H&R Block U.S. Tax Return Volume Declines 5.8%
April 26 2016 - 07:00PM
Dow Jones News
By Tess Stynes
H&R Block Inc. reported that the number of U.S. tax returns
handled during the latest tax season fell 5.8%, prompting the
company to unveil a plan to streamline operations and shuffle
management .
Chief Executive Bill Cobb said in prepared remarks that "the
volume losses are not acceptable and as CEO, I take complete
responsibility for delivering stronger results."
H&R Block's shares fell 6.6% to $22.25 in recent after-hours
trading.
For period through April 19, H&R Block said total U.S. tax
return volume declined to 12.2 million, with most of the drop
occurring early in the tax season. Tax returns prepared with its
software fell 2.6%, which the company attributed to "aggressive
pricing strategies by industry competitors."
Earlier Tuesday, rival Intuit Inc. raised its guidance for
consumer-tax revenue growth for the current quarter as online sales
of TurboTax rose 15% in the lastest tax season through April
24.
For Intuit's fiscal year that ends in July, the company now
expects consumer tax revenue will increase by 8% to 9%, compared
with its earlier guidance for growth of 5% to 7%.
H&R Block also named company veteran Tony Bowen as its new
chief financial officer starting next month. He will succeed Greg
Macfarlane, who will head up the company's U.S. retail products and
operations, which will include greater involvement in day-to-day
operations.
Other planned changes include a realignment of its field
operations and a significant cost reduction effort.
The company plans to provide more details when its releases its
annual earnings results on June 9.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 26, 2016 18:45 ET (22:45 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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