EZCORP Affirms 2013 Outlook

Trying to pawn off the opportunities that still lay ahead in the back half of 2013, specialty finance company EZCORP reported second-quarter earnings that came in ahead of bottom-line consensus estimates by Capital IQ analysts, but were light on the top line, even as it affirmed the guidance for the full year that it issued after the first quarter.

EZCORP reported revenues for the three months ending on March 31 of $272 million, up 6% from the same period last year, when it recorded revenues of $256 million, but shy of the $272 million that analysts had expected. The pawn shop operator recorded GAAP profits that were 14% lower than last year, at $0.63 a share, but that beat by $0.01 the per share earnings that Wall Street was anticipating.

The company was able to affirm its guidance for the full year of 2013, saying that it still expected earnings per share to range between $2.55 to $2.80, and said its performance will improve each quarter for the rest of the year. Even so, it expects to return to year-over-year earnings growth in the second half of the year.

EZCORP President and CEO Paul Rothamel said: "The second quarter shows the trajectory that we originally planned this year. Our year-over-year earnings decline moderated significantly during the quarter, and we expect to deliver year-over-year earnings growth by the end of the year and to return to double-digit earnings growth next year."

EZCORP employs approximately 7,800 workers and operates over 1,400 company-operated pawn, buy/sell, and personal financial services locations in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.

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