H&R Block Lower on Tripling of Net Loss, Delayed 10Q

H&R Block (HRB) was last down 7.5% to $18.46 in thin pre-market trading, after it released preliminary fiscal Q2 results of a more than tripling of its net loss to $502.3 million, or $1.55/share. In addition, the company notified the SEC it will be late filing its Form 10-Q. H&R Block said it plans to file no later than Dec. 14. H&R Block also postponed its quarterly conference call. Writedowns related to its discontinued mortgage arm, Option One, accounted for $366M, or $1.13/share of its preliminary losses. Efforts over the past year to sell Option One to Cerberus Capital Management ended in failure last week. H&R Block's net loss from continuing operations expanded to $136M or $0.42/share, compared to -$0.38 last year. Nevertheless, H&R Block reaffirmed its fiscal 2008 adjusted EPS forecast of $1.30 to $1.45, but said it expects results to be closer to the lower-end of the range. Analysts were expecting $1.36/share, on average. H&R Block lost 0.4% to $19.95 on Monday and fell another 3.3% to $19.30 in late trading. H&R Block competes with Jackson Hewitt (JTX) and Intuit (INTU).

Sources: Press release I, II, Bloomberg, MarketWatch
Additional Reading: H&R Block's in Big Trouble Heading Into Tonight's Earnings • Activist Fund Breeden Partners Wins 3 Seats on H&R Block's Board

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