- On a local currency basis, the company''s Canadian business realized comparable store sales growth of 6.9%, the U.K. operation generated comparable store sales growth of 15.5%, while same store sales in the U.S. decreased by 8.5% as they were negatively impacted by the transition of a portion of the loan portfolio from bank-funded installment loans to company-funded loan products.
- The company realized a store and regional margin of $41.8 million, an increase of 35.2% as compared to $31 million in the prior year''s quarter.
- As a percentage of total revenue, store and regional margin increased to 38.4%, as compared to 35.6% for the prior year.
- Corporate expenses, as a percentage of total revenue, were higher than the previous year at 12.8%.
- The company generated net income of $10.3 million, an increase of 430% as compared to $1.9 million in the prior year period, and actual fully-diluted earnings per share were 42 cents per share compared to 10 cents per share for the previous year.

Fiscal 2007 Highlights

- The company opened 12 de novo stores in the UK.
- Total revenue was $409.9 million, representing an increase of 24.8% or $81.4 million over the prior year.
- Global check cashing revenue increased by 17% or $24.3 million while net consumer lending revenue increased by 37.4% or $49.4 million.
- Store and regional margin increased by 32.5% or $37.9 million, and as a percentage of total revenue, improved to 37.8% as compared to 35.6% for the prior year.
- Corporate costs, which included additional costs to support the company''s global expansion strategy as well as additional stock based compensation costs recognized under FAS 123R, were 13.1% of total revenue. Excluding the impact of stock based compensation, corporate costs as a percentage of total revenue were 12.5% compared to 12.7% of total revenue for the prior fiscal year.
- Pro forma income before income taxes, excluding $7.3 million of one-time charges in fiscal 2006 and $61.6 million of one-time charges in fiscal 2007, increased by $25.4 million or 60.8% to $67.2 million.
- Pro forma net income, using a 38% normalized income tax rate, was $41.7 million, an increase of 60.8% as compared to $25.9 million for the prior year.
- Pro forma fully-diluted earnings per share were $1.72 compared to $1.38 for the prior year.

Fiscal 2008 Outlook

- The company plans to open between 20 and 25 new stores.
- Considering the effects of the expected enhanced Canadian de novo store expansion plan, for the June 30, 2008 fiscal year the company is anticipating revenue between $470 million and $490 million, Adjusted EBITDA of between $135 million and $140 million and fully-diluted earnings per share of between $2.05 and $2.20.

Key questions from the fourth quarter earnings call conducted by Dollar Financial Corp. on September 10, 2007.

Robert Napoli (Piper Jaffray): Do you have any new unannounced acquisitions in the guidance?

Randy Underwood: No.

Robert Napoli (Piper Jaffray): You have mentioned frequently that private equity has been a big competitor in the buy-out game and with the financing markets being what they are, making funding of acquisitions more difficult, have you seen any improvement in potential acquisition prices?

Jeffrey A Weiss: Private equity has been active in this space and so have business brokers and that led to an expansion of the expectation of sellers. We did not see any deals consummated at aggressive pricing but there was an expectation in the market that such pricing was just around the corner. Expectation has significantly moderated and there is more opportunity for buyer and seller of good businesses to reach a common ground on valuation. we see a good pipeline significantly improved in the US and a good pipeline in Canada and the UK as well albeit in the UK, acquisitions are of a significantly smaller size than in the US and in Canada, there are relatively few acquisitions of size that are attractive, but there has been a lessening of seller expectation.

Robert Napoli (Piper Jaffray): What state and what company are the acquisition that you just made, what does it bring to the table for you and is it enough to bring the US to profitability?

Randy Underwood: This group of stores was owned primarily by an individual, his name is Patrick Leonard, and he is headquartered out of the Kansas City area. His stores are principally within a 200-mile radius of Kansas City and preponderant amount of them are in Kansas and in Missouri, with some reaching up to Nebraska and Iowa, again within that 200 mile radius. Those stores are good stores, we are thrilled to have them, and the acquisition of those stores will bring us to near profitability in the US after the decline from the transition of the consumer lending portfolio from the customer cash product during the fourth quarter and first quarter that we are in right now in 2008.

Jeffrey A Weiss: There were also a group of stores that were in Hawaii that complements our presence in Hawaii already and they were also strong performing stores and we think an excellent market.

Robert Napoli (Piper Jaffray): Was that part of the same acquisition or a different one?

Jeffrey A Weiss: It was part of the same acquisition. We have had stores in Hawaii since 1995, and while it is tempting to think of it as a vacation spot, it is so far away that it is generally our West Coast district managers who go there, but given the power in the new stores it will be receiving even more attention.

Robert Napoli (Piper Jaffray): Do you have any changes in your guidance for fiscal 2008 for pricing in Canada?

Randy Underwood: No, we do not.

John Hecht (JMP Securities): Can you explain or give more detail on the pro forma adjustments for this quarter?

Randy Underwood: As always, we have pro forma losses on store closings and generally speaking those are then within the last 12 months or s ha. We also have some debt financing costs that went along with the recent financing that we have done this year, and we had adjustment to the goodwill impairment charge that we booked earlier in the year, more or less a rounding difference, as we closed our year end here.

John Hecht (JMP Securities): The online product is in California, does it fall under the California pay day laws?