Thursday, July 27, 2006

The nation's biggest payday loan company, Advance America, reported the results of its operations for the second quarter and six months ending June 30, 2006, and the results were increased revenues across the board. The company boosted its earnings by 6.7 percent to $308.1 million, compared to $288.7 million for same period in 2005.

Total revenues for the quarter ending June 30, 2006 increased 3.7 percent to $155.9 million, compared to $150.3 million for the quarter ending June 30, 2005. For the quarter ending June 30, 2006, revenues for its payday loan centers opened prior to April 1, 2005 and still open today increased 4.6 percent compared to the same period in '05. 

When excluding locations in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, where legislative and regulatory changes negatively affected the company's ability to issue no fax payday loans, and have hampered potential revenues accordingly, revenues for the quarter increased an impressive 17.4 percent.

"This was a challenging quarter, but one that also underscored the overall strength of our business model. We experienced new regulatory changes, which caused us to alter our business model in Pennsylvania and Arkansas and reduced revenues for the second quarter," President & CEO Ken Compton commented.

"In addition, the company continues to experience the effects of previous legislative and regulatory changes in Illinois and Indiana, which we believe improve the regulatory landscape, but have impaired our results for the second quarter. We remain encouraged by continued consumer demand for the payday cash advance product and strong growth rates in the other 32 states in which we operate."

In Illinois and Indiana, modifications to state-based legislation, which the company supported, resulted in a $4.3 million reduction in revenue for the quarter ending June 30, 2006 compared to that same period a year ago. The cash advance provider opened 46 and 88 new centers during the second quarter and six months ending June 30, 2006.

As of June 30, 2006, the firm had expanded its national operating network to a total of 2,670 faxless payday loan stores in 36 states.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 27th, 2006 at 1:17 pm and is filed under National.