt collection sector as head of Avco in Australia in the early 1990s, then head of AGC (owned at the time by Westpac) in the later 1990s. Thomas more recently helped set up FundCorp, a niche financier in the retail finance segment, which was sold to Macquarie Bank a couple of years ago.