Business
Encore Capital Group Announces First Quarter 2021 Financial Results
Record collections of $606 millionGAAP net income of $95 million GAAP EPS of $2.97 Leverage reduction continued, down to 2.1x from 2.6x a year agoShare
About this update from Encore Capital Group Inc
[{"type":"text","content":"Record collections of $606 millionGAAP net income of $95 million GAAP EPS of $2.97 Leverage reduction continued, down to 2.1x from 2.6x a year agoShare repurchases of $20M in Q1 2021 SAN DIEGO, May 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: ECPG), an international specialty finance company, today reported consolidated financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021. “The first quarter for Encore was a period of strong operational and financial performance as we continued to execute on our strategy, further improved our balance sheet and remained focused on our capital allocation priorities,” said Ashish Masih, President and Chief Executive Officer. “In recent quarters consumers have increasingly initiated contact with us, resulting in a higher level of inbound call traffic and more frequent online digital interactions. This consumer behavior accelerated in the first quarter, driving record collections, significant incremental cash generation and strong earnings resulting in increased operating leverage.” “Portfolio purchases were down in the first quarter when compared to a year ago as a result of subdued market supply and our disciplined approach to purchasing. We continue to selectively deploy capital at attractive returns, which we believe are the best in the industry. We expect our improved collections effectiveness and cost efficiency will also continue to drive strong returns through the credit cycle.” “After generating significant excess capital in recent quarters and reducing our leverage to the low end of our target range, we repurchased $20 million of Encore shares in the first quarter and have increased our repurchase authorization to a $300 million multi-year program. Going forward, we will continue to allocate capital using our stated priorities and any future share repurchases are subject to maintaining our strong balance sheet, liquidity, and the continuation of our strong financial performance,” said Masih. In March, the company repaid $161 million of its maturing convertible notes using existing liquidity and has reduced convertible debt by approximately $250 million over the last 12 months. Financial Highlights for the First Quarter of 2021: Three Months Ended March 31,(in thousands, except percentages and earnings per share)2021 2020 ChangeCollections$606,461 $527,279 15%Reve...