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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE 14A
Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (Amendment No.)
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Preliminary Proxy Statement |
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Confidential, for Use of the Commission Only (as permitted by Rule 14a-6(e)(2)) |
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Definitive Proxy Statement |
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Soliciting Material Pursuant to §240.14a-12 |
H&R BLOCK, INC.
(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)
(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if other than the Registrant)
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On August 13, 2010, H&R Block, Inc. made available to its shareholders the following letter
from its Chairman of the Board, Richard C. Breeden, contained in its 2010 Annual Report:
Fellow Shareholders:
Fiscal year 2010 was another year of rebuilding for H&R Block, and we delivered the second
highest level of profit from our tax segment in the Companys history. We also increased net
worth, free cash and liquidity, reduced our net mortgage loan portfolio by $150 million, created a
new long term operating structure for McGladrey, generated a total shareholder return of more than
25%, and returned over $450 million in cash to shareholders through dividends and share
repurchases.
Not everything went as we had hoped. For example, we didnt capitalize on our superior
financial settlement products to increase our early season business, and we failed to drive greater
results in our online business despite technically improved product offerings. Netting everything
in the business out, diluted earnings per share slipped $0.02, or about 1.4%, rather than growing
as we had planned, and our total shareholder return underperformed the broader market.
Nonetheless, we held our own in the face of high levels of unemployment and continuing national
economic stress, and we added considerably to our financial strength.
More than anything else, we take the results of fiscal 2010 as an affirmation of our ability
to generate significant free cash flow in even the worst of economic conditions. While no one
likes to see reported earnings slip, we do not view our results as indicating that the basic
business of the Company has changed, or become less attractive. On the contrary, we see many
opportunities to build on our strengths and redouble efforts to push our businesses forward. To
the extent that performance weaknesses reflect internal organizational or other issues that we can
control, we are in the process of addressing them swiftly.
As most shareholders are aware, Alan M. Bennett was recently named our new President and CEO.
Alan had a highly successful tenure as interim CEO during 2007-2008, and he has remained on the
board since that time. He succeeds Russ Smyth, who departed to accept another position. We are
excited to have Alan take over as CEO, and we believe he has the personal skills, knowledge of H&R
Block, and experience in public company leadership to make an immediate positive impact. In
addition, Bruce Rohde, a highly talented former CEO, recently joined our board.
Unfortunately, some of the transitory issues such as people moving on can get undue focus in a
company like H&R Block where there is essentially a nine-month off season without significant
business results to talk about. However, personnel changes occur normally, and perhaps with even
greater frequency in companies that are not performing at their best. What counts is getting the
best possible team in place to make good decisions, and to be effective in achieving results.
As we move into the new fiscal year, it may be worthwhile to review some of H&R Blocks many
strengths that make us feel very positive about our future opportunities. These include:
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Mortgage Contingencies: We have made substantial progress in cleaning up the legacy
of the Companys mortgage business, with strong reserves against potential
contingencies. Claim payments on loans previously sold or securitized remains within
our reserved expectations, and we have seen no indications to suggest claim payments
are likely to change adversely. |
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Strong Balance Sheet: The Companys balance sheet has been restored to health, with
a strong, net cash position and substantial liquidity. At the close of the 2010 fiscal
year, we had over $1.80 billion in unrestricted cash on hand, compared with $1.65
billion at the end of fiscal 2009 and only $665 million at the end of fiscal 2008. |
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Free Cash Flow: The business continues to generate high levels of free cash flow.
In 2010 we returned approximately $450 million to shareholders in both dividends and
share repurchases, even after further work to clean up the balance sheet. We have
already repurchased 15.5 million shares in FY 2011 at a cost of just over $235 million.
The current share price level allowed us to repurchase several million more shares
than we would otherwise have done. For the foreseeable future, we expect to continue
returning essentially all of our free cash to shareholders. |
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The Jewel in the Emerald Card: Our Emerald Card prepaid debit card program is one
of the largest in the country, with 2.5 million users and over $8 billion in annual
deposits. Since it is currently used by fewer than 20% of our retail tax clients, we
believe we have opportunities to expand its usage, and our retail office network gives
us more than 11,000 potential reload locations. For our clients, many of whom do not
have traditional bank accounts, the Emerald Card can function as a bank in their wallet
by allowing direct deposits and money transfers. Other prepaid debit card companies
have recently shown attractive levels of growth and potential market valuations. We
will be putting far more effort into expanding this program in the future as a business
in its own right, and not just as an adjunct to our tax business. |
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Renewal at RSM McGladrey: RSM McGladrey has successfully restructured its strategic
relationship with McGladrey & Pullen LLP (M&P), and it has a strong new leadership
team led by C.E. Andrews. Now that its structural issues are behind it, McGladrey has
outstanding prospects for growing earnings through both acquisitions into new
geographies, and raising its internal productivity. This is a business where our
access to capital can prove significant. |
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Tax Preparation Opportunities: Last but certainly not least, our tax business has
demonstrated resiliency in a very challenging economy. We have always had the best tax
professionals to serve our clients. With government hungry for tax revenues, many tax
changes are likely in Washington. We firmly believe that our professionals can find
meaningful tax savings for clients that exceed what they can find for themselves.
While we need to do a better job tailoring our programs to different levels of tax
complexity, we believe that face-to-face tax assistance from a trained professional
will continue to be highly desirable to millions of people. There should not be any
ceiling on what we can accomplish as we get it right. |
Considered together, we have a strong balance sheet, abundant liquidity, talented people, a
large and relatively stable market, and many growth opportunities.
Looking At Results 2001-2010
As noted, diluted earnings per share in 2010 of $1.43 per share were down $0.02 per share from
$1.45 in 2009. Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations declined by $0.07 from $1.53
in 2009 to $1.46 in 2010, reflecting a revenue decline of approximately 5%. Earnings per share have
grown approximately 90% since 2001, when they were $0.76 per share. Tax Services pretax earnings
have nearly doubled from $440 million in 2001 to $867 million this year.
The Companys ability to hold revenues and profits relatively stable during the recent period
of high unemployment demonstrates considerable resiliency. Indeed, in some client income segments,
unemployment rates last year approached or exceeded 20%, which excludes people who dropped out of
the job market entirely. All too many of these individuals who were out of work stopped paying
taxes, or tried to save money by preparing their returns themselves. We could have performed
better, but at the same time the economy was a significant drag on results.
During 2010, the Company continued to rebuild its net worth and improve its overall financial
condition. We secured a new, three year $1.7 billion liquidity facility, and we successfully
returned to the commercial paper market. Even after further strengthening of our balance sheet, we
returned approximately $450 million to shareholders last year through dividends and share
repurchases. During the fiscal year our total return to shareholders, including dividend payments,
was +25.2%, compared with +38.8% for the S&P 500.
Tax Services Segment 2001-2010
Aggregate Tax Services segment revenues grew very strongly over the decade, though they have
been relatively flat for the past three years. Tax revenues in 2010 of $2.975 billion were up 75%
from revenues of $1.701 billion in 2001. This growth came overwhelmingly from retail tax services,
although our online product offerings are certainly important for the future.
Tax Services revenues this year were down 5% compared to the $3.132 billion we generated
during 2009, but off only about 3% compared to 2008. While many observers focus heavily on the
number of tax returns prepared as a measure of the health of the business, tax revenues, not the
number of units, are what really drive earnings. Like other businesses, some clients or services
are more profitable than others, and focusing exclusively on numbers of units obscures the more
critical issue of aggregate revenue growth. We are focused on striking the proper balance between
growth in both clients and revenue.
Over the decade, our pretax earnings from Tax Services have nearly doubled. The number one
challenge for our management team is to grow aggregate revenues and earnings from our tax business
in the future. We are also continuing a healthy focus on enhancing the quality of the retail tax
experience and making a great deal of progress in reducing excessive costs.
From 2001 to 2008, the total number of tax returns prepared grew by 13% from 21.8 million to
24.6 million. Over the full decade, and including the cumulative decline of 6% in 2009 and 2010,
total returns prepared grew by more than 6%. We never like to lose a client, but if people are out
of work and dont file a return we cant get them as clients.
Pricing and Complexity
The blended net average charge (NAC) for retail clients rose $77, or nearly 70% since 2001.
The NAC is an average, and actual charges vary significantly between clients filing different types
of tax forms, such as 1040EZ, 1040A, and the standard 1040 itself. Nonetheless, lumping everything
together gives some measure of the sum total of pricing changes per tax client.
Growth in the NAC is a combination of increases in H&R Blocks charges, and increasing
complexity of returns as a result of tax code changes. There is almost always a good deal of the
latter, so price increases are not solely the actions of the Company. Indeed, the increase in NAC
over the decade reflects in significant part changes in the tax code, and the steady stream of
changes in credits, deductions and other tax events reaching down to the lowest levels of adjusted
gross incomes.
The client value of our service is in significant part not the mere filing of the tax
return, but rather how much clients recover in refunds or through lower tax payments. The core
value we provide is helping clients reduce their taxes by finding and utilizing all possible tax
benefits to their fullest extent. Thus, a taