Rent-A-Center, Inc. Reports First Quarter 2005 Results; Diluted Earnings per Share of $0.56, Excluding Litigation Credit; Operating Cash Flow Exceeds $87 Million for the Quarter

Business Wire, April 25, 2005

The following statements are based on current expectations. These statements are forward-looking, and actual results may differ materially. These statements do not include the potential impact of any repurchases of common stock the Company may make or the potential impact of acquisitions that may be completed after April 25, 2005.

SECOND QUARTER 2005 GUIDANCE:

Revenues

--The Company expects total revenues to be in the range of $576 million to $584 million.

--Store rental and fee revenues are expected to be between $525 million and $530 million.

--Total store revenues are expected to be in the range of $566 million to $574 million.

--Same store sales are expected to be in the (3.0%) to (4.0%) range.

--The Company expects to open 10-15 new store locations.

Expenses

--The Company expects cost of rental and fees to be between 21.6% and 22.0% of store rental and fee revenue and cost of goods merchandise sales to be between 70% and 75% of store merchandise sales.

--Store salaries and other expenses are expected to be in the range of 57.5% to 59.0% of total store revenue.

--General and administrative expenses are expected to be between 3.3% and 3.5% of total revenue.

--Net interest expense is expected to be approximately $10.0 million and amortization of intangibles is expected to be approximately $2.1 million.

--The effective tax rate is expected to be in the range of 37.5% to 38.0% of pre-tax income.

--Diluted earnings per share are estimated to be in the range of $0.51 to $0.55.

--Diluted shares outstanding are estimated to be between 76.0 million and 77.0 million.

FISCAL 2005 GUIDANCE:

Revenues

--The Company expects total revenues to be in the range of $2.37 billion and $2.40 billion.

--Store rental and fee revenues are expected to be between $2.120 billion and $2.145 billion.

--Total store revenues are expected to be in the range of $2.320 billion and $2.350 billion.

--Same store sales are expected to be in the (1.0%) to (3.0%) range.

--The Company expects to open 70 - 80 new store locations.

Expenses

--The Company expects cost of rental and fees to be between 21.6% and 22.0% of store rental and fee revenue and cost of goods merchandise sales to be between 70% and 75% of store merchandise sales.

--Store salaries and other expenses are expected to be in the range of 57.0% to 58.5% of total store revenue.

--General and administrative expenses are expected to be between 3.3% and 3.5% of total revenue.

--Net interest expense is expected to be between $38.0 million and $42.0 million and amortization of intangibles is expected to be approximately $7.5 million.

--The effective tax rate is expected to be in the range of 37.5% to 38.0% of pre-tax income.

--Diluted earnings per share are estimated to be in the range of $2.20 to $2.30.

--Diluted shares outstanding are estimated to be between 76.0 million and 77.0 million.

This press release and the guidance above contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "could," "estimate," "should," "anticipate," or "believe," or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements will prove to be correct, the Company can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. The actual future performance of the Company could differ materially from such statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: uncertainties regarding the ability to open new stores; the Company's ability to acquire additional rent-to-own stores on favorable terms; the Company's ability to enhance the performance of these acquired stores; the Company's ability to control store level costs; the Company's ability to realize benefits from our margin enhancement initiatives; the Company's ability to identify and successfully market products and services that appeal to our customer demographic; the Company's ability to identify and successfully enter new lines of business offering products and services that appeal to our customer demographic; the results of the Company's litigation; the passage of legislation adversely affecting the rent-to-own industry; interest rates; the Company's ability to collect on its rental purchase agreements; the Company's ability to enter into new rental purchase agreements; economic pressures affecting the disposable income available to our targeted consumers, such as high fuel and utility costs; changes in the Company's effective tax rate; the Company's ability to maintain an effective system of internal controls; changes in the Company's stock price and the number of shares of common stock that the Company may or may not repurchase; and the other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC filings, including but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, the Company is not obligated to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect the events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.