Aaron's, Inc. Reduces 2014 First Quarter Revenue and Earnings Guidance

Aaron's, Inc.

, the leading lease-to-own specialty retailer that offers flexible payment options for credit-challenged individuals, today announced it is reducing the Company's 2014 first quarter revenue and earnings guidance. Aaron's logo. "Like many retail companies, we continue to be adversely affected by the current macroeconomic environment, and many of our stores were negatively impacted by abnormal weather conditions during the quarter," said Ronald W. Allen, Chief Executive Officer of Aaron's. "As a result, our revenues and earnings will not meet expectations for the quarter." "Both same store revenue and customer growth in Company-operated stores declined by approximately 2% in the quarter, and franchised stores as a collective group also experienced negative same store revenues and customer growth. More than 80% of Company-operated stores are in states that experienced severe weather events during January, February and early March. Approximately 70% of Company-operated stores have been identified as having operations that were adversely impacted by the weather, including a significant number of store closings as well as elevated utility and maintenance expenses." "We estimate the effect of the severe winter weather will negatively impact diluted earnings per share for the quarter in the range of $.05 to $.06," Mr. Allen concluded. Updated Guidance The Company provided updated guidance for the full year 2014, including its recently announced acquisition of Progressive Finance Holdings, LLC, in an investor presentation, which it will file today with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This presentation is available on the Company's website in the "Investor Relations" section at www.aaronsinc.com. Based upon preliminary results, the Company is reducing its revenue guidance for the first quarter to $587.5 million from approximately $600 million and its diluted earnings per share guidance to a range of $.51 to $.54 from the previous range of $.57 to $.62. Conference Call Aaron's will hold a conference call to discuss its financial results for the first quarter of 2014 on Friday, April 25, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The public is invited to listen to the conference call by webcast accessible through the Company's website, www.aaronsinc.com, in the "Investor Relations" section. The webcast will be archived for playback at that same site. Prior to the conference call, Aaron's will publish its definitive results for the first quarter of 2014.