Conn's, Inc. Reports Earnings for the Quarter Ended October 31, 2007.BEAUMONT, Texas Beaumont is a city and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas and is within the Beaumont-Port Arthur metropolitan area. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 113,866. -- Conn's, Inc. (NASDAQ/NM:CONN), a specialty retailer of home appliances, consumer electronics, computers, lawn and garden products, furniture and mattresses, today announced earnings results for the quarter and nine months ended October 31, 2007. Net income for the third fiscal quarter was $4.0 million, compared with $7.2 million for the third quarter of last year, a decline of 43.8%, due to a non-cash decrease in the fair value of the Company's interests in securitized securitized Of, related to, or being debt securities that are secured with assets. For example, mortgage purchase bonds are secured by mortgages that have been purchased with the bond issue's proceeds. assets. Diluted earnings per share diluted earnings per share An earnings measure calculated by dividing net income less preferred stock dividends for a period by the average number of shares of common stock that would be outstanding if all convertible securities were converted into shares of declined 43.3% to $0.17, compared with $0.30 for the third quarter of last year. Net income for the quarter ended October 31, 2007, includes a non-cash charge Non-Cash Charge A charge off, made by a company against earnings, that does not require an initial outlay of cash. Notes: Non-cash charges are typically against the depreciation, amortization, and depletion accounts on a company's balance sheet. , net of tax, of $2.6 million, or $0.11 per diluted share, to reduce the fair value of the Company's "Interests in securitized assets." The reduction in fair value was driven by external financial market conditions, which resulted in an increase in the risk premium included in the discount rate assumption used in the Company's determination of the fair value of its "Interests in securitized assets," and was not related to the performance of the Company's credit portfolio. Total revenues for the quarter ended October 31, 2007, increased 9.0% to $189.4 million compared with $173.7 million for the quarter ended October 31, 2006. This increase in revenues included increases in net sales Net Sales The amount a seller receives from the buyer after costs associated with the sale are deducted. Notes: This amount is calculated by subtracting the following items from gross sales: merchandise returned for credit, allowances for damaged or missing goods, freight of $17.7 million, or 11.6%, and a decrease in "Finance charges and other" of $2.0 million, or 9.3%. "Finance charges and other" declined due to the non-cash fair value charge discussed above, which totaled $4.0 million before taxes. Same store sales Same Store Sales A statistic used in retail industry analysis. It compares sales of stores that have been open for a year or more. Notes: This statistic allows investors to determine what portion of new sales has come from sales growth and what portion from the opening of (revenues earned in stores operated for the entirety of both periods) increased 6.8% for the third quarter of fiscal 2008. The credit portfolio experienced rising delinquencies during the third quarter, though at a slightly slower pace than in the prior year quarter. Additionally, the annualized annualized Of or relating to a variable that has been mathematically converted to a yearly rate. Inflation and interest rates are generally annualized since it is on this basis that these two variables are ordinarily stated and compared. net charge-off rate rose to 2.7% for the nine months ended October 31, 2007. More information on the credit portfolio and its performance may be found in the table included with this press release and in the Company's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Form 10-Q Form 10-Q See 10-Q. which will be filed later today. During the first quarter of fiscal 2008 the Company adopted several new accounting pronouncements related to the accounting for its "Interests in securitized assets." This change in accounting was adopted effective February 1, 2007, and prior periods were not adjusted. These pronouncements resulted in the Company electing to account for its interests in securitized assets at fair value, with all changes in the fair value included in "Finance charges and other." Under the fair value accounting pronouncements, the Company is required to value the interests in securitized assets using assumptions it believes a market participant The term market participant is used in United States constitutional law to describe a U.S. State which is acting as a producer or supplier of a marketable good or service. When a state is acting in such a role, it may permissibly discriminate against non-residents. would use to value the asset. During the third quarter of fiscal 2008, "Finance charges and other" was reduced $4.0 million by the non-cash fair value adjustment, which was driven primarily by a higher discount rate assumption. The risk premium included in the discount rate assumption was increased principally due to external market conditions, and was not a result of changes in the underlying economics or expected cash flows of the securitization Securitization The process of creating a financial instrument by combining other financial assets and then marketing them to investors. Notes: Mortgage backed securities are a perfect example of securitization. May also be spelled as "securitisation. program. Due to the turmoil in the financial markets during the third quarter of fiscal 2008, the Company evaluated the risk premium included in the discount rate used in its discounted cash flow analysis. After discussions with its bankers and review of available market information, the Company estimated that, due to increases in the risk premiums expected for many securities, especially asset-backed securities, under the volatile market conditions experienced during the third quarter, a market participant would require a higher return on their investment if they were to purchase the Company's interests in securitized assets. The increase in the discount rate had the effect of reducing the current fair value of the asset and deferring earnings under the securitization program to future periods, but did not permanently reduce securitization income or the earnings of the Company. The deferred earnings will be recognized in future periods as interest income on the interests in securitized assets as the actual cash flows from the receivables are realized. More information on these changes may be found in the notes to the financial statements Notes to the financial statements A detailed set of notes immediately following the financial statements in an annual report that explain and expand on the information in the financial statements. in the Company's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Form 10-Q which will be filed later today. Net income for the nine months ended October 31, 2007, declined 3.7% to $26.6 million compared with $27.6 million for the prior year. Diluted earnings per share for the nine months ended October 31, 2007, were $1.11 compared with $1.14 in the prior year period. Net income for the nine months ended October 31, 2007, includes a non-cash charge, net of tax, of $2.8 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, to reduce the fair value of the Company's "Interests in securitized assets." Total revenues for the nine months ended October 31, 2007, increased 9.1% to $598.2 million compared with $548.1 million for the nine months ended October 31, 2006. This increase in revenues included net sales increases of $42.7 million, or 8.8%, and increases in "Finance charges and other" of $7.4 million, or 12.3%. The increase in "Finance charges and other" was partially offset by the non-cash fair value charge discussed above, which totaled $4.3 million before taxes, for the nine months ended October 31, 2007. Same store sales (revenues earned in stores operated for the entirety of both periods) increased 3.5% for the first nine months of fiscal 2008. During the nine months ended October 31, 2007, the Company completed a legal entity reorganization that resulted in a one-time reduction in the provision for income taxes of $0.9 million. "While we enjoyed solid growth at the top line, we were not satisfied with our bottom-line performance this quarter, even after excluding the impact of the fair value adjustment," said Thomas J. Frank, Sr., the Company's Chairman and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. . "Since we anticipate the retail environment continuing to be very competitive, we must improve our execution to achieve the gross profit and operating margins we expect." As part of the previously announced stock repurchase plan stock repurchase plan 1. See buyback. 2. See self-tender. , the Company repurchased 542,100 shares of common stock for $12.0 million during the three months ended October 31, 2007. The Company has repurchased 1,041,185 shares since the inception of the plan for $24.5 million and intends to continue repurchasing shares up to the authorized limit of $50 million, dependent upon market conditions and share price. The Company currently has 65 stores in operation. Additionally, the Company has under development and expects to open 11 stores by July 31, 2008, including two replacement stores and one new store in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma “OKC” redirects here. For the airport, see Will Rogers World Airport. Oklahoma City is the capital of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city is the 30th largest city in the U.S. . The Company plans to continue its expansion by opening an additional two to five stores in the last half of next year. EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) A PostScript file format used to transfer a graphic image between applications and platforms. EPS files contain PostScript code as well as an optional preview image in TIFF, WMF, PICT or EPSI, the latter being an ASCII-only format. Guidance Today, in light of the $0.11 per diluted share fair value adjustment, the Company lowered its guidance for its fiscal year 2008 (the year ending January 31, 2008) of earnings per diluted share in a range of $1.64 to $1.74. Conference Call Information Conn's, Inc. will host a conference call and audio webcast today, November 29, 2007, at 10:00 AM, CST CST abbr. 1. Central Standard Time 2. convulsive shock treatment CST Central Standard Time Noun 1. , to discuss financial results for the quarter ended October 31, 2007. The webcast will be available live at www.conns.com and will be archived for one year. Participants can join the call by dialing 888-661-5167 or 913-312-1430. About Conn's, Inc. The Company is a specialty retailer currently operating 65 retail locations in Texas and Louisiana: 21 stores in the Houston area, 15 in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area, a title designated by the U.S. Census as of 2003, encompasses 12 counties within the U.S. state of Texas. The metropolitan area is further divided into two metropolitan divisions: Dallas–Plano–Irving , 10 in San Antonio San Antonio (săn ăntō`nēō, əntōn`), city (1990 pop. 935,933), seat of Bexar co., S central Tex., at the source of the San Antonio River; inc. 1837. , five in Austin, four in Southeast Texas Southeast Texas is a subregion of East Texas located in the southeast corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The subregion is geographically centered around the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown and Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan areas. , one in Corpus Christi Corpus Christi, in Christianity Corpus Christi [Lat.,=body of Christ], feast of the Western Church, observed on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday (or on the following Sunday). , three in South Texas and six stores in Louisiana. It sells major home appliances, including refrigerators, freezers, washers, dryers, dishwashers and ranges, and a variety of consumer electronics, including micro-display projection, plasma and LCD flat-panel televisions, camcorders, digital cameras, computers and computer accessories, DVD players (both standard and high definition), video game equipment, portable audio and home theater An audio/video entertainment center that has a large-screen TV and hi-fi system with three speakers in the front (left, right and center) and left and right speakers in the rear. Starting in the early 1990s, video inputs were added to stereo receivers and preamplifiers. products. The Company also sells lawn and garden products, furniture and mattresses, and continues to introduce additional product categories for the home to help respond to its customers' product needs and to increase same store sales. Unlike many of its competitors, the Company provides flexible in-house credit options for its customers. In the last three years, the Company has financed, on average, approximately 58% of retail sales. Customer receivables are financed substantially through an asset-backed securitization facility, from which the Company derives servicing fee income and interest income. The Company transfers receivables, consisting of retail installment contracts and revolving accounts extended to its customers, to a qualifying special purpose entity (QSPE QSPE Qualifying Special Purpose Entity ) in exchange for cash and subordinated securities. The QSPE funds its purchases of the receivables through the issuance of medium-term and variable funding notes secured by the receivables and issued to third parties, and subordinated securities to the Company. This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements generally 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 or similar terminology. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements will prove to be correct, the Company can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. The actual future performance of the Company could differ materially from such statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: the Company's growth strategy and plans regarding opening new stores and entering new markets; the Company's intention to update or expand existing stores; the Company's estimated capital expenditures and costs related to the opening of new stores or the update or expansion of existing stores; the Company's ability to introduce additional product categories; the Company's cash flow from operations Cash flow from operations A firm's net cash inflow resulting directly from its regular operations (disregarding extraordinary items such as the sale of fixed assets or transaction costs associated with issuing securities), calculated as the sum of net income plus noncash expenses , borrowings from its revolving line of credit Revolving line of credit A bank line of credit on which the customer pays a commitment fee and can take and repay funds at will. Normally a revolving LOC involves a firm commitment from the bank for a period of several years. and proceeds from securitizations to fund operations, debt repayment and expansion; growth trends and projected sales in the home appliance and consumer electronics industry and the Company's ability to capitalize on such growth; relationships with the Company's key suppliers; the results of the Company's litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. ; interest rates; weather conditions in the Company's markets; delinquency and loss trends in the receivables portfolio; changes in the assumptions used in the calculation of the fair value of its interests in securitized assets; changes in the Company's stock price; and the actual number of shares of common stock outstanding. Further information on these risk factors is included in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's annual report on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. filed on March 29, 2007. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, the Company is not obligated ob·li·gate tr.v. ob·li·gat·ed, ob·li·gat·ing, ob·li·gates 1. To bind, compel, or constrain by a social, legal, or moral tie. See Synonyms at force. 2. To cause to be grateful or indebted; oblige. to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect the events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. 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