EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ: EZPW) today announced results for its first quarter ended December 31, 2020.

All amounts in this release are in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") unless otherwise noted. Comparisons shown in this release are to the same period in the prior year unless otherwise noted.

CEO COMMENTARY AND OUTLOOK

Chief Executive Officer Jason Kulas stated, “We remain focused on strengthening and growing our core pawn business as we continue to strive to be our customers’ first and best choice for their short-term cash needs and for affordable pre-owned goods. The first quarter of fiscal 2021 was characterized by continuing growth in demand for pawn loans, building on the prior quarter’s inflection point, even as store expenses remained flat on a sequential basis. Pawn loans outstanding (PLO) ended the quarter at $148 million, up 13% on a sequential basis from $131 million at the end of September 2020, primarily reflecting continued efforts to enhance our value proposition to customers and the reduction of certain government stimulus programs. In the near term, the recently implemented second stimulus package has reduced demand for pawn loans and the upcoming tax refund season will likely further temporarily curb loan demand.

“Turning to our financial performance for the quarter, pawn service charges (PSC) and merchandise sales remained depressed relative to prior-year levels as we continue to work through rebuilding PLO following 2020 stimulus payments and other ongoing headwinds from the COVID-19 pandemic. Merchandise sales gross profits held steady on more effective inventory management. We remain on track to realize meaningful cost savings as a result of strategic initiatives we implemented last quarter and continued this quarter. Looking ahead, while store-level operating costs will rebuild as transaction activity increases, ongoing cost reduction and simplification efforts across the business generate operating leverage as revenue trends higher. Furthermore, we maintain a strong balance sheet with ample liquidity to continue to fund PLO growth, de novo store openings, and strategic inorganic growth opportunities, with an ongoing emphasis on generating strong returns on capital.

“We are there for our customers, with virtually all of our stores remaining open and with continued expansion of payment options. Moreover, we remain focused on enhancing our digital pawn servicing platform to broaden customer engagement and enhance the customer experience as we drive operating efficiencies. We also continue to leverage technology and data analytics across geographies to optimize pricing, productivity, and returns, and strengthen business development initiatives. Finally, building the most passionate and tenured store-level team in the industry remains one of our top priorities, with an ongoing focus on the health, safety, development, and retention of our team members through and beyond the pandemic.”

RESULTS FOR FIRST QUARTER OF FISCAL 2021

• Diluted earnings per share was $0.08, compared to $0.02 in the prior-year quarter. On an adjusted basis1, diluted earnings per share was $0.13, down from $0.17 in the prior-year quarter. Income before taxes increased by $2.5 million to $5.5 million.
• Total revenues decreased $44.3 million or 20%, primarily due to a $21.2 million or 25% decrease in PSC and a $18.9 million or 15% decrease in merchandise sales.
• The decrease in PSC was due to a $47.7 million or 24% decrease in PLO. Pawn loan demand was significantly reduced in the third and fourth quarters of fiscal 2020 as a result of the impact of COVID-19 and the economic stimulus actions in the U.S. and constrained traffic in Latin America.
• Although merchandise sales decreased by $18.9 million, merchandise sales gross profit improved by 1%, driven by effective inventory management and less aged inventory leading to a 600 bps improvement in merchandise sales gross profit margin to 40%. The sales margin in the prior year quarter was negatively impacted by 260 bps due to greater sales volume of aged merchandise.
• On a sequential basis, total revenues increased $11.3 million or 7% to $178.1 million, largely driven by a 15% increase in PSC. The sequential increase in PSC was primarily due to a $16.5 million or 13% increase in the PLO balance to $147.9 million from the prior quarter.
• Continued focus on expense control drove total operating expenses down 15% to $99.4 million. The decrease in total operating expenses was primarily the result of a $10.0 million or 11% decrease in store expenses and a $6.3 million or 34% decrease in general and administrative expenses. The decrease in expenses is primarily due to cost cutting initiatives over the last 12 months (especially in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020) and a continued focus on expense control.
• Net inventory was $95.0 million, down 49% year-over-year and 1% sequentially. Inventory turnover improved to 2.9x from 2.0x and on a sequential basis improved 4% from 2.8x.
• Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the quarter was $290.5 million, an increase of $147.3 million or 103% from the prior-year quarter due to the year-over-year reduction in earning assets. On a sequential basis, cash and cash equivalents decreased $14.1 million or 5%, due to the sequential increase in PLO.

CONSOLIDATED RESULTS

• Total revenues decreased 20% to $178.1 million. PSC was down 25% to $63.5 million due to lower average PLO. On a sequential basis, PLO increased 13% from the prior quarter, compared to a 2% sequential decrease in the same period of the prior year.
• Net revenues were down 17% to $108.4 million.
• Consolidated merchandise sales gross profit increased 1% to $43.2 million.
• Consolidated store expenses decreased 11% primarily due to a reduction of expenses in line with reduced activity at the store level. Total pawn store count decreased by 11 stores or 1% since the end of the prior-year quarter. General and administrative expense decreased 34% to $12.5 million, due to a continued focus on expense control.

SEGMENT RESULTS

U.S. Pawn

• Total revenue was down 18% to $136.5 million, reflecting the impact of lower PLO driving a decrease in PSC revenue.
• PLO decreased 21% year-over-year to $121.9 million. On a sequential basis, PLO increased 15% compared to a 1% sequential decrease in the prior-year quarter, reflecting improved loan demand.
• PSC decreased 22% to $50.2 million as a result of lower average PLO for the quarter, offset by an increase in yield to 173% from 164%.
• Merchandise sales declined 14% to $82.3 million. Inventory turnover improved to 2.6x from 1.8x. Merchandise sales gross margin grew from 36% to 42%, above our targeted range. Aged general merchandise inventory improved to 3.4% from 6.7%.
• Net revenues decreased 14% to $85.6 million primarily due to lower PSC, partially offset by increased merchandise sales gross profit.
• Store expenses were down 9% to $62.1 million driven by a reduction in labor expense.
• Segment contribution decreased $7.8 million to $20.7 million as a result of the decrease in net revenue, partially offset by the reduction in store expenses.

