KANSAS CITY, MO - (Marketwired) - June 11, 2014 - H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB)
H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB), the world's largest consumer tax services provider, today announced its financial results for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2014. Revenues increased 4.1 percent, to $3.024 billion, driven by improved return mix and changes to the company's pricing strategy in its retail locations, digital tax software product enhancements and monetization efforts, and increased Tax Plus financial services product revenues. Returns prepared by and through H&R Block declined 2.6% to 24.2 million worldwide, primarily due to the company's decision to discontinue its U.S.-based free federal 1040EZ promotion in virtually all markets. Earnings per share from continuing operations increased to $1.81. On an adjusted non-GAAP basis, earnings per share from continuing operations increased 5.0 percent to $1.67.
The company's increase in revenues in fiscal 2014 was consistent with its recently outlined strategy to grow revenues through a balance of improved return mix and increased product attachments. This included the discontinuation of the company's free federal 1040EZ promotion in virtually all markets, the exit from unprofitable retail partnerships, and enhancements to its online digital tax software offering focused on improving monetization and conversion. Additionally, the company achieved EBITDA margin expansion, while continuing to invest in initiatives that contributed to improved client satisfaction and helped maintain retention levels for clients filing forms other than the 1040EZ.
The company also served a greater proportion of its clients with its Tax Plus financial services products and increased year-round usage of its best-in-class general purpose reloadable debit card, the award winning Emerald Prepaid MasterCard®. Revenue per card increased 13 percent, driven by an increase in reloader rates and average deposits per card. The company issued 2.4 million Emerald Cards in fiscal 2014 with approximately $9.2 billion in total deposits.
"We delivered a strong year of both revenue and earnings growth and lived up to our long-standing tradition of being the world's leading tax services provider," said Bill Cobb, H&R Block's president and chief executive officer. "Though we anticipated an overall decline in return counts, our Tax Plus strategy is working, and we will continue to focus on enhancing the client experience and delivering best-in-class products and services to drive profitable growth. Our improving client satisfaction scores are a testament to the value we bring to our clients, positioning us well for 2015 and beyond," added Cobb.
Fiscal 2014 Results From Continuing Operations
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*Adjusted amounts and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) are non-GAAP financial measures. See "About Non-GAAP Financial Information" below for more information regarding financial measures not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).
"By executing on our Tax Plus objectives, we delivered exceptional results this year, growing both our top and bottom line," said Greg Macfarlane, H&R Block's chief financial officer. "Our productivity initiatives enabled us to manage our costs more efficiently and drive margin expansion, while continuing to invest in our business, ultimately creating shareholder value."
A previously announced quarterly cash dividend of 20 cents per share is payable on July 1, 2014 to shareholders of record as of June 16, 2014. The July 1 dividend payment will be H&R Block's 207th consecutive quarterly dividend since the company went public in 1962.
In conjunction with the announcement of fiscal 2014 results, the company will host a conference call at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time on June 11, 2014 for analysts, institutional investors, and shareholders to discuss fiscal 2014 results, future outlook and a general business update. To access the call, please dial the number below approximately 10 minutes prior to the scheduled starting time:
U.S./Canada (888) 895-5260 or International (443) 842-7595
Conference ID: 34435396
The call will also be webcast in a listen-only format for the media and public. The link to the webcast can be accessed directly at http://investors.hrblock.com.
A replay of the call will be available beginning at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time on June 11, 2014, and continuing untilJuly 12, 2014, by dialing (855) 859-2056 (U.S./Canada) or (404) 537-3406 (International). The conference ID is 34435396. The webcast will be available for replay June 11, 2014 at http://investors.hrblock.com.
H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) is the world's largest consumer tax services provider. More than 650 million tax returns have been prepared worldwide by and through H&R Block since 1955. In fiscal 2014, H&R Block had annual revenues over $3.0 billion with 24.2 million tax returns prepared worldwide. Tax return preparation services are provided in approximately 12,000 company-owned and franchise retail tax offices worldwide by professional tax preparers, and through H&R Block Tax Software products. H&R Block Bank provides affordable banking products and services. For more information, visit the H&R Block Newsroom.
This press release and the accompanying tables include non-GAAP financial information. For a description of these non-GAAP financial measures, including the reasons management uses each measure, and reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable financial measures prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, please see the section of the accompanying tables titled "Non-GAAP Financial Information."
This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the securities laws. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They often include words or variation of words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "projects," "forecasts," "targets," "would," "will," "should," "could" or "may" or other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements provide management's current expectations or predictions of future conditions, events or results. All statements that address operating performance, events or developments that we expect or anticipate will occur in the future are forward-looking statements. They may include estimates of revenues, income, earnings per share, capital expenditures, dividends, liquidity, capital structure or other financial items, descriptions of management's plans or objectives for future operations, products or services, or descriptions of assumptions underlying any of the above. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and reflect the company's good faith beliefs, assumptions and expectations, but they are not guarantees of future performance or events. Furthermore, the company disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect changes in underlying assumptions, factors, or expectations, new information, data or methods, future events or other changes, except as required by law. By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to, a variety of economic, competitive and regulatory factors, many of which are beyond the company's control and which are described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2013 in the section entitled "Risk Factors," as well as additional factors we may describe from time to time in other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should understand that it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors and, consequently, you should not consider any such list to be a complete set of all potential risks or uncertainties.
1All amounts in this release are unaudited. Unless otherwise noted, all comparisons refer to the current fiscal year to the prior fiscal year.
2EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) is a non-GAAP financial measure, which the company finds relevant when measuring its performance. The company also reports adjusted financial performance, which it believes is a better indication of the company's recurring operations. See "About Non-GAAP Financial Information" below for more information regarding financial measures not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).
3All per share amounts are based on fully diluted shares.
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The accompanying press release contains non-GAAP financial measures. Non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered as a substitute for, or superior to, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. Because these measures are not measures of financial performance under GAAP and are susceptible to varying calculations, they may not be comparable to similarly titled measures for other companies.
We consider non-GAAP financial measures to be a useful metric for management and investors to evaluate and compare the ongoing operating performance of our business on a consistent basis across reporting periods, as it eliminates the effect of items that are not indicative of our core operating performance.
The following are descriptions of adjustments we make for our non-GAAP financial measures:
We may consider whether other significant items that arise in the future should also be excluded from our non-GAAP financial measures.
We measure the performance of our business using a variety of metrics, including EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted pretax income of continuing operations. Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted pretax income eliminate the impact of items that we do not consider indicative of our core operating performance and, we believe, provide meaningful information to assist in understanding our financial results, analyzing trends in our underlying business, and assessing our prospects for future performance. We also use EBITDA and pretax income of continuing operations, each subject to permitted adjustments, as performance metrics in incentive compensation calculations for our employees.
SOURCE H & R Block
Colby Brown
Investor Relations
(816) 854-4559
Gene King
Media Relations
(816) 854-4672