Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the EZCORP Fourth Quarter and Full Year Fiscal 2021 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this call may be recorded. I'd now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Jean Marie Young, Investor Relations with Three Part Advisors. Please go ahead, Jean.

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. During our prepared remarks, we'll be referring to slides, which are available for viewing or download from our website at investors.ezcorp.com. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that this conference call as well as the presentation slides contain certain forward-looking statements regarding the company's expected operating and financial performance for future periods. These statements are based on the company's current expectations. Actual results for future periods may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements due to a number of risks and other factors that are discussed in our annual, quarterly and other reports filed with the SEC. And as noted in our presentation materials and unless otherwise identified, results are presented on an adjusted basis to remove the effect of foreign currency fluctuations and other discrete items. Now I'd like to turn the call over to EZCORP's Chief Executive Officer, Jason Kulas. Jason?

Thanks, Jean, and good morning, everyone. I would first like to acknowledge everyone on our team for having exceeded expectations for our fiscal year 2021. Throughout the year, our key performance indicators have improved, and we are seeing continuous signs of recovery from the pandemic. We believe that the steps we have taken throughout the year to implement our strategic initiatives, have us well positioned to benefit as we return to a more normalized operating environment. During the fourth quarter, we saw pawn loans outstanding, or PLO, grew to $174 million, up 32% year-over-year to our highest level since the beginning of the pandemic. And for those of you who are new to our business, PLO is a leading indicator of the health of our core pawn business. Again, I credit our entire team in our stores and our corporate offices, who has embraced our plan and has continued to execute, delivering strong results for our shareholders and our customers. As we begin to move through the presentation, I also want to acknowledge our Investor Relations team for helping us refresh and update the format of the materials. Beginning on the Slide 3, we relentlessly strive for continuous improvement and focus on providing an industry-leading experience for both our customers and team members. And this, coupled with organic and inorganic growth, is how we build long term shareholder value. During fiscal 2021, we completed the acquisition of 128 stores in Mexico, acquired 11 stores in the Houston area, and opened 15 de novo stores in Latin America. We now own and operate 1,148 stores in 5 countries. We look forward to leveraging our strong balance sheet to look for more opportunities to continue to grow our store base and expand our footprint into new markets. Moving on to the drivers…

Thanks, Jason. For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, we reported a diluted earnings per share of $0.03 on a GAAP basis compared to a loss of $0.42 in the prior fiscal year fourth quarter. On an adjusted basis, we reported a diluted earnings per share of $0.11 for the quarter compared to $0.08 per share for the prior year quarter. For the full year, the GAAP diluted earnings per share was $0.15 compared to a loss of $1.24 in fiscal 2020. On an adjusted basis, diluted earnings per share for the year was $0.38 compared to $0.39 in fiscal 2020, which is significant considering the average PLO for fiscal 2021 was less than fiscal 2020 as the PLO has been in the process of recovering. Starting with our Q4 consolidated financial results on Slide 12. PLO ended the period at $174 million, up 32% on a year-over-year basis. We are now within 16% of FY '19 same-store PLO compared to 22% last quarter. Following suit, PSC revenue was up 30% over last year, with growth driven by increased store count and higher average PLO. Merchandise sales gross profit margin was 41% in the fourth quarter, up from 31%. For the full year, merchandise sales gross profit margin was 42% compared to 33% in fiscal 2020. These improvements reflect the commitment to improving the core business by driving down aged general merchandise, now less than 1% of total general merchandise inventory compared to 6% at the prior year quarter. Our focus on selling inventory in the first 90 days has kept inventory turnover strong at 2.8x. Total added EBITDA was $18.1 million in the fourth quarter, up 47% compared to the prior year quarter as a result of higher PSC revenues and increased merchandise sales gross profit partially offset by…

Thank you, Tim. Our strategic initiatives introduced at the end of fiscal 2020 remain the same. PLO drives revenue from pawn service charges and efficient retail management drive sales gross profit. So we are well positioned going into fiscal 2022. We achieved our targeted cost savings of over $14 million in fiscal 2021, and we'll continue to optimize operating cost ratios over time, as transaction volume accelerates. Our differentiated platform, proprietary point-of-sale system and commitment to enhancing digital capabilities will continue to differentiate EZCORP. We remain focused on meeting our customers' needs for cash and affordable preowned and recycled merchandise across the U.S. and Latin America, and we will continue to execute on our initiatives to further strengthen our core pawn business in fiscal 2022 and drive shareholder returns. I want to say again that we're thankful for our team members who drove results for fiscal 2021 that surpassed our expectations, and we are enthusiastic about our prospects for continuing the momentum into 2022 with a business that continues to be unique and essential for our customers. And with that, we'll open the call for questions. Operator?

[Operator Instructions] We have our first question from the line of Brian Nagel with Oppenheimer.

Nice quarter. Congratulations.

Thanks, Brian.

So I guess a few questions here I'll kind of go through. I mean first, just from a, I guess, a bigger picture perspective, we've talked a lot about just the extent to which the COVID crisis has impacted your business. You mentioned today that I think you're starting to see, broadly speaking, some relief from those headwinds. So the question I have is, as you look at the backdrop of the business right now, how much -- I mean to what extent is the pandemic or the remnants of the pandemic in the United States still a headwind for your business? And how do you see that unfolding -- that dynamic unfolding over the next, say, couple of quarters or so?

Sure. So it's interesting. We aren't yet back to the levels where we were on PLO in 2019. But as we've talked about, on this call, we're getting close. And 2022 is the year we get there and beyond, and we're excited about that. What I would say is -- as we've said in previous quarters, the impact of the COVID crisis is less in the U.S. than it is in some of our Latin American countries. That's primarily driven by the vaccination rates, which are catching up in some of those -- in some of the other countries, and that's helping the business a lot. One of the things we saw is in the U.S. with each incremental stimulus action because it's not just the impact of the pandemic, it's also the impact of the reactions to it. With each incremental stimulus action we saw the recovery come a lot quicker with each success of one. And in the U.S., that's directly related to the fact that people are more active and they're not doing things. And when they're active, that generates needs for cash and so the demand comes back fairly quickly. We've seen that in other countries, as we make our way through Latin America and Central America, there's been a little bit more of a lasting impact. We've seen a great recovery there as well, but it's been a little bit more muted because of the ongoing impacts of the Delta variant. In Mexico, we saw that we didn't have a big back-to-school season. So those kinds of things are still there. As we look into 2022, our expectation is that we'll continue to be able to report on progress, again versus where we were in 2019 and then also moving past that. But it's a little bit different story depending on the country you're talking about.

Got it. That’s very helpful. And then Jason, I guess, also from a bigger picture perspective, you spent a lot of time on the call today, and I do did a very nice job just laying out the sustainability aspects of your business. The question I have is it makes sense from us as an investment standpoint to really understand and respect that aspect of EZCORP. Is this something you could also – I mean, are you also – or will you also advertise more aggressively to customers? This is a way to shop more sustainably? A –Jason Kulas : Absolutely. I’m glad you brought that up. One of the things – if you follow us on social media, that you’re starting to see more of from us is exactly that. Reminding consumers that we are a great source if they’re concerned about their current footprint. And even if they can afford to buy new, but they want to choose to buy new, we’re a place where they can do that. And you’ll see us advertise, for example, the chemicals and the water required to make certain items, whether it’s a laptop or a bicycle or whatever it may be, there’s no packaging on our goods. So yes, that’s a message that we’re getting more active about with our core customers and then also with customers who maybe aren’t historically our core customers who would be attracted to the idea that where recycling goes.

Our next question comes from the line of Steve Emerson with Emerson Investment Group.

Congratulations on a great quarter and looks like a good sustainable trend. Building on the last answer on sustainability, are you going to start buying goods without pawn based on your extensive data capabilities and price check availabilities? And are you thinking of making used goods a major focus?

