FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) _ First Cash Financial Services Inc. (FCFS) on Thursday reported second-quarter net income of $30.2 million.
On a per-share basis, the Fort Worth-based company said it had profit of 67 cents. Earnings, adjusted for costs related to mergers and acquisitions and non-recurring costs, came to 70 cents per share.
The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 65 cents per share. . In addition, the company announced that it has completed its previously authorized share buyback program and that the Board of Directors authorized an additional $100 million for future share repurchases. Also, the company announced that the Board of Directors declared a $0.22 per share quarterly cash dividend.
“Our record second quarter results reflect continued and substantial earnings growth in our core pawn operations, driven by strong revenue growth in Latin America, solid margin improvements in our domestic pawn operations and the lower U.S. corporate tax rate,” said Rick Wessel, CEO.
Wessel noted the company was continuing to expand its Latin American operations and announced the acquisition of “an established and profitable chain of 62 stores in Mexico.”
First Cash has also opened 16 de novo locations, including new stores in Colombia and Guatemala, during the second quarter.
“Year-to-date, we have now added 215 locations in three countries in Latin America, which represents 52 percent of our store base that is rapidly approaching 2,300 total locations,” he said.
“In our more mature U.S. operations, we posted a 6% increase in segment profitability for the quarter, driven primarily by strong retail margin expansion and improved operating efficiencies. We have already completed the integration of the previously announced 12-store acquisition in Tennessee and Georgia and announced three additional single-store acquisitions during the quarter,” Wessel said.
The pawn store operator posted revenue of $420 million in the period, which fell short of Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $422.9 million.
First Cash Financial Services expects full-year earnings in the range of $3.35 to $3.55 per share.
First Cash Financial Services shares have increased 39 percent since the beginning of the year. The stock has climbed 61 percent in the last 12 months.
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This story includes information generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on FCFS at https://www.zacks.com/ap/FCFS