CLEARWATER, Fla. — Nicholas Financial recently announced that for its first quarter, net earnings climbed 65 percent to $3.426 million, compared with $2.081 million for the same period last year.

The first-quarter figure excludes the change in fair value of interest rate swaps.

Moreover, looking at per share diluted net earnings, excluding change in fair value of interest rate swaps, this total increased 61 percent to $0.29, compared with $0.18 in the first quarter of 2009.

Meanwhile, revenue grew 9 percent to about $15 million, compared with about $14 million in the same period last year.

Discussing results, Peter Vosotas, chairman and chief executive officer, said, "We are pleased to report record first quarter revenue and earnings. Our results were primarily impacted by an increase in revenues, a reduction in the net charge-off rate and an increase in the cost of borrowed funds.

"During the first quarter, we have added four branch offices to our 12-state branch network, bringing the total to 54 locations. The company continues to evaluate additional markets for future branch locations, and subject to market conditions, could open additional branch locations during the year. The company remains open to acquisitions should the opportunity present itself," he continued.

Under its direct loan program, the company saw a 30-59 days delinquency rate of 2.79 percent. The 60-89 days delinquency rate came in at 0.81 percent, and the more than 90-day delinquency rate was 0.23 percent. Overall, the delinquency rate stands at 3.83 percent.

For the same period of 2009, the 30-59 days delinquency rate was 3.18 percent, while the 60-89 days delinquency rate was 1.24 percent. As for the more than 90-day delinquency rate, this figure was 0.23 percent. The total in the first quarter of 2009 was 4.78 percent.

The company purchased about $35.6 million worth of contracts in the first quarter, compared with about $30.09 million in the same period last year.

The average weighted APR was 23.44 percent for the first quarter, compared with 23.83 percent in 2009.

The average discount was 8.91 percent, compared with 9.29 percent in the first quarter of last year.

Furthermore, the weighted average term in months was 49 for both the recent quarter and the first quarter of 2009.

The number of contracts Nicholas purchased was 3,608, compared to 3,186 in the same period of last year.