Thank you, Steve. So the answer to that is yes. And there's an element of our business that has always been a buy-sell business. What we want to do is exactly what the customer wants. And sometimes the customer wants to do a pawn transaction, and we're happy to do that. Sometimes they just want to sell the item. And we want to continue to make sure our customers know that we're agnostic to the outcome. We just want to do the transaction that they want to do. And our expectation, though is, over time, that more people will look to a pawn shop for those kinds of buy-sell transactions than they may have done in the past, with no intention of actually doing a pawn transaction, but really more intent on walking into the store and just selling us an item. And we're happy to do that. One of the things that we've really focused on over the last year is our ability to manage inventory to turn it what we call velocity internally, turning items in those first 90 days, not having aged inventory buildup and those kinds of things. And as we manage that effectively, we want to do it with as much inventory as possible and make sure that our throughput is as high as it can be. And I think the buy-sell approach is critical to continuing to drive that.

Excellent. And it can change your image or the image of the pawn industry tremendously. To facilitate purchases, are you ready to start rent to own or other financing plans for your used goods?

We have spent a lot of time and are continuing to spend a lot of time looking at this idea of financing at the terminal, whether it be leased to own or buy now pay later, it comes in many different forms. We continue to do that and -- but they aren't ready at this point to make any announcement in that regard.

Okay. And obviously, EZ pawn could become EZ owned. As a new branding, pawn could be considered a poor image or tougher image to overcome. So just a thought.

Yes. Thank you for those comments, Steve. We -- when you spend time in our stores with our team members, watching them serve our customers, it's -- there's nothing better in this business to do than that than just to see this process, whether it's a buy-sell or it's a pawn of our customers coming in and valuing the service that we provide. Our team members are being so engaged and enthusiastic and passionate about doing that. It's been probably 1 of the best parts of my journey from the Board into the executive team is getting closer to all of that and seeing it firsthand. So we'll be focused on both aspects of the business going forward, just like we always have been. What we do is so unique and essential, and our customers tell us that every day. So we're proud to do it, and we want to continue doing it exactly how we have been.

And what's your current breakdown of EBITDA from pawn loans versus used goods? I don't know if it's possible to unscramble the eggs. And what ratio would you like to see in the future?

So the best way to have a look at that is to look at the P&L on a look at the PSC revenue and then look at the merchandise gross profit. And for the -- and then for the quarter, you'll see that the net revenue was $117 million. That was made up of about $72 million of PSC and then $45 million of merchandise sales gross profit.

Okay. Where would you like to see that?

We'd like to see both numbers continue to go up. And that's exactly what we'll execute on in the coming years.

Okay. But to be considered by Wall Street as more of a resale center you possibly would need your used merchandise gross profits to be bigger than your PSC and your loans – A –Jason Kulas : Yes, Steve, for us, it’s really about providing that choice to the customer. So while we want to continue to grow both, if our customers demanded one for a period of time over the other and one had more growth than the other. Like I said before, I think we’ll be in a position where we’re sort of agnostic to that. We want to continue to drive both. And we think actually the retail side of the business will drive some incremental customers into our stores. But at the end of the day, we want to do the transaction, the customer standing in front of us wants to do, and we want to give them the choice to deal with us in whatever manner they want.

[Operator Instructions] We have our next question from the line of David Cayman with Cayman Wealth Management.

Congratulations, nice quarter. So my first question is you're making a deliberate effort to tap the opportunity for consumers, whereby sustainability and owning something pre-owned as a priority. That being said, that customer tends to be more tech savvy and rather than go into stores, treasure hunting so to speak, looking for the items that they desire it would be advantageous and I think helpful to them if there was a digitization or many of those items that they're seeking could be looked up on their phone or their laptop. Could you speak to that effort on your side? What you're doing to digitize? Have we done it, to what extent and then what the results are thereof? Thanks.

Yes, David, we agree with you. The future of this business will involve giving that customer the option to sort of look at what's available before they buy and to be able to go to recommended store that had exactly what they need or even at some point to be able to do all of it online. So, it's important that we continue to explore that and we are. So, we've been working hard this year on what we're calling our inventory showcase. We've got that now rolled out in a lot of test stores. And what we're seeing is that -- and obviously the data will continue to come through that proves this point up, what our customers are telling us is that exactly what you said, they really love the idea that they don't have to go on the treasure hunt to visit several stores to find they need that they can go online in advance, find it and then go directly to the store that has what they want. So we got some really positive feedback on that. I think for our business, there are always going to be people who do want to do the treasure hunt who want to go to several stores and just see what they can find. And that's one of the things that's really unique about the pawn business is that every store every day has something different in it and people like to go and explore that. But for those who don't and who want the choice of that process being much more convenient, we're going to continue to focus on providing that. So we're excited about what we're seeing in these early days. We got a lot more to do to roll it out to more stores, but the test so far has been going very well.

