EX-99.1 2 d42971exv99w1.htm PRESS RELEASE exv99w1
 

EXHIBIT 99.1
EZCORP ANNOUNCES FISCAL 2007 FIRST QUARTER RESULTS
AUSTIN, Texas (January 23, 2007) — EZCORP, Inc. (Nasdaq/NM: EZPW) announced today results for its fiscal first quarter, which ended December 31, 2006.
For the quarter ended December 31, 2006, EZCORP’s net income increased 44% to $9,761,000 ($0.23 per share) compared to $6,756,000 ($0.17 per share) for the fiscal 2006 first quarter. Total revenues for the quarter increased 21% over the prior year period to $91,687,000 with signature loan revenues (payday loan and credit service fees) up 47%, total sales (merchandise and jewelry scrapping) up 16% and pawn service charges up 9%.
Operating income for the quarter improved 42% to $14,623,000 (24% of net revenue) compared to $10,315,000 (21% of net revenue) for the prior year quarter. Operating income margin improvement resulted from leveraging our store operating expense, primarily in our pawn operation, and administrative expense.
Commenting on these results, President and Chief Executive Officer, Joe Rotunda, stated, “The demand for our loan products continues to be strong as consumers seek lower cost alternatives to the fee-based services offered by traditional financial institutions. Our customer, who is well educated and informed, is choosing our short term loan products because they are a lower cost alternative and they enable them to maintain control over their finances. Satisfying this customer’s needs and demonstrating that our loan products are their best alternative continues to drive our business.”
Rotunda continued, “Both the pawn and signature loan products contributed to our earnings growth. Our pawn net revenues increased 12% or $3.9 million to approximately $37.5 million. Our signature loan contribution, signature loan fees less bad debt, increased 51% or $6.2 million to approximately $18.4 million. Our signature loan bad debt continues to show incremental year over year improvement. Signature loan bad debt as a percent of related fee revenue improved to 24.7% for the quarter from 26.4% for the prior year quarter.”
Rotunda concluded, “We expect our second fiscal 2007 quarter’s earnings to be approximately $0.23 per share compared to $0.19 for the fiscal 2006 second quarter. For our 2007 fiscal year, we are raising our guidance to approximately $0.85 per share compared to $0.69 per share for fiscal 2006. For the fiscal 2007 second quarter, we expect to open approximately 30 EZMONEY and one to two Mexico EZPAWN locations. For the fiscal year, we expect to open approximately 100 EZMONEY and four Mexico EZPAWN locations.”

 


 

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 280 U.S. and one Mexico EZPAWN locations, 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 340 EZMONEY locations and 82 EZPAWN locations, 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, expected future earnings and new store expansion. 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 January 23, 2007 at 3:30pm Central Standard 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=37311
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 December 31,  
    2006     2005  
Revenues:
               
Merchandise sales
  $ 37,879     $ 35,656  
Jewelry scrapping sales
    11,101       6,697  
Pawn service charges
    17,962       16,514  
Credit service fees
    22,027       15,422  
Payday loan fees
    2,368       1,152  
Other
    350       329  
 
           
Total revenues
    91,687       75,770  
Cost of goods sold:
               
Cost of merchandise sales
    22,582       20,772  
Cost of jewelry scrapping sales
    7,241       4,889  
 
           
Total cost of goods sold
    29,823       25,661  
 
           
Net revenues
    61,864       50,109  
 
               
Operations expense
    31,388       26,475  
Credit service bad debt
    5,204       3,770  
Payday loan bad debt
    824       604  
Administrative expense
    7,527       6,822  
Depreciation and amortization
    2,298       2,123  
 
           
Operating income
    14,623       10,315  
 
               
Interest income
    (314 )      
Interest expense
    64       222  
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliate
    (645 )     (515 )
(Gain) loss on sale/disposal of assets
    24       (15 )
 
           
Income before income taxes
    15,494       10,623  
Income tax expense
    5,733       3,867  
 
           
Net income
  $ 9,761     $ 6,756  
 
           
Net income per share, diluted
  $ 0.23     $ 0.17  
 
           
 
               
Weighted average shares, diluted
    43,306       40,613  

 


 

EZCORP, Inc.
Highlights of Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited)

(in thousands, except per share data and store counts)
 
                 
    As of December 31,  
    2006     2005  
Assets:
               
Current assets:
               
Cash and cash equivalents
  $ 39,964     $ 4,270  
Pawn loans
    47,793       47,419  
Payday loans, net
    3,273       1,532  
Pawn service charges receivable, net
    8,434       8,840  
Credit service fees receivable, net
    4,550       3,337  
Payday loan fees receivable, net
    591       251  
Inventory, net
    35,235       34,332  
Deferred tax asset
    7,150       10,629  
Prepaid expenses and other assets
    5,786       4,028  
 
           
Total current assets
    152,776       114,638  
Investment in unconsolidated affiliate
    20,317       17,702  
Property and equipment, net
    29,881       26,398  
Deferred tax asset, non-current
    3,950       4,012  
Other assets, net
    3,747       3,610  
 
           
Total assets
  $ 210,671     $ 166,360  
 
           
 
               
Liabilities and stockholders’ equity:
               
Current liabilities:
               
Accounts payable and other accrued expenses
  $ 19,689     $ 16,011  
Customer layaway deposits
    2,103       1,941  
Federal income taxes payable
    4,305       4,116  
 
           
Total current liabilities
    26,097       22,068  
 
               
Deferred gains and other long-term liabilities
    3,158       3,515  
Total stockholders’ equity
    181,416       140,777  
 
           
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity
  $ 210,671     $ 166,360  
 
           
 
               
Pawn loan balance per ending pawn store
  $ 170     $ 169  
Inventory per ending pawn store
  $ 125     $ 122  
Book value per share
  $ 4.47     $ 3.64  
Tangible book value per share
  $ 4.40     $ 3.57  
EZPAWN store count — end of period
    281       281  
EZMoney signature loan store count — end of period
    340       242  
Shares outstanding — end of period
    40,580       38,625