Latin America Pawn

• Total revenue was down 25% to $41.6 million, reflecting the impact of lower PLO driving a decrease in PSC revenue.
• PLO decreased 36% year-over-year to $25.9 million. On a sequential basis, PLO increased 4% compared to a 3% sequential decrease in the prior-year quarter, reflecting improved loan demand.
• PSC decreased 36% to $13.3 million (down 32% to $13.9 million on a constant currency basis) as a result of lower average PLO for the quarter, offset by an increase in yield to 200% from 192% in the prior year.
• Merchandise sales declined 19% to $25.5 million (down 15% to $26.8 million on a constant currency basis), but merchandise sales gross margin was 35%, up from 28%. Inventory turnover improved to 3.8x from 2.7x. Aged general merchandise inventory increased to 9.4% from 8.5%.
• Net revenues decreased 24% to $22.7 million (down 20% to $23.8 million on a constant currency basis) primarily due to lower PSC.
• Store expenses were down 14% to $17.2 million driven by a reduction in labor expense.
• Segment contribution for the quarter was $5.0 million ($5.0 million on a constant currency basis), compared to a contribution of $8.1 million in the prior year quarter, primarily reflecting lower net revenues offset by improvement in store expenses.
• Latin America Pawn added two de novo stores in the quarter. New store openings typically pressure earnings in the short term as they ramp up, but drive higher profitability over time.

FORM 10-Q

EZCORP’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2020 has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and is available in the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website at http://investors.ezcorp.com.

CONFERENCE CALL

EZCORP will host a conference call on Thursday, February 4, 2021, at 7:00 am Central Time to discuss fiscal first quarter results. Analysts and institutional investors may participate on the conference call by dialing (877) 407-0789, Conference ID: 13715451, or internationally by dialing (201) 689-8562. The conference call will be webcast simultaneously to the public through this link: http://investors.ezcorp.com/. A replay of the conference call will be available online at http://investors.ezcorp.com/ shortly after the end of the call.

ABOUT EZCORP

Formed in 1989, EZCORP has grown into a leading provider of pawn loans in the United States and Latin America. We also sell merchandise, primarily collateral forfeited from pawn lending operations and pre-owned merchandise purchased from customers. We are dedicated to satisfying the short-term cash needs of consumers who are both cash and credit constrained, focusing on an industry-leading customer experience. EZCORP is traded on NASDAQ under the symbol EZPW and is a member of the Russell 2000 Index, S&P 1000 Index and Nasdaq Composite Index.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements regarding the company’s strategy, initiatives and expected performance. These statements are based on the Company’s current expectations as to the outcome and timing of future events. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, including all statements regarding the company's strategy, initiatives and future performance, that address activities or results that the company plans, expects, believes, projects, estimates or anticipates, will, should or may occur in the future, including future financial or operating results, are forward-looking statements. Actual results for future periods may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements due to a number of uncertainties and other factors, including operating risks, liquidity risks, legislative or regulatory developments, market factors, current or future litigation and risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. For a discussion of these and other factors affecting the Company’s business and prospects, see the Company’s annual, quarterly and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future operating results over time.

1“Adjusted” basis, which is a non-GAAP measure, excludes certain items. “Constant currency” basis, which is a non-GAAP measure, excludes the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. “Free cash flow,” which is a non-GAAP measure, includes certain adjustments to cash flow from operating activities.

For additional information about these calculations, as well as a reconciliation to the most comparable GAAP financial measures, see “Non-GAAP Financial Information” at the end of this release.

Non-GAAP Financial Information (Unaudited)

In addition to the financial information prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("GAAP"), we provide certain other non-GAAP financial information on a constant currency ("constant currency") and adjusted basis. We use constant currency results to evaluate our Latin America Pawn operations, which are denominated primarily in Mexican pesos and other Latin American currencies. We believe that presentation of constant currency and adjusted results is meaningful and useful in understanding the activities and business metrics of our operations and reflect an additional way of viewing aspects of our business that, when viewed with GAAP results, provide a more complete understanding of factors and trends affecting our business. We provide non-GAAP financial information for informational purposes and to enhance understanding of our GAAP consolidated financial statements. We use this non-GAAP financial information primarily to evaluate and compare operating results across accounting periods.

Readers should consider the information in addition to, but not instead of or superior to, our financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. This non-GAAP financial information may be determined or calculated differently by other companies, limiting the usefulness of those measures for comparative purposes.

Constant currency results reported herein are calculated by translating consolidated balance sheet and consolidated statement of operations items denominated in local currency to U.S. dollars using the exchange rate from the prior-year comparable period, as opposed to the current period, in order to exclude the effects of foreign currency rate fluctuations. We used the end-of-period rate for balance sheet items and the average closing daily exchange rate on a monthly basis during the appropriate period for statement of operations items. The end-of-period and approximate average exchange rates for each applicable currency as compared to U.S. dollars as of and for the three months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 and September 30, 2020 and 2019 were as follows:

Our statement of operations constant currency results reflect the monthly exchange rate fluctuations and so are not directly calculable from the above rates. Constant currency results, where presented, also exclude the foreign currency gain or loss.

Miscellaneous Non-GAAP Financial Measures

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005912/en/