"The pay offs we've seen are tighter inventory controls, a reduction in delinquent accounts, increased customer counts, as well as a reduction in employee turnover"
David A. Kraemer, President and Chief Executive Officer

Bestway (BSTW) today reported financial results for its fiscal second quarter and six-months ended January 31, 2004.

Revenue for the quarter was $9,564,193, a $669,933 increase from $8,894,260 for the comparable period in the prior year. We achieved this 7.5% year-over-year revenue increase from same stores. Of the increase in revenue from same stores, rental and fee income increased $868,207, or 10.2%. The increase in rental and fee income is directly attributable to the success of our efforts on improving store operations through increasing our customer base and increasing the average price per unit on rent by upgrading our rental merchandise. Sales of merchandise decreased $198,274, or 50.6%, as the Company discontinued and liquidated lower-margin product offerings in December 2002.

Net earnings for the quarter increased to $159,208, or $.09 per share on a diluted basis, compared to net earnings of $42,619, or $.02 per diluted share, for the comparable period in the prior year. The year-over-year increase in net earnings is primarily the result of eliminating lower-cost, lower-margin merchandise from our product mix, focusing on higher revenue-generating merchandise, driving top line revenues through training and developing our people and implementing a more aggressive and targeted marketing campaign.

For the six months ended January 31, 2004 revenue was $18,623,221, a $1,455,999 increase from $17,167,222 for the comparable period in the prior year. We achieved this 8.5% year-over-year revenue increase from same stores. Net earnings for the six month period ended January 31, 2004 was $223,713, or $.12 per share on a diluted basis, compared to net loss of $194,072, or $.12 per diluted share for the comparable period last year.

"We continue to be pleased with our initiatives in training and development. The pay offs we've seen are tighter inventory controls, a reduction in delinquent accounts, increased customer counts, as well as a reduction in employee turnover," said David A. Kraemer (who's who), President and Chief Executive Officer. "As we look forward to the remainder of the year, we expect same store revenues to continue to be strong and remain confident in the fundamentals of our business."