UPDATE 1-Rent-A-Center shares up as results beat estimates
(Adds share price, details, dateline)
NEW YORK, April 28 (Reuters) - Shares of Rent-A-Center Inc (RCII.O) rose as much as 8.5 percent in after-hours trading on Monday after it posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings, driven by stronger merchandise sales and its restructuring plan.
The company, which sells rent-to-own appliances and furniture, posted first-quarter net earnings of $36.4 million, or 54 cents per share, compared with $15.1 million, or 21 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.
Analysts, on average, had forecast earnings of 51 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.
The Plano, Texas-based company said first-quarter sales at stores open at least a year rose 2.8 percent. Quarterly revenue rose 0.2 percent from a year ago to $756.6 million, despite having about 315 fewer stores due to its restructuring plan.
Chief Executive Mark Spree said in a statement that Rent-A-Center was "mindful of the challenging macro-economic environment," and the company forecast second-quarter earnings in a range of 53 to 59 cents per share, compared with the analyst forecast of 60 cents per share.
Rent-A-Center forecast 2008 earnings in a range of $2.17 to $2.32 per share on revenue of $2.868 billion to $2.908 billion.
Shares of the company rose as high as $22 per share in extended trading, up from a close of $20.27 on the Nasdaq. (Reporting by Emily Chasan; Editing by Braden Reddall)