And then can you speak to the last transaction that you did in the Caribbean? What percent ownership do you have or -- and more importantly give me an idea of what multiple we paid of EBIDTA?

So we are -- we're not in a control position in that transaction. So, we own less than half of the business. What we're excited about is it gives us exposure to some new geographies in the Caribbean, some countries where we don't currently have stores and this idea of diversity -- of geographic diversification is something we want to continue to pursue. So from that perspective, we're very excited about it. And, Tim, do you want to.

We haven't disclosed the multiple, but what I would say -- and correct me on this, but what I'd say is it's not upside what we've seen in other transactions.

That's correct.

Okay. And then is M&A happening in a, let's call it a high double-digit EBITDA area like 6, 7, 8, 9, is that safe to say?

Generally, we talk about multiples of 4 or 5 times and that's -- it's heavily dependent on the number of stores, geographies and the growth rates of the company. And so that's generally where I think. So that's what we look at.

Okay. 4 to 8 times. So that being said, when we look at your stock, the recovery in the business and where we are now in EBITDA, it seems like your stock is a multiple of 5 to 6. However, if we do nothing, there's going to be dilution inevitably from the convert that matures in the shorter term and I believe it's two and seven-eights of 24. It seems like it would be a great use of capital and a balance used to retire some shares to offset that dilution assuming it seems like we're on a trajectory to get well above $10 a share where those bonds will convert. What's your sense on that and what's your view on it? I mean it seems to me, if I do the math and pull out my calculator, it would be great usage of capital and very competitive in terms of -- versus M&A in terms of the accretion. So, could you comment on that please?

Absolutely, yes. So if you look at, we know that the best way to drive long-term growth in the company is to operate stores well and then to have more stores. When we're convinced that we're operating at a high level on both the pawn side and the retail side, we're going to do that over as many stores as possible. On the multiples, one thing that's a little misleading on that is when we say 4 to 8 times we're talking about trailing EBITDA, not what we can do with it once we have it. So what we end up seeing is an actual multiple over time that ends up being much less because we can make some improvements. With the way we have our processes in place just versus a smaller company, maybe a mom-and-pop operation that doesn't have the same sophistication on the way that they value items, put pawn transactions in place, operate their -- manage their inventory, those kinds of things. So we end up saying that the -- the actual multiple ends up being much lower. But at the end of the day, I mean you're right, we want to be good managers of capital. We want to first and foremost make sure that we always have enough capital to fund these pawn transactions for our customers and also to grow and do that over more stores, but as we over time look at our excess capital, we'll continue to evaluate different ways to put it to work and make sure it's optimized.

Okay. I mean another option. I'm not an investment banker here, but perhaps even tendering for the bonds, it's again 2024 bond -- convertible bonds seemed like to have a very high likelihood of striking and therefore diluting the equity. But another way to skin the cat would be tendering for the bonds and then to replace that capital, for example, with a preferred stock offering. I see almost every week from investment bankers, I'm getting term sheets on preferred stocks, but more people are yield hungry and technically on the balance sheet it's not debt. Is that something that you'd look at? I don't remember the principal amount, maybe let's say it was a $100 million on that bond you tender at a premium and then replace that cash with preferred? Is that something you've looked at or would consider?

We pretty constantly look at what's available in the capital markets to make sure we're focused on optimizing that capital structure. In terms of other use of capital. So on the subject of whether or not you just buyback bonds versus do something else with the capital. I think you were talking about both, either just buying them back or buying them back and replacing that instrument or something else. What I would say is those kinds of things as a use of capital stand behind making sure that as I mentioned before, we're in a good position to fund and we're in a good position to continue to grow as we see opportunities in the market and we do. The pipeline is still very strong, but clearly we spend time looking at those things and we'll continue to do it.

There are no further questions at this time. Mr. Jason Kulas, please continue.

Great, thank you. Thanks everyone for joining us this morning. We look forward to continuing to report on our progress and we hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving holiday.

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.