H&R Block’s Net Loss From Continuing Operations Improves 18 Percent; 11 Percent Improvement on Adjusted Basis

H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) today announced financial results for its fiscal second quarter ended Oct. 31, 2012. Due to the seasonality of its U.S. tax business, the company typically reports a second quarter operating loss.

Second Quarter 2013 Highlights¹

• Total revenues grew 6 percent to $137 million due primarily to a strong tax season in Australia
• Net loss from continuing operations improved 18 percent to $101 million, or $0.37 per share²
• Adjusted net loss from continuing operations improved 11 percent to $100 million, or $0.37 per share
• The company remains on pace to deliver $85 to $100 million of pretax earnings from cost reduction initiatives in fiscal 2013

Second Quarter Results From Continuing Operations

*Adjusted amounts and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) are non-GAAP financial measures. See “About Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below for more information regarding financial measures not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

Company Perspective

“I’m very pleased with the improvement in our second quarter results, which reflect savings from our cost reduction initiatives and a strong tax season in Australia,” said Bill Cobb, H&R Block’s President and CEO. “The U.S. tax season is right around the corner and we believe we’re on pace to deliver significant earnings and margin expansion in fiscal 2013.”

Business Segment Results and Highlights

Tax Services

• Revenues grew by $9 million, or 7 percent, to $130 million, primarily due to an 8 percent increase in tax returns prepared in Australia
• Pretax loss improved by 25 percent or $44 million, to $130 million
• Adjusted pretax loss improved by 17 percent or $26 million, to $130 million primarily due to lower field wages and occupancy costs resulting from the company’s cost reduction initiatives

Corporate

• Revenues declined by $1 million due to lower interest income from H&R Block Bank’s shrinking mortgage loan portfolio
• Pretax loss increased by $2 million, or 7 percent, to $32 million

Second Quarter Results from Discontinued Operations

• Net loss improved by $15 million to $4 million, as prior year results included a $12 million after-tax provision for estimated losses on representation and warranty claims at Sand Canyon Corporation (SCC), a separate legal entity from H&R Block, Inc.
• SCC received new claims during the quarter for alleged breaches of representations and warranties in the principal amount of $10 million
• SCC reviewed claims in the principal amount of $257 million during the quarter; no losses were charged against SCC’s accrual for contingent losses related to representations and warranties during the quarter
• $28 million of claims remained subject to review at Oct. 31, 2012
• SCC’s accrual for contingent losses related to representations and warranties remained essentially unchanged at $129 million

Dividend

A previously announced quarterly cash dividend of 20 cents per share is payable on Jan. 2, 2013 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 10, 2012. The Jan. 2 payment marks the company’s 201^st consecutive quarterly dividend.

Investor Conference

At 8:15 a.m. EST today, the company will hold its investor conference in New York City. H&R Block’s senior leaders will outline the company’s growth strategies and outlook.

The event will be broadcast live in a listen-only format for the media and public on H&R Block’s investor relations website at http://investors.hrblock.com. A replay will be available on the company’s website at approximately 1:30 p.m. EST on Dec. 6 and continuing until Feb. 28, 2013.

About H&R Block
H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) is the world’s largest tax services provider, having prepared more than 600 million tax returns worldwide since 1955. In fiscal 2012, H&R Block had revenues of $2.9 billion and prepared 25.6 million tax returns worldwide. Tax return preparation services are provided in company-owned and franchise retail tax offices by nearly 100,000 professional tax preparers, and through H&R Block At Home™ digital products. H&R Block Bank provides affordable banking products and services. For more information, visit the H&R Block Online Press Center.

About Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This press release and the accompanying tables include non-GAAP financial measures. 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 “About Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Forward-Looking Statements
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, 2012 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.

¹ Unless otherwise noted, all growth rates refer to the current period compared to the prior year period.

² All per share amounts are based on fully diluted shares.