H&R Block Announces Fiscal 2018 First Quarter Results

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Aug. 29, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- H&R Block, Inc. HRB today released its financial results for the fiscal 2018 first quarter ended July 31, 2017.  The company normally reports a fiscal first quarter loss due to the seasonality of its tax business.  The fiscal first quarter typically represents less than 5% of annual revenues and less than 15% of annual expenses.

Fiscal First Quarter Highlights1

  • Fiscal first quarter financial results were largely in line with expectations
  • Revenues increased $13 million, or 10%, to $138 million primarily due to increased U.S. Assisted tax preparation fees and revenues from the Peace of Mind® Extended Service Plan product
  • Year-over-year reduction in average outstanding shares and a lower effective tax rate, both of which negatively impact those quarters with a net loss, resulted in an increase in loss per share
  • Jeff Jones appointed president and CEO effective October 9, 2017

"We are building on our momentum from fiscal 2017 to deliver another successful tax season for both our clients and our shareholders," said Tom Gerke, H&R Block's interim president and chief executive officer.  "The management team has been hard at work to execute against our plans and we're excited to have Jeff Jones, a strong and experienced leader, join us as our new CEO."

Fiscal 2018 First Quarter Results From Continuing Operations

(in millions, except EPS) Fiscal Year 2018 Fiscal Year 2017
Revenue $138  $125 
Pretax Loss $(205) $(204)
Net Loss $(128) $(121)
Weighted-Avg. Shares - Diluted 207.9  220.5 
EPS2 $(0.62) $(0.55)
EBITDA3 $(140) $(141)
     

"Our fiscal first quarter results were in line with expectations and reflect the seasonality of our business," said Tony Bowen, H&R Block's chief financial officer.  "Our preparation for the upcoming tax season is progressing well and we look forward to sharing more detail regarding our financial outlook during our second quarter earnings call."

Key Financial Metrics

  • Total revenues increased $13 million, or 10%, to $138 million primarily due to increased U.S. Assisted tax preparation fees and revenues from the Peace of Mind® Extended Service Plan product.
  • Total operating expenses increased $13 million, or 4%, to $323 million primarily due to occupancy, amortization, and compensation costs.
  • Pretax loss increased $2 million to $205 million. Increases in total revenues were offset by increases in total operating expenses, resulting in a pretax loss increase primarily due to a decline in other income related to the sale of the mortgage loan portfolio in fiscal 2017.
  • Loss per share from continuing operations increased $0.07 to $0.62.   Approximately half of the increase was due to the reduction in share count, which will be accretive on a full year basis, but negatively impacts those quarters with a net loss.  The remainder of the change in loss per share was due to the decrease in the income tax benefit.

Dividends

As previously announced, a quarterly cash dividend of $0.24 per share is payable on October 2, 2017 to shareholders of record as of September 13, 2017.  H&R Block has paid quarterly dividends consecutively since the company went public in 1962.

Discontinued Operations

Sand Canyon Corporation's accrual for contingent losses related to representation and warranty claims remained unchanged from the prior fiscal quarter at $4.5 million as of July 31, 2017.

Leadership Transition

On August 22, 2017, the company announced that Jeff Jones has been appointed H&R Block's president and chief executive officer, effective October 9, 2017.  Details regarding his appointment were included in a press release on August 22, 2017 and in a Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the same day.

Conference Call

Discussion of the fiscal 2018 first quarter results, future outlook, and a general business update will occur during the company's previously announced fiscal first quarter earnings conference call for analysts, institutional investors, and shareholders. The call is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Eastern time on August 29, 2017. To access the call, please dial the number below approximately 10 minutes prior to the scheduled starting time:

U.S./Canada (855) 702-5257 or International (213) 358-0868

Conference ID: 46876633

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 7:30 p.m. Eastern time on August 29, 2017, and continuing until September 29, 2017, by dialing (855) 859-2056 (U.S./Canada) or (404) 537-3406 (International). The conference ID is 46876633. The webcast will be available for replay August 30, 2017 at http://investors.hrblock.com.

About H&R Block

H&R Block, Inc. HRB is a global consumer tax services provider. Tax return preparation services are provided by professional tax preparers in approximately 12,000 company-owned and franchise retail tax offices worldwide, and through H&R Block tax software products for the DIY consumer. H&R Block also offers adjacent Tax Plus products and services. In fiscal 2017, H&R Block had annual revenues of over $3 billion with 23 million tax returns prepared worldwide. For more information, visit the H&R Block Newsroom.

About Non-GAAP Financial Information

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."

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains 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," "goal," "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, cost savings, capital expenditures, dividends, share repurchases, 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, that are described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2017 in the section entitled "Risk Factors" and additional factors we may describe from time to time in other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You may get such filings for free at our website at http://investors.hrblock.com.  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.

All amounts in this release are unaudited.  Unless otherwise noted, all comparisons refer to the current period compared to the corresponding prior year period.

2 All per share amounts are based on fully diluted shares at the end of the corresponding period.

3 The company reports non-GAAP financial measures of performance, including earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), which it considers to be useful metrics for management and investors to evaluate and compare the ongoing operating performance of the company.  See "About Non-GAAP Financial Information" below for more information regarding financial measures not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS(unaudited, in 000s -

except per share amounts)
  Three months ended July 31,
  2017 2016
     
REVENUES:    
Service revenues $124,695  $112,384 
Royalty, product and other revenues 13,107  12,801 
  137,802  125,185 
OPERATING EXPENSES:    
Cost of revenues:    
Compensation and benefits 55,592  52,355 
Occupancy and equipment 98,467  94,425 
Provision for bad debt 2,459  1,417 
Depreciation and amortization 28,616  27,467 
Other 42,581  35,422 
  227,715  211,086 
Selling, general and administrative:    
Marketing and advertising 7,104  7,561 
Compensation and benefits 56,373  57,522 
Depreciation and amortization 14,982  13,815 
Other selling, general and administrative 16,790  19,925 
  95,249  98,823 
Total operating expenses 322,964  309,909 
     
Other income (expense), net 1,220  2,641 
Interest expense on borrowings (21,277) (21,466)
Loss from continuing operations before income tax benefit (205,219) (203,549)
Income tax benefit (77,401) (82,523)
Net loss from continuing operations (127,818) (121,026)
Net loss from discontinued operations (2,749) (2,647)
NET LOSS $(130,567) $(123,673)
     
BASIC AND DILUTED LOSS PER SHARE:    
Continuing operations $(0.62) $(0.55)
Discontinued operations (0.01) (0.01)
Consolidated $(0.63) $(0.56)
     
WEIGHTED AVERAGE BASIC AND DILUTED SHARES 207,935  220,484 
     





CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (unaudited, in 000s - except per share data)
As of July 31, 2017 July 31, 2016 April 30, 2017
       
ASSETS      
Cash and cash equivalents $551,566  $306,871  $1,011,331 
Cash and cash equivalents — restricted 116,594  122,025  106,208 
Receivables, net 91,004  103,425  162,775 
Prepaid expenses and other current assets 74,776  76,052  65,725 
Total current assets 833,940  608,373  1,346,039 
Mortgage loans held for investment, net   192,375   
Property and equipment, net 253,255  284,114  263,827 
Intangible assets, net 393,972  419,909  409,364 
Goodwill 493,991  470,942  491,207 
Deferred tax assets and income taxes receivable 54,348  90,498  83,728 
Other noncurrent assets 102,742  97,331  99,943 
Total assets $2,132,248  $2,163,542  $2,694,108 
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY      
LIABILITIES:      
Accounts payable and accrued expenses $161,751  $157,085  $217,028 
Accrued salaries, wages and payroll taxes 35,063  43,516  183,856 
Accrued income taxes and reserves for uncertain tax positions 176,909  216,390  348,199 
Current portion of long-term debt 992  864  981 
Deferred revenue and other current liabilities 187,791  191,304  189,216 
Total current liabilities 562,506  609,159  939,280 
Long-term debt 1,493,422  1,491,790  1,493,017 
Reserves for uncertain tax positions 159,233  116,709  159,085 
Deferred revenue and other noncurrent liabilities 131,415  145,691  163,609 
Total liabilities 2,346,576  2,363,349  2,754,991 
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES      
STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY:      
Common stock, no par, stated value $.01 per share 2,462  2,582  2,462 
Additional paid-in capital 746,761  748,924  754,912 
Accumulated other comprehensive loss (12,837) (14,804) (15,299)
Retained deficit (229,647) (180,631) (48,206)
Less treasury shares, at cost (721,067) (755,878) (754,752)
Total stockholders' equity (deficiency) (214,328) (199,807) (60,883)
   Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $2,132,248  $2,163,542  $2,694,108 
       





CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (unaudited, in 000s)
Three months ended July 31, 2017 2016
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES:    
Net loss $(130,567) $(123,673)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:    
Depreciation and amortization 43,598  41,282 
Provision for bad debt 2,459  1,417 
Deferred taxes 20,796  6,274 
Stock-based compensation 4,816  5,541 
Changes in assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions:    
Receivables 64,985  49,220 
Prepaid expenses and other current assets (8,695) (9,173)
Other noncurrent assets 5,499  4,059 
Accounts payable and accrued expenses (66,729) (98,785)
Accrued salaries, wages and payroll taxes (149,441) (118,040)
Deferred revenue and other current liabilities 464  (38,022)
Deferred revenue and other noncurrent liabilities (32,510) (28,080)
Income tax receivables, accrued income taxes and income tax reserves (149,542) (144,249)
Other, net (14,248) (5,735)
   Net cash used in operating activities (409,115) (457,964)
     
CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES:    
Principal payments and sales of mortgage loans and real estate owned, net   9,573 
Capital expenditures (13,094) (6,246)
Payments made for business acquisitions, net of cash acquired (1,440) (1,635)
Franchise loans funded (4,527) (2,219)
Payments received on franchise loans 4,727  6,473 
Other, net 1,371  (868)
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities (12,963) 5,078 
     
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:    
Dividends paid (49,905) (48,514)
Repurchase of common stock, including shares surrendered (7,508) (45,312)
Proceeds from exercise of stock options 27,418  1,639 
Other, net 2,545  (24,779)
Net cash used in financing activities (27,450) (116,966)
     
Effects of exchange rate changes on cash 149  (2,163)
     
Net decrease in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash (449,379) (572,015)
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of period 1,117,539  1,000,911 
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of period $668,160  $428,896 
     
SUPPLEMENTARY CASH FLOW DATA:    
Income taxes paid, net of refunds received $57,901  $61,289 
Interest paid on borrowings 15,519  15,519 
Accrued additions to property and equipment 4,757  10,147 
Accrued purchase of common stock   8,895 
     

Note: Effective May 1, 2017, we adopted the provisions of Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-18,"Restricted Cash (a consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force)," (ASU 2016-18) on a retrospective basis. Accordingly, the statements of cash flows explain the change in the total of cash, cash equivalents and amounts generally described as restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents per ASU 2016-18. Amounts for prior periods have been retrospectively adjusted to conform to the current period presentation.

FINANCIAL RESULTS (unaudited, in 000s - except per share amounts)
  Three months ended July 31,
  2017 2016
REVENUES:    
U.S. assisted tax preparation fees $29,963  $25,429 
U.S. royalties 6,967  6,525 
U.S. DIY tax preparation fees 3,226  2,914 
International revenues 40,417  38,875 
Revenues from Refund Transfers 2,816  3,234 
Revenues from Emerald Card® 14,987  13,065 
Revenues from Peace of Mind® Extended Service Plan 31,943  27,031 
Interest and fee income on Emerald Advance 664  804 
Other 6,819  7,308 
  137,802  125,185 
Compensation and benefits:    
Field wages 48,123  45,043 
Other wages 43,197  42,100 
Benefits and other compensation 20,645  22,734 
  111,965  109,877 
Occupancy and equipment 98,199  94,371 
Marketing and advertising 7,104  7,561 
Depreciation and amortization 43,598  41,282 
Bad debt 2,459  1,417 
Supplies 2,734  2,077 
Other 56,905  53,324 
Total operating expenses 322,964  309,909 
     
Other income (expense), net 1,220  2,641 
Interest expense on borrowings (21,277) (21,466)
Pretax loss (205,219) (203,549)
Income tax benefit (77,401) (82,523)
Net loss from continuing operations (127,818) (121,026)
Net loss from discontinued operations (2,749) (2,647)
NET LOSS $(130,567) $(123,673)
     
BASIC AND DILUTED LOSS PER SHARE:    
Continuing operations $(0.62) $(0.55)
Discontinued operations (0.01) (0.01)
Consolidated $(0.63) $(0.56)
     
Weighted average basic and diluted shares 207,935  220,484 
     
EBITDA from continuing operations (1) $(140,344) $(140,801)
     

(1) See "Non-GAAP Financial Information" for a reconciliation of non-GAAP measures.



  Three months ended July 31,
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURE - EBITDA 2017 2016
     
Net loss - as reported $(130,567) $(123,673)
Discontinued operations, net 2,749  2,647 
Net loss from continuing operations - as reported (127,818) (121,026)
Add back :    
Income taxes of continuing operations (77,401) (82,523)
Interest expense of continuing operations 21,277  21,466 
Depreciation and amortization of continuing operations 43,598  41,282 
  (12,526) (19,775)
     
EBITDA from continuing operations $(140,344) $(140,801)
     
  Three months ended July 31,
Supplemental Information 2017 2016
     
Stock-based compensation expense:    
Pretax $4,816  $5,541 
After-tax 3,123  3,479 
Amortization of intangible assets:    
Pretax $19,235  $17,986 
After-tax 12,472  11,293 
     

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL INFORMATION

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 our non-GAAP financial measures to be performance measures and a useful metric for management and investors to evaluate and compare the ongoing operating performance of our business.

We may consider whether significant items that arise in the future should be excluded from our non-GAAP financial measures.

We measure the performance of our business using a variety of metrics, including EBITDA from continuing operations. We also use EBITDA from continuing operations and pretax income of continuing operations, each subject to permitted adjustments, as performance metrics in incentive compensation calculations for our employees.

For Further Information
Investor Relations: Colby Brown, (816) 854-4559, colby.brown@hrblock.com
Media Relations:    Susan Waldron, (816) 854-5522, susan.waldron@hrblock.com

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