UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549


FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15 (d) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of Report:
(Date of earliest event reported)

February 7, 2008


CONN'S, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware

(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)

 

000-50421

 

06-1672840

(Commission File Number)

(IRS Employer Identification No.)

3295 College Street
Beaumont, Texas 77701

(Address of Principal Executive
Offices and zip code)

(409) 832-1696
(Registrant’s telephone
number, including area code)

N/A
(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))




Item 2.02     Results of Operations and Financial Condition.

On February 7, 2008, the Company issued a press release announcing its net sales results for the quarter ended January 31, 2008.

The press release also contains the announcement of the Company’s conference call and audio webcast to be conducted on March 27, 2008, at 10:00 A. M. Central Daylight Time from the Company’s corporate headquarters.

A copy of the press release is furnished herewith as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 9.01     Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(c) Exhibits.

Exhibit 99.1        Press Release, dated February 7, 2008.

All of the information contained in Item 2.02 and Item 9.01(c) in this Form 8-K and the accompanying exhibit shall not be deemed to be "filed" for the purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and shall not be incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.


SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

 

CONN'S, INC.

 

 

Date:

February 7, 2008

By:

/s/ Michael J. Poppe

Michael J. Poppe

Chief Financial Officer


EXHIBIT INDEX

Exhibit No.

 

Description

 
99.1

Press Release, February 7, 2008

Exhibit 99.1

Conns, Inc. Reports Net Sales Results for the Quarter and Year Ended January 31, 2008

BEAUMONT, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Conn’s, Inc. (NASDAQ/NM:CONN), a specialty retailer of home appliances, consumer electronics, computers, lawn and garden products, furniture and mattresses, today announced its net sales results for the quarter ended January 31, 2008.

Net sales for the quarter ended January 31, 2008, of $200.6 million, increased $11.4 million, or 6.0%, as compared with the quarter ended January 31, 2007. Net sales represent total product sales (see table below), service revenues and commissions from service maintenance agreement sales. Same store sales (sales recorded in stores operated for the entirety of both periods) increased 1.9% for the quarter ended January 31, 2008. Revenues from finance charges and other for the quarter will be reported in the Company's earnings release and conference call scheduled for March 27, 2008.

During the quarter ended January 31, 2008, the Company opened three new stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, one new store in Houston, Texas, and its first store in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, giving it a total of 69 stores as of the end of the quarter.

“Consumer electronics drove our sales growth again this quarter,” said the Company’s Chairman and CEO, Thomas J. Frank, Sr. “After our record Thanksgiving weekend, though the pace of sales slowed as we encountered a difficult retail environment during the quarter, we achieved same store sales growth at the lower end of our expectations.”

Quarter ended January 31,  
2008   % of Total   2007   % of Total Change % Change
Net sales (in $000)
Electronics $ 76,356 38.0 % $ 67,460 35.7 % $ 8,896 13.2 %
Appliances 51,315 25.6 % 54,496 28.8 % (3,181 ) -5.8 %
Track 37,021 18.4 % 32,332 17.1 % 4,689 14.5 %
Furniture 11,958 6.0 % 11,773 6.2 % 185 1.6 %
Other   8,832 4.4 %   9,148 4.8 %   (316 ) -3.5 %
Total product sales 185,482 92.4 % 175,209 92.6 % 10,273 5.9 %
 

Service maintenance agreement commissions

9,736 4.9 % 8,692 4.6 % 1,044 12.0 %
Service revenues   5,356 2.7 %   5,304 2.8 %   52   1.0 %
Total net sales $ 200,574 100.0 % $ 189,205 100.0 % $ 11,369   6.0 %

The following is a summary of the key items impacting net sales during the quarter:

Net sales for the year ended January 31, 2008, increased $54.1 million, or 8.0%, from $676.9 million for the year ended January 31, 2007, to $731.0 million for the year ended January 31, 2008. Same store sales for the year ended January 31, 2008, increased 3.2%.

The Company will host a conference call and audio webcast on Thursday, March 27, 2008, at 10:00AM, CDT, to fully discuss earnings and performance for the quarter. The webcast will be available live at www.conns.com and will be archived for one year. Participants can join the call by dialing 877-627-6544 or 719-325-4937.

About Conn’s, Inc.

The Company is a specialty retailer currently operating 69 retail locations in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma: 22 stores in the Houston area, 17 in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, 10 in San Antonio, five in Austin, four in Southeast Texas, one in Corpus Christi, three in South Texas, six in Louisiana and one in Oklahoma City. It sells home appliances, including refrigerators, freezers, washers, dryers, dishwashers and ranges, and a variety of consumer electronics, including micro-display projection, plasma and LCD flat-panel televisions, camcorders, digital cameras, computers and computer accessories, DVD players (both standard and high definition), video game equipment, portable audio and home theater products. The Company also sells lawn and garden products, furniture and mattresses, and continues to introduce additional product categories for the home to help respond to its customers' product needs and to increase same store sales.

Unlike many of its competitors, the Company provides flexible in-house credit options for its customers. In the last three years, the Company has financed, on average, approximately 58% of retail sales. Customer receivables are financed substantially through an asset-backed securitization facility, from which the Company derives servicing fee income and interest income. The Company transfers receivables, consisting of retail installment contracts and revolving accounts extended to its customers, to a qualifying special purpose entity (QSPE) in exchange for cash and subordinated securities. The QSPE funds its purchases of the receivables through the issuance of medium-term and variable funding notes issued to third parties and secured by the receivables, and subordinated securities issued to the Company.

This press release contains 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 be 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: the Company's growth strategy and plans regarding opening new stores and entering new markets; the Company's intention to update or expand existing stores; the Company's estimated capital expenditures and costs related to the opening of new stores or the update or expansion of existing stores; the Company's ability to introduce additional product categories; the Company's cash flow from operations, borrowings from its revolving line of credit and proceeds from securitizations to fund operations, debt repayment and expansion; growth trends and projected sales in the home appliance and consumer electronics industry and the Company's ability to capitalize on such growth; relationships with the Company's key suppliers; the results of the Company's litigation; interest rates; weather conditions in the Company's markets; delinquency and loss trends in the receivables portfolio; changes in the assumptions used in the calculation of the fair value of its interests in securitized assets; changes in the Company's stock price; and the actual number of shares of common stock outstanding. Further information on these risk factors is included in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's annual report on Form 10-K filed on March 29, 2007. 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.

CONTACT:
Conn’s, Inc., Beaumont
Chairman and CEO
Thomas J. Frank, 409-832-1696 Ext. 3218