EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

So, we’re seeing — we’re a few quarters into that now and we’re definitely seeing strong signs of growth down there of improvement in the business, certainly in the bench strength of the people. So look, we expect that business to be a really big part of our story over the next one, two, three years.

Brian McNamara: Great. And then last one for me. I’m just curious what your plans are for capital allocation this year. You have some investments. You have a convert maturing. Investors we talk to say your stock is very cheap. They want repurchases to be, obviously, a higher priority. I’m just curious kind of how investors should think about share repurchases this year.

Lachlan Given: Look, another good point. We are trying to balance the growth opportunities. So, capital required to grow our earning assets as well as to build new stores as well as to acquire new stores. So, that’s priority one, is really scaling this business up and capitalizing upon the growth. We also, as you know, we like to maintain a liquid balance sheet to do those things. But we are obviously buying back shares. We have $35 million-ish coming due in May. Clearly, we’ve got the cash to close that out, then we have another $100 million coming a year after that. So, look, I think the liquidity that we’ve got is a really strong story for us. And I think, given where the stock is out at the moment, you’ve seen that we’ve been pretty active in buying back shares. I think we’ve done $19 million now. Clearly, a high return on capital piece. But we will assess that each quarter to try and balance that with growth opportunities and debt maturities.

Brian McNamara: Thanks very much guys.

Lachlan Given: Thanks Brian.

Operator: And I’m not showing any further questions at this time. I’d like to turn the call back over to Lachie for any closing remarks.

Lachlan Given: Thank you, operator, and thank you, everyone, for joining today. We will speak to most of you over the course of the day today. Thank you.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today’s presentation. You may now disconnect and have a wonderful day.