R. Charles Loudermilk, Sr.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
"Our earnings for the first quarter are expected to be in the
range of, or to slightly exceed, our previous guidance of $.38
to $.40 per diluted share. The first quarter results are the
result of the growth in revenues and earnings in our Aaron's
Sales & Lease Ownership stores. We continue to expect to earn
between $1.55 and $1.65 per diluted share for the full year of
2003."
The Aaron's Sales & Lease Ownership division increased its store
count during the first quarter by 20 stores, 13 Company-operated
stores and eight franchised stores, bringing the total of stores
open at March 31 to 665. At the end of March the Company also
had 70 rent-to-rent stores open.
R. Charles Loudermilk, Sr.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
"Although our sales and lease ownership business is exceeding
expectations, the retail sales performance of our Sight & Sound
stores remains disappointing. During the second quarter we will
convert a number of our Sight & Sound stores to traditional
Aaron's Sales & Lease Ownership stores, or close them and
transfer the store's lease volume to an existing Aaron's store,"
Mr. Loudermilk added. "We still believe that offering the lease
transaction in a traditional retail store has excellent
potential and we are encouraged by the lease volume we have been
building in the Sight & Sound stores. The retail sales
environment, however, has been very difficult and we feel we can
more effectively conduct this experiment with a lesser number of
stores."
The Company will announce its first quarter results for 2003 on
April 28.
