H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) turned in strong numbers for its last fiscal year, which ended April 30, 2009. Income from continuing operations climbed 15% to $513.1 million ($1.53 per share), compared to $445.9 million ($1.36 a share) the previous year. But, the income growth came on basically flat revenues of $4.1 billion.
The Tax Services division saw revenues grow 1.5% to $3 billion, with pretax income up 13.7% to $893.8 million. H&R Block prepared 5.8% fewer returns, though the average fee per returned was up 7.2%. The up-tick in fees resulted from increased tax return complexity and an increase in clients with higher adjusted gross incomes.
H&R Block also saw increases for online tax products and its TaxCut software. Use of these products surged by more than 900,000 (21.1%), with online return preparation up an astounding 45.2%. The number of returns prepared with H&R Block's software solutions grew by 4.2%.
Business Services revenue fell 4.7% to $897.8 million, but pretax income was up 8.2% to $96.1 million. H&R Block's consumer finance division reported a pretax loss of $14.5 million -- down from a pretax gain of $11.5 million the year before. Nearly $64 million in loan loss provisions were recorded during the year, along with an $11.9 million real estate write-down. Mortgage loan interest income was off $28.5 million.
Richard C. Breeden, the company's chairman, says, "During the past year, H&R Block significantly improved earnings and profit margins despite the overall economy. We increased net worth by $418.0 million, or 42.3%. A positive swing of $1 billion moved us from a net debt position to a net cash balance sheet at the end of our fiscal year for the first time in four years."
Consolidated net income reached $485.7 million, a substantial change from the prior year's loss of $308.6 million.
And, thanks to plenty of complicated tax laws intended to stimulate the economy, H&R Block should look solid at this time next year.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-02-2009 @ 6:48PM
nashyoung said...
H&R Blockheads increased rates every year that I was with them. Wont ever use them again after over 20 years.