Rent-A-Center Increases Quarterly Cash Dividend from $0.21 to $0.23

Rent-A-Center (NASDAQ: RCII), the nation's largestrent-to-own operator, today announced that its Board of Directors has approveda 10% increase in its quarterly cash dividend from $0.21 per share to $0.23per share, beginning with the dividend for the first quarter of 2014. TheCompany declared its fifteenth consecutive cash dividend: a $0.23 per sharecash dividend for the first quarter of 2014 to be paid to the Company's commonstockholders. The dividend will be paid on January 23, 2014, to commonstockholders of record as of the close of business on January 3, 2014.“We are pleased that the strength of our financial position allows us toincrease our dividend payout to shareholders,” said Mark E. Speese, Chairmanand Chief Executive Officer of the Company. “This dividend increase reflectsnot only our confidence in the Company's strong long-term recurring cashflows, but also our belief that continued investments in our strategicinitiatives will generate further growth and provide long-term value for ourstockholders,” Mr. Speese concluded.Rent-A-Center, Inc., headquartered in Plano, Texas, is the largest rent-to-ownoperator in North America, focused on improving the quality of life for itscustomers by providing them the opportunity to obtain ownership ofhigh-quality, durable goods such as consumer electronics, appliances,computers, furniture and accessories, under flexible rental purchaseagreements with no long-term obligation. The Company owns and operatesapproximately 3,140 stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico and PuertoRico, and approximately 1,300 AcceptanceNOW kiosk locations in the UnitedStates and Puerto Rico. Rent-A-Center Franchising International (previouslyColorTyme, Inc.), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, is a franchisor ofapproximately 215 rent-to-own stores operating under the trade name of“Rent-A-Center” or “ColorTyme.”This press release and the guidance above contain forward-looking statementsthat involve risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statementsgenerally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as"may," "will," "expect," "intend," "could," "estimate," "should,""anticipate," or "believe," or the negative thereof or variations thereon orsimilar terminology. Although the Company believes that the expectationsreflected in such forward-looking statements will prove to be correct, theCompany can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have beencorrect. The actual future performance of the Company could differ materiallyfrom such statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to suchdifferences include, but are not limited to: uncertainties regarding theability to open new locations; the Company's ability to acquire additionalstores or customer accounts on favorable terms; the Company's ability tocontrol costs and increase profitability; the Company's ability to enhance theperformance of acquired stores; the Company's ability to retain the revenueassociated with acquired customer accounts; the Company's ability to identifyand successfully market products and services that appeal to its customerdemographic; the Company's ability to enter into new and collect on its rentalor lease purchase agreements; the passage of legislation adversely affectingthe rent-to-own industry; the Company's compliance with applicable statutes orregulations governing its transactions; changes in interest rates; changes inthe unemployment rate; economic pressures, such as high fuel costs, affectingthe disposable income available to the Company's current and potentialcustomers; the general strength of the economy and other economic conditionsaffecting consumer preferences and spending; adverse changes in the economicconditions of the industries, countries or markets that the Company serves;the Company's available cash flow; changes in the Company's stock price, thenumber of shares of common stock that it may or may not repurchase, and futuredividends, if any; changes in estimates relating to self-insurance liabilitiesand income tax and litigation reserves; changes in the Company's effective taxrate; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; information technologyand data security costs; the Company's ability to maintain an effective systemof internal controls;  the resolution of the Company's litigation; and theother risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, includingbut not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December31, 2012 and its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March31, 2013, June 30, 2013, and September 30, 2013. You are cautioned not toplace undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only asof the date of this press release. Except as required by law, the Company isnot obligated to publicly release any revisions to these forward-lookingstatements to reflect the events or circumstances after the date of this pressrelease or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.