EX-99.1 2 v114710_ex99-1.htm
Exhibit 99.1
 
MRU Holdings Announces Results for First 9 Months of Fiscal Year 2008
 
Student Loan Originations Increase 92% to Approximately $230 Million for the First 9 Months of FY 2008 vs. Increase of 13% in Core Operating Costs, Demonstrating Growing Scale of Business Model
 
NEW YORK, May 15, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- MRU Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: UNCL), a specialty finance company that provides federal and private student loans through its consumer brand MyRichUncle(R) and its relationships with private label partners, today announced results for the first 9 months of its fiscal year 2008, whereby it increased student loan originations to $230.2 million versus $119.8 million for the same period in the prior year, an increase of 92%. In the same 9 month period, the operating expenses for the Company’s student loan origination business grew to $30.5 million, an increase of 13% versus the same period last year, indicating markedly increased scale and efficiency of the Company’s business model.
 
For the third quarter of FY 2008, the company originated $42.8 million of loans. The third quarter is normally a slow quarter as students have limited needs for additional borrowing during this period and borrowing during this quarter tends to come from consumers with out of season needs who traditionally have lower quality credit profiles than those borrowing during the peak season and, as such, a lower percentage of the applicants meet the Company’s stringent underwriting criteria.
 
MRU Holdings, since its inception, has had a very conservative underwriting policy with a strong focus on long term factors such as income and repayment capacity post graduation in addition to the traditional credit metrics utilized by its competitors. The benefits of this approach have manifested themselves in the Company’s portfolio performance, which is significantly better than its major competitors and the industry averages in terms of delinquencies and forbearance. This has allowed the Company to maintain its liquidity and capacity to lend in a market where many larger competitors have ceased operations due to either a lack of liquidity or heavy credit losses. The Company believes that this strategy will allow the Company to go to market with the highest quality portfolio of loans as it seeks to complete a private loan securitization, subject to market conditions, during the current quarter.
 
“Our goal this quarter was to generate highly securitizable loans at a yield that reflected the new market environment in terms of cost of funds. We believe that we are one of the few private student loan originators that currently have liquidity to lend during the upcoming peak season and as we get a securitization or sale of our existing portfolio completed, we believe we will have a significant competitive advantage in originating new private student loans. That will be the appropriate time to ramp up marketing”, said Vishal Garg, Chief Financial Officer, MRU Holdings.
 
From a cost of customer acquisition perspective, the Company’s core cost of acquisition in the first nine months of the year has declined over 50% versus the prior fiscal year to less than 5% of private loan originations. “Our other major goal was to continue to increase efficiencies in marketing and origination costs, which we believe today are comparable if not better than those of our much larger competitors even though we believe our underwriting criteria is much more conservative,” said Raza Khan, President, MRU Holdings.
 
 
About MRU Holdings, Inc.
 
MRU Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: UNCL) is a publicly traded specialty finance company that provides students with funds for higher education using a blend of current market credit practices as well as its own proprietary analytic models and decision tools. The Company has a renowned brand name "MyRichUncle(TM)" and highly scalable origination infrastructure. The Company utilizes these assets to provide private and federal loans to students. MRU distinguishes itself from the competition as it does not take a "one-size fits all" approach to designing student loan products, allowing itself and its marketing partners to create a student loan offering that directly addresses their specific customer needs. Additional information concerning the Company is available at http://www.MRUHoldings.com.
 
 
About MyRichUncle
 
From its inception in 2000, MyRichUncle has been at the forefront of innovation for education finance, most recently focusing on the growth market of student loans. Since the launch of its student loan program in the summer of 2005, MyRichUncle has originated over $400 million in private and federal student loans using its breakthrough underwriting platforms and innovative technology to deliver competitively priced products and services to borrowers. In May 2006, the Company launched Preprime(TM), the first and only student loan that allows students to qualify for loans based on individual merit, rather than credit history alone. In June 2006, MyRichUncle launched its Federal student loans with upfront interest rate reductions at repayment. Dedicated to reshaping the student loan industry to function in the best interests of the students, founders Vishal Garg and Raza Khan and their team are committed to delivering the most innovative solutions for their customers. The Company and its founders have been recognized by Fast Company's Fast 50 (2006) and listed among BusinessWeek.com's Tech's Best Young Entrepreneurs (2006). For more information, visit http://www.myrichuncle.com.
 
