Aaron's, Inc., a leading omnichannel provider of lease-purchase solutions, announced financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2018.

"We're off to a good start for the year," said John Robinson, Chief Executive Officer. "Revenue grew 13.1% in the first quarter and we continued to invest in new retail partnerships and other initiatives to drive long-term earnings growth. While profitability was lower for the quarter due to increased operating expenses, we are encouraged by the early results we are seeing from our strategic investments and believe we are on track to achieve our 2018 financial objectives for each of our businesses."

"The Progressive team continued to execute at a high level, exceeding our expectations for invoice volume, revenue and profitability in the quarter," continued Mr. Robinson. "Strong invoice growth drove a 33% increase in revenue while operating expenses increased, as expected, driven by investments in the business as well as more normalized levels of write-offs and bad debt expense. Given our growth potential with existing retail partners, the strength of our new retail partner pipeline and our level of visibility into the performance of our lease pools, we remain optimistic about Progressive's ability to drive significant revenue and earnings growth in 2018."

"The Aaron's Business achieved lease revenues and lease margins that were better than our expectations and improved versus the year-ago quarter," said Mr. Robinson. "Additionally, the quarter reflects increased spending to strengthen the Aaron's Business's long-term competitive position and we remain optimistic about the initiatives underway to grow our omnichannel business."

"We maintained a conservative capital structure during the quarter, which enabled us to make these strategic investments while returning $20.5 million of capital to shareholders through our dividend and share repurchases," concluded Mr. Robinson.

Financial Summary

Aaron's, Inc. (the "Company") conducts its operations through three primary businesses: 1) Progressive Leasing's virtual lease-to-own business ("Progressive Leasing"); 2) Aaron's branded Company-operated and franchised lease-to-own stores, Aarons.com, our e-commerce platform and Woodhaven, the Company's furniture manufacturing operations (collectively, the "Aaron's Business"); and 3) Dent-A-Med, Inc. ("DAMI"), our second-look financing business.

For the first quarter of 2018, Company revenues were $954.8 million compared with $844.6 million for the first quarter of 2017. Net earnings were $52.2 million compared with $53.3 million in the prior year period. Diluted earnings per share were $0.73 compared with $0.74 a year ago. The effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2018 was 21.7% compared with 35.5% for the prior year period, primarily due to the lower tax rates provided under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the "Tax Act").

On a non-GAAP basis, net earnings for the first quarter of 2018 were $58.3 million compared with $57.8 million for the same period in 2017, and non-GAAP earnings per share assuming dilution were $0.81 in the first quarter of 2018 compared with $0.80 for the same quarter in 2017.

For the first quarter of 2018, non-GAAP net earnings and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share exclude the effects of amortization expense resulting from our 2014 acquisition of Progressive Leasing and one of the 2017 franchisee acquisitions, restructuring charges for the Aaron's Business and tax effects related to a Tax Act adjustment. For the first quarter of 2017, non-GAAP earnings results exclude the effects of Progressive Leasing amortization and Aaron's Business and DAMI restructuring charges.

Adjusted EBITDA for the Company, which excludes the charges and adjustments mentioned above, was $94.1 million for the first quarter of 2018, compared with $109.4 million for the same period in 2017. See "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information" and the related non-GAAP reconciliation accompanying this press release.

The Company generated $196.6 million in cash from operations during the three months ended March 31, 2018 and ended the first quarter with $189.4 million in cash compared with a cash balance of $51.0 million at the end of 2017. The increase in cash is attributed in part to $77.0 million of federal income tax refunds received in the first quarter, offset by $10.0 million of debt amortization and common stock repurchases. The Company repurchased 391,325 shares of its common stock for $18.4 million during the first quarter of 2018 and has authorization to purchase an additional $481.6 million.

Progressive Leasing Results

Progressive Leasing's revenues in the first quarter of 2018 increased 32.9% to $486.5 million from $366.1 million in the first quarter of 2017. Active doors increased 10% in the first quarter of 2018 to approximately 20,000. Invoice volume per active door increased 20%. Progressive Leasing had 724,000 customers at March 31, 2018, a 20% increase from March 31, 2017.

Earnings before income taxes for Progressive Leasing were $35.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018, compared with $35.8 million for the same period a year ago. EBITDA for the three months ended March 31, 2018 was $46.2 million compared with $48.5 million for the same period of 2017. As a percentage of revenues, EBITDA was 9.5% for the three months ended March 31, 2018 compared with 13.2% for the same period in 2017. The provision for lease merchandise write-offs was 6.1% of revenues in the first quarter of 2018, compared with 4.8% in the same period of 2017. Bad debt expense as a percentage of revenues in the first quarter of 2018 was 9.6% compared with 8.7% in the same period of 2017.

The Aaron's Business Results

For the first quarter of 2018, total revenues for the Aaron's Business decreased 2.4% to $458.8 million from $470.2 million in the first quarter of 2017.

Lease revenue and fees for the three months ended March 31, 2018 increased 1.6% compared with the same period in 2017. Non-retail sales, which primarily consist of merchandise sales to the Company's franchisees, decreased 23.2% for the three months ended March 31, 2018 compared with the same period of the prior year. The decline is attributed primarily to the reduction in non-retail sales resulting from the franchisee acquisitions we completed in fiscal years 2017 and 2018.

Earnings before income taxes for the Aaron's Business were $33.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018, compared with $48.6 million for the same period a year ago. The decrease was primarily due to increased operating expenses related to investments in personnel and business transformation initiatives. Adjusted EBITDA for the three months ended March 31, 2018 was $48.0 million compared with $61.2 million for the same period in 2017. As a percentage of revenue, Adjusted EBITDA was 10.5% for the three months ended March 31, 2018, compared with 13.0% for the same period last year. Write-offs for damaged, lost or unsaleable merchandise were 3.8% of revenues in the first quarter of 2018 compared with 3.5% for the same period last year.

Same store revenues (revenues for Company-operated stores open for the entirety of the first quarter of 2018 and 2017) decreased 4.4% during the first quarter of 2018, compared with the first quarter of 2017. Customer count on a same store basis was down 4.2% during the first quarter of 2018. Company-operated Aaron's stores had 953,000 customers at March 31, 2018, a 1.7% increase from 2017.

At March 31, 2018, the Aaron's Business had 1,182 Company-operated stores and 537 franchised stores. During the first quarter of 2018, the Company acquired ten franchised stores, consolidated one Company-operated store and sold two Company-operated stores to a third party. Additionally, one franchised store opened and five franchised stores closed.

DAMI Results

DAMI's revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2018 were $9.5 million versus $8.2 million for the same period of 2017. DAMI's loss before income taxes was $1.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018, compared with a loss before income taxes of $1.8 million for the same period in 2017. DAMI's pre-tax, pre-provision loss was $2.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018 compared with $1.2 million for the same period a year ago.

Pre-tax, pre-provision loss is a non-GAAP measure that represents loss before income taxes, adjusted so that loan charge-offs and recoveries are recognized in earnings as they occur by excluding the effect on earnings of changes to management's provision for estimated future loan losses. See "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information" and the related non-GAAP reconciliation accompanying this press release for more information regarding the calculation of pre-tax, pre-provision loss.

Significant Components of Revenue

Consolidated lease revenues and fees for the three months ended March 31, 2018 increased 17.0% over the same prior year period. Franchise royalties and fees decreased 9.4% in the first quarter of 2018 compared with the same period a year ago. The decrease in franchise royalties and fees was the combined result of decreases in revenues generated by the Company's franchisees and the lower number of franchised stores. Franchisee revenues totaled $177.0 million in the three months ended March 31, 2018, a decrease of 23.2% from the same period for the prior year. Same store revenues for franchised stores were down 0.8% and same store customer counts were down 4.5% for the first quarter of 2018 compared with the same quarter in 2017. Franchised stores had 390,000 customers at the end of the first quarter of 2018. Revenues and customers of franchisees are not revenues and customers of the Aaron's Business or the Company. With the exception of the same store metrics, the year-over-year comparisons presented above are not adjusted to reflect the purchase of 120 franchised store locations that are included in the three months ended March 31, 2017 period.

2018 Outlook

Based on year-to-date trends, the Company now expects annual comparable store revenues for the Aaron's Business to be at the favorable end of the previously provided annual range of negative 4% to negative 1%, with positive comparable store revenues growth expected in the fourth quarter of 2018. The Company reaffirms all other elements of the 2018 guidance it provided in its February 15, 2018 press release.