EZPW EZCORP Inc

AUSTIN, Texas, July 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) announced today results for its fiscal third quarter and nine-month period, which ended June 30, 2008. EZCORP's net income for the quarter ended June 30, 2008 increased 60% to $10,827,000 ($0.25 per share) compared to $6,762,000 ($0.16 per share) for the quarter ended June 30, 2007. Total revenues for the quarter increased 24% over the prior year period to $108,070,000 with pawn service charges up 34%, total sales (merchandise and jewelry scrapping) up 26%, and signature loan revenues (payday loan and credit service fees) up 16%. In EZCORP's U.S. EZPAWN operations, store level operating income improved 47% to $19,474,000; and in its EZMONEY operations, store level operating income improved 36% to $9,067,000. EZCORP's 30 store Empeno Facil operation contributed $931,000 compared to a slight loss in the prior year period. After administrative expense and depreciation and amortization, consolidated operating income for the quarter improved 78% to $16,584,000 (22% of net revenue) compared to $9,307,000 (15% of net revenue) for the prior year quarter. EZCORP's net income for the nine-month period ended June 30, 2008 increased 36% to $36,398,000 ($0.84 per share) compared to $26,719,000 ($0.62 per share) for the prior year nine-month period. Operating income for the nine-months improved 43% to $55,669,000 (24% of net revenues) compared to $38,810,000 (21% of net revenues) for the prior year nine-month period. Commenting on these results, President and Chief Executive Officer, Joe Rotunda, stated, "Overall, our third quarter was a great quarter for EZCORP and was our twenty-fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year earnings growth. Particularly gratifying is that these results are after a two cents per share impact from two non-recurring charges. Once again our results were generated by solid contributions from each of our business segments -- EZPAWN and EZMONEY in the U.S. and Empeno Facil in Mexico." Rotunda continued, "I think it's noteworthy to point out how we believe our business was impacted, both favorably and unfavorably, by the economic stimulus checks, which began distribution in May. During May and June, we realized a slightly lower than expected seasonal demand for loans; however, we saw a favorable impact on retail sales and loan redemptions in our EZPAWN locations and lower levels of bad debt in our EZMONEY locations. While difficult to quantify, we do believe these checks had a net favorable impact on our results in the quarter." Rotunda concluded, "As announced on July 8th, we expect earning per share for our September quarter to be approximately $0.35 per share compared to $0.26 in the prior year period. Included in this guidance is an approximate one cent benefit from our pending Value Financial Services acquisition. This will give us earnings per share of approximately $1.19 for our fiscal 2008 compared to $0.88 for our fiscal 2007. For the fiscal year, we expect to open 70 EZMONEY locations, including 47 opened through June, and twelve Empeno Facil locations, including six opened through June." EZCORP is primarily a lender or provider of credit services to individuals who do not have cash resources or access to credit to meet their short-term cash needs. In 294 U.S. EZPAWN and 30 Mexico Empeno Facil locations open on June 30, 2008, the Company offers non-recourse loans collateralized by tangible personal property, commonly known as pawn loans. At these locations, the Company also sells merchandise, primarily collateral forfeited from its pawn lending operations, to consumers looking for good value. In 461 EZMONEY locations and 71 EZPAWN locations open on June 30, 2008, the Company offers short-term non-collateralized loans, often referred to as payday loans, or fee based credit services to customers seeking loans. This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements regarding the Company's expected performance for future periods including, but not limited to, new store expansion, anticipated benefits of acquisitions and expected future earnings. Actual results for these periods may materially differ from these statements. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties such as changing market conditions in the overall economy and the industry, consumer demand for the Company's services and merchandise, changes in the regulatory environment, and other factors periodically discussed in the Company's annual, quarterly and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You are invited to listen to a conference call discussing these results on July 24, 2008 at 3:30pm Central Time. The conference call can be accessed over the Internet or replayed at your convenience at the following address. http://www.videonewswire.com/event.asp?id=49784 For additional information, contact Dan Tonissen at (512) 314-2289. EZCORP, Inc. Highlights of Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited) (in thousands, except per share data) Three Months Ended June 30, 2008 2007 1 Revenues: 2 Merchandise sales $35,728 $30,607 3 Jewelry scrapping sales 17,907 12,069 4 Pawn service charges 22,691 16,978 5 Signature loan fees 31,223 27,024 6 Other 521 315 7 Total revenues 108,070 86,993 8 Cost of goods sold: 9 Cost of merchandise sales 20,706 17,745 10 Cost of jewelry scrapping sales 10,754 7,676 11 Total cost of goods sold 31,460 25,421 12 Net revenues 76,610 61,572 13 14 Operations expense 38,593 31,595 15 Signature loan bad debt 8,545 10,142 16 Administrative expense 9,807 8,033 17 Depreciation and amortization 3,081 2,495 18 Operating income 16,584 9,307 19 20 Interest income (165) (618) 21 Interest expense 72 67 22 Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliate (997) (720) 23 (Gain) / loss on sale/disposal of assets 284 (155) 24 Other 11 - 25 Income before income taxes 17,379 10,733 26 Income tax expense 6,552 3,971 27 Net income $10,827 $6,762 28 29 Net income per share, diluted $0.25 $0.16 30 31 Weighted average shares, diluted 43,325 43,482 EZCORP, Inc. Highlights of Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited) (in thousands, except per share data) Nine Months Ended June 30, 2008 2007 1 Revenues: 2 Merchandise sales $120,902 $107,993 3 Jewelry scrapping sales 49,570 33,695 4 Pawn service charges 67,384 51,496 5 Signature loan fees 94,917 74,132 6 Other 1,228 1,007 7 Total revenues 334,001 268,323 8 Cost of goods sold: 9 Cost of merchandise sales 72,122 63,903 10 Cost of jewelry scrapping sales 29,610 21,715 11 Total cost of goods sold 101,732 85,618 12 Net revenues 232,269 182,705 13 14 Operations expense 113,185 94,087 15 Signature loan bad debt 24,847 19,086 16 Administrative expense 29,541 23,528 17 Depreciation and amortization 9,027 7,194 18 Operating income 55,669 38,810 19 20 Interest income (359) (1,499) 21 Interest expense 228 214 22 Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliate (3,162) (2,185) 23 (Gain) / loss on sale/disposal of assets 527 (131) 24 Other 11 - 25 Income before income taxes 58,424 42,411 26 Income tax expense 22,026 15,692 27 Net income $36,398 $26,719 28 29 Net income per share, diluted $0.84 $0.62 30 31 Weighted average shares, diluted 43,269 43,393 EZCORP, Inc. Highlights of Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited) (in thousands, except per share data and store counts) As of June 30, 2008 2007 1 Assets: 2 Current assets: 3 Cash and cash equivalents $29,812 $31,686 4 Pawn loans 68,022 58,053 5 Payday loans, net 6,598 4,514 6 Pawn service charges receivable, net 10,061 8,150 7 Signature loan fees receivable, net 5,086 5,439 8 Inventory, net 39,444 33,641 9 Deferred tax asset 9,007 7,344 10 Federal income taxes receivable 454 - 11 Prepaid expenses and other assets 5,622 5,197 12 Total current assets 174,106 154,024 13 14 Investment in unconsolidated affiliate 37,248 21,250 15 Property and equipment, net 38,661 31,895 16 Deferred tax asset, non-current 5,620 4,536 17 Goodwill 24,779 16,211 18 Other assets, net 5,585 3,448 19 Total assets $285,999 $231,364 20 Liabilities and stockholders' equity: 21 Current liabilities: 22 Accounts payable and other accrued expenses $24,120 $21,658 23 Customer layaway deposits 2,254 1,888 24 Federal income taxes payable - 1,255 25 Total current liabilities 26,374 24,801 26 27 Deferred gains and other long-term liabilities 2,909 2,977 28 Total stockholders' equity 256,716 203,586 29 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $285,999 $231,364 30 31 Pawn loan balance per ending pawn store $210 $195 32 Inventory per ending pawn store $122 $113 33 Book value per share $6.19 $4.93 34 Tangible book value per share $5.50 $4.47 35 EZPAWN store count - end of period 324 298 36 EZMoney signature loan store count - end of period 461 390 37 Shares outstanding - end of period 41,441 41,300 EZCORP, Inc. Operating Segment Results (Unaudited) (in thousands, except store counts) EZPAWN United EZPAWN Three months ended States Mexico EZMONEY June 30, 2008: Operations Operations Operations Consolidated 1 Revenues: 2 Sales $51,799 $1,836 $ - $53,635 3 Pawn service charges 21,378 1,313 - 22,691 4 Signature loan fees 650 - 30,573 31,223 5 Other 521 - - 521 6 Total revenues 74,348 3,149 30,573 108,070 7 8 Cost of goods sold 30,301 1,159 - 31,460 9 Net revenues 44,047 1,990 30,573 76,610 10 11 Operating expenses: 12 Operations expense 24,371 1,059 13,163 38,593 13 Signature loan bad debt 202 - 8,343 8,545 14 Total direct expenses 24,573 1,059 21,506 47,138 15 Store operating income $19,474 $931 $9,067 $29,472 16 17 EZPAWN store count - end of period 294 30 - 324 18 EZMoney signature loan store count - end of period 6 - 455 461 19 20 Three months ended June 30, 2007: 21 Revenues: 22 Sales $42,623 $53 $ - $42,676 23 Pawn service charges 16,955 23 - 16,978 24 Signature loan fees 782 - 26,242 27,024 25 Other 315 - - 315 26 Total revenues 60,675 76 26,242 86,993 27 28 Cost of goods sold 25,395 26 - 25,421 29 Net revenues 35,280 50 26,242 61,572 30 31 Operating expenses: 32 Operations expense 21,481 117 9,997 31,595 33 Signature loan bad debt 559 - 9,583 10,142 34 Total direct expenses 22,040 117 19,580 41,737 35 Store operating income $13,240 $(67) $6,662 $19,835 36 37 EZPAWN store count - end of period 295 3 - 298 38 EZMoney signature loan store count - end of period 6 - 384 390 EZCORP, Inc. Operating Segment Results (Unaudited) (in thousands, except store counts) EZPAWN United EZPAWN Nine months ended States Mexico EZMONEY June 30, 2008: Operations Operations Operations Consolidated 1 Revenues: 2 Sales $165,749 $4,723 $ - $170,472 3 Pawn service charges 64,089 3,295 - 67,384 4 Signature loan fees 2,131 - 92,786 94,917 5 Other 1,224 4 - 1,228 6 Total revenues 233,193 8,022 92,786 334,001 7 8 Cost of goods sold 98,853 2,879 - 101,732 9 Net revenues 134,340 5,143 92,786 232,269 10 11 Operating expenses: 12 Operations expense 71,399 2,781 39,005 113,185 13 Signature loan bad debt 741 - 24,106 24,847 14 Total direct expenses 72,140 2,781 63,111 138,032 15 Store operating income $62,200 $2,362 $29,675 $94,237 16 17 EZPAWN store count - end of period 294 30 - 324 18 EZMoney signature loan store count - end of period 6 - 455 461 19 20 Nine months ended June 30, 2007: 21 Revenues: 22 Sales $141,621 $67 $ - $141,688 23 Pawn service charges 51,464 32 - 51,496 24 Signature loan fees 2,486 - 71,646 74,132 25 Other 1,006 1 - 1,007 26 Total revenues 196,577 100 71,646 268,323 27 28 Cost of goods sold 85,583 35 - 85,618 29 Net revenues 110,994 65 71,646 182,705 30 31 Operating expenses: 32 Operations expense 64,641 243 29,203 94,087 33 Signature loan bad debt 1,043 - 18,043 19,086 34 Total direct expenses 65,684 243 47,246 113,173 35 Store operating income $45,310 $(178) $24,400 $69,532 36 37 EZPAWN store count - end of period 295 3 - 298 38 EZMoney signature loan store count - end of period 6 - 384 390 DATASOURCE: EZCORP, Inc. CONTACT: Dan Tonissen of EZCORP, Inc., +1-512-314-2289 Web site: http://www.ezcorp.com/

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