Safe Harbor Statement
 
The information provided herein contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that, if realized, could materially impair the Company's results of operations and/or its financial condition. These forward- looking statements may be affected by the risks and uncertainties inherent in the educational finance market and in the Company's business, as disclosed by the risk factors contained in the Company's annual report on Form 10-KSB for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2007 and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The Company cautions that certain important factors may have affected and could in the future affect the Company's beliefs and expectations, and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company. The forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events or circumstances.
 
For media inquiries:
Karin Pellmann - Vice President Public Relations
Phone: 212-444-7541 - Email: kpellmann@mruholdings.com 

UNCLF
 
 
MRU HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
FOR THE THREE AND NINE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2008 AND 2007
(unaudited)
(Dollars in thousands - except per share data)

   
Three Months Ended
  
Nine Months Ended
  
   
March 31,
  
March 31,
  
   
2008
  
2007
  
2008
  
2007
  
       
(Restated)
      
(Restated)
  
                   
Interest Income:
                  
  Loan portfolio interest income - private student loans
  
$
2,295
  
$
2,242
  
$
4,666
  
$
5,124
  
  Loan portfolio interest income - federal student loans
    
444
   
41
   
870
   
104
 
  Origination fee revenue - private loans
    
178
   
32
   
218
   
78
 
  Interest Income - Residual Interest
    
343
   
-
   
1,105
   
-
 
  Other Interest income
    
225
   
78
   
591
   
375
 
    Total interest income
    
3,485
   
2,393
   
7,450
   
5,681
 
                           
Interest Expense:
                          
  Facility interest and origination bank costs
    
2,108
   
1,754
   
4,989
   
4,139
 
  Other Interest expense
    
375
   
4
   
744
   
7
 
    Total interest expense
    
2,483
   
1,758
   
5,733
   
4,146
 
                           
Net Interest Income
    
1,002
   
635
   
1,717
   
1,535
 
  Valuation reserve provision - private student loans
    
815
   
283
   
3,643
   
2,449
 
Net interest income after valuation provision
    
187
   
352
   
(1,926
)
  
(914
)
                           
Non-interest income
                          
  Securitization income (loss), net
    
(2,270
)
  
-
   
1,795
   
-
 
  Subscription and service revenue
    
1,501
   
709
   
4,275
   
722
 
  Origination processing fees
    
140
   
111
   
680
   
353
 
  Master Oversight Fee
    
28
   
-
   
79
   
-
 
  Other non-interest income
    
-
   
10
   
-
   
11
 
    Total non-interest income
    
(601
)
  
830
   
6,829
   
1,086
 
                           
Non-interest expense:
                          
  Corporate general and administrative expenses
    
4,236
   
3,376
   
12,284
   
7,128
 
  Sales and marketing expenses
    
2,299
   
2,582
   
9,541
   
8,023
 
  Operations expenses
    
1,219
   
1,242
   
5,380
   
3,751
 
  Technology development
    
902
   
691
   
2,817
   
2,151
 
  Referral marketing costs - private student loans
    
382
   
224
   
1,521
   
725
 
  Consulting and hosting
    
103
   
58
   
209
   
80
 
  Cost of subscription and service revenue
    
336
   
-
   
1,379
   
-
 
  Servicing and custodial costs
    
181
   
119
   
378
   
256
 
  Legal expenses
    
610
   
397
   
1,425
   
860
 
  Other operating expenses
    
396
   
366
   
927
   
564
 
  Depreciation and amortization
    
1,620
   
959
   
2,476
   
4,035
 
    Total non-interest expense
    
12,284
   
10,014
   
38,337
   
27,573
 
                           
(Loss) before provision for income taxes
    
(12,698
)
  
(8,832
)
  
(33,434
)
  
(27,401
)
  Provision for income taxes
    
-
   
-
   
-
   
-
 
                           
Net (Loss)
  
$
(12,698
)
$
(8,832
)
$
(33,434
)
$
(27,401
)
                           
Preferred Stock Dividends
    
(484
)
  
(776
)
  
(1,687
)
  
(2,093
)
                           
Net (loss) applicable to common shares
  
$
(13,182
)
$
(9,608
)
$
(35,121
)
$
(29,494
)
                           
Net (Loss) per basic and diluted shares
  
$
(0.42
)
$
(0.47
)
$
(1.22
)
$
(1.60
)
                           
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding
    
31,669
   
20,658
   
28,880
   
18,401
 
 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements