"...we are beginning to see positive trends in our payouts, which had been running abnormally high over the last year or so."
Mark Speese, CEO Rent a Center

Rent-A-Center (RCII) announced total revenues for the quarter ended March 31, 2004 of $585.4 million, a $19.0 million increase from $566.4 million for the same period in the prior year. This increase of 3.3% was a result of an increase in merchandise sales and incremental revenues generated in new and acquired stores, offset by a decrease in same store sales of 1.3%.

Net earnings for the quarter ended March 31, 2004 were $52.2 million, or $0.63 per diluted share, representing an increase of 10.5% over the diluted earnings per share of $0.57, or net earnings of $51.0 million, reported for the same period in the prior year. The increase in net earnings and earnings per diluted share was primarily attributable to the Company's increase in revenues as described above, as well as a lower tax rate and the benefits associated with the recapitalization completed in the spring of 2003.

"We are pleased to be reporting record diluted earnings per share for the first quarter of 2004," commented Mark E. Speese, the Company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Furthermore, we are beginning to see positive trends in our payouts, which had been running abnormally high over the last year or so, and as a result, we believe we will see positive growth in our same store sales by the fourth quarter of this year." Speese continued, "Finally, with the fundamentals of the business still intact and the continued strength in our cash flow, we intend to continue to expand our business model through new stores and acquisitions."

During the first quarter of 2004, the Company opened 22 new store locations and acquired 23 new stores, including five in Canada. In addition, the Company consolidated 16 locations into existing stores and purchased accounts from 19 locations, as well as sold six stores. Since March 31, 2004, the Company has opened four additional new stores and has consolidated three locations into existing stores, one of which was a Get-It-Now store. For the entire year ending December 31, 2004, the Company intends to open between 80 and 120 new store locations as well as pursue opportunistic acquisitions. Furthermore, the Company currently anticipates closing the previously announced acquisition of Rainbow Rentals in the mid to late May 2004 timeframe and continues to believe that, after a transition period in 2004, the acquisition will add incremental operating profit, beginning in 2005, of approximately $17 million annually, including cost savings attributable to economies of scale in advertising, purchasing and overhead.

Rent-A-Center will host a conference call to discuss the first quarter financial results and other business updates on Tuesday morning, April 27, 2004, at 10:45 a.m. EDT. A link to the live webcast will be available from My RTO Portfolio.

SECOND QUARTER 2004 GUIDANCE:

Revenues

-- The Company expects total revenues to be in the range of
$564.0 million to $569.0 million.

-- Store rental and fee revenues are expected to be between
$510.0 million and $515.0 million.

-- Total store revenues are expected to be in the range of $552.5
million to $557.5 million.

-- Same store sales are expected to be in the (1.0%) and (1.5%)
range.

-- The Company expects to open 20-25 new store locations.

Expenses

-- The Company expects depreciation of rental merchandise to be
between 21.5% and 21.9% of store rental and fee revenue and
cost of goods on merchandise sales to be between 74% and 79%
of store merchandise sales.

-- Store salaries and other expenses are expected to be in the
range of 53.5% to 55.0% of total store revenue.

-- General and administrative expenses are expected to be between
3.0% and 3.2% of total revenue.

-- Net interest expense is expected to be approximately $9.0
million and amortization of intangibles is expected to be
approximately $3.0 million.

-- The effective tax rate is expected to be between 37.5% and
38.0% of pre-tax income.

-- Diluted earnings per share are estimated to be in the range of
$0.60 to $0.62.

-- Diluted shares outstanding are estimated to be between 82.5
million and 83.5 million.

FISCAL 2004 GUIDANCE:

Revenues

-- The Company expects total revenues to be in the range of
$2.345 billion and $2.375 billion.

-- Store rental and fee revenues are expected to be between
$2.095 billion and $2.115 billion.

-- Total store revenues are expected to be in the range of $2.285
billion and $2.315 billion.

-- Same store sales are expected to be in the (1.0%) to 1.0%
range.

-- The Company expects to open between approximately 80 and 120
new store locations.

Expenses

-- The Company expects depreciation of rental merchandise to be
between 21.5% and 21.9% of store rental and fee revenue and
cost of goods on merchandise sales to be between 73% and 78%
of store merchandise sales.

-- Store salaries and other expenses are expected to be in the
range of 53.5% to 55.0% of total store revenue.

-- General and administrative expenses are expected to be between
3.0% and 3.2% of total revenue.

-- Net interest expense is expected to be between $35.0 million
and $40.0 million and amortization of intangibles is expected
to be approximately $10.0 million.

-- The effective tax rate is expected to be between 37.5% and
38.0% of pre-tax income.

-- Diluted earnings per share are estimated to be in the range of
$2.62 to $2.70.

-- Diluted shares outstanding are estimated to be between 82.5
million and 84.5 million.