THE WOODLANDS, Texas, July 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Conn's, Inc. (NASDAQ: CONN), a specialty retailer of furniture and mattresses, home appliances, consumer electronics and home office products, and provider of consumer credit, today announced that it has reached a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The settlement arises from the previously disclosed SEC investigation commenced in November 2014 into the Company’s underwriting policies and bad debt provisions from July 31, 2012 to July 31, 2014.  In connection with the settlement process, the SEC today filed a civil complaint and agreed judgment against the Company and a former officer in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Without admitting or denying the allegations in the SEC’s complaint, the Company consented to the entry of a final judgment pursuant to which it will pay a civil monetary penalty of $1.1 million to the SEC.

There will be no current period financial impact on the Company’s results, as an accrual for this amount was previously established and expensed.

“The Company resolved this historical investigation in order to focus on growing the business for our customers, employees and shareholders,” stated Norm Miller, Conn’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “I am pleased to have this matter, in which no current Conn’s officers were involved, behind the Company.  We have transformed Conn’s since that time period, and I am excited by the numerous opportunities we have in front of us to create value for all of Conn’s stakeholders.”

About Conn's, Inc.
Conn's HomePlus is a specialty retailer currently operating 130+ retail locations in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

The Company's primary product categories include:

• Furniture and mattress, including furniture and related accessories for the living room, dining room and bedroom, as well as traditional and specialty mattresses;
• Home appliance, including refrigerators, freezers, washers, dryers, dishwashers and ranges;
• Consumer electronics, including LED, OLED, QLED, Ultra HD, and internet-ready televisions, gaming consoles, home theater and portable audio equipment; and
• Home office, including computers, printers and accessories.

Additionally, Conn's HomePlus offers a variety of products on a seasonal basis. Unlike many of its competitors, Conn's HomePlus provides flexible in-house credit options for its customers in addition to third-party financing programs and third-party lease-to-own payment plans.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including but not limited to, the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, that involve risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements include information concerning our future financial performance, business strategy, plans, goals and objectives. Statements containing the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “should,” “predict,” “will,” “potential,” or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions are generally forward-looking in nature and not historical facts. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations. We can give no assurance that such statements will prove to be correct, and actual results may differ materially. A wide variety of potential risks, uncertainties, and other factors could materially affect our ability to achieve the results either expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: general economic conditions impacting our customers or potential customers; our ability to execute periodic securitizations of future originated customer loans on favorable terms; our ability to continue existing customer financing programs or to offer new customer financing programs; changes in the delinquency status of our credit portfolio; unfavorable developments in ongoing litigation; increased regulatory oversight; higher than anticipated net charge-offs in the credit portfolio; the success of our planned opening of new stores; technological and market developments and sales trends for our major product offerings; our ability to manage effectively the selection of our major product offerings; our ability to protect against cyber-attacks or data security breaches and to protect the integrity and security of individually identifiable data of our customers and employees; our ability to fund our operations, capital expenditures, debt repayment and expansion from cash flows from operations, borrowings from our revolving credit facility, and proceeds from accessing debt or equity markets; and other risks detailed in Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors, in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2019 and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. If one or more of these or other risks or uncertainties materialize (or the consequences of such a development changes), or should our underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual outcomes may vary materially from those reflected in our forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update publicly or revise such statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, or to provide periodic updates or guidance. All forward-looking statements attributable to us, or to persons acting on our behalf, are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements.

CONN-G
S.M. Berger & Company
Andrew Berger (216) 464-6400

Source: Conn's, Inc.