Credit Acceptance Shows Gains in Loan Volume, Extends Revolving Warehouse Facility
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. — Along with an update on a revolving secured warehouse facility and a tender stock offer, Credit Acceptance Corp. shared specifics about significant growth in consumer loan unit volume and value amounts for the recent two- and five-month spans.
When reporting closed for the two-month time frame on May 31, the company indicated consumer loan unit volume increased by 22.5 percent as compared to the year-ago mark. Specifically, the volume number jumped from 17,745 to 21,735.
Looking at the same category but over a five-month span, Credit Acceptance again noted a double-digit increase year-over-year. The volume figure moved up by 15 percent as the amount climbed to 60,638 from 52,736.
The increases in loan volume produced healthy gains in the dollar amount when looking back at these same time frames.
Over a two-month span, executives spotted a year-over-year increase of 38.9 percent as the dollar amount advanced from $228.1 million to $316.8 million. Comparing five-month figures, the gain came in a 23.3 percent, pushing the loan value to $832.2 million from $674.7 million.
Credit Acceptance shared more positive developments that have occurred in the past two months. This news stemmed from the number of active dealer partners as well as the consumer loan unit volume per active dealer-partner.
Looking year-over-year, the company's number of active dealer partners moved up 5 percent from 2,099 to 2,203. As a result, executives calculated the rise helped to push the unit volume per dealer-partner by 16.5 percent, a move up from 8.5 to 9.9.
News on Revolving Secured Warehouse Facility
Credit Acceptance also revealed the company extended the date on which its $325.0 million revolving secured warehouse facility will cease to revolve. The change moved it from Aug 23 to June 15, 2013.
Executives also mentioned the interest rate on borrowings under this warehouse facility decreased. It was switched from a floating rate equal to the commercial paper rate plus 5 percent to the commercial paper rate plus 3.5 percent.
"In addition, the agreement was modified to provide that in the event that the facility is not renewed and the borrower is in compliance with the terms and conditions of the agreement, any amounts outstanding will be repaid over time as the collections on the loans securing the facility are received," Credit Acceptance executives explained.
"There were no other material changes to the terms of the facility," they added.
Latest Tender Offer
In more company news, Credit Acceptance also commenced a tender offer to purchase up to 4 million shares of its outstanding common stock. The company indicated the price at $50 per share.
Executives insisted the primary purpose of this proposed transaction is to distribute excess capital to shareholders. The shared several reasons why they believe distributing capital to shareholders is appropriate at this time:
—Since the last distribution to shareholders in 2006, the company generated more than $300 million in net income.
—The company recently completed several longer term debt financings that it contends have significantly reduced the probability that Credit Acceptance would need to curtail originations if the debt markets become inaccessible.
—Upon completion of the tender offer, the company asserted it will have sufficient capital to fund new originations with approximately $190 million in unused and available capacity on its revolving lines of credit.
Since 1999, Credit Acceptance noted that it distributed $399.2 million to shareholders through share repurchases.
"While we could distribute excess capital to shareholders through dividends, share repurchases provide shareholders with discretion to increase their ownership, receive cash or do both based on their individual circumstances and view of the value of a Credit Acceptance share," company executives stated.
"A dividend does not provide this flexibility," they added.
Donald Foss, chairman of the board and majority shareholder, declared his non-binding intention to tender 15.4 million shares. The company also pointed out that the trustee of certain grantor with retained annuity trusts created by Foss also revealed his non-binding intention to tender 4 million shares.
Credit Acceptance said the tender offer will expire at 5 p.m. on July 19 unless it's extended by the company. As of May 31, the company had more than 31 million shares outstanding. The last reported sale price of Credit Acceptance's common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market during the last trading day prior to the commencement of the offer was $47.29 per share.