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H&R Block announces fiscal 2018 first quarter results

7 min read

7 min read

August 29, 2017


H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: 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.”

“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. (NYSE: HRB) is a global consumer tax services provider. Tax return preparationservices 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 https://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.

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

1 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).

Full release with tables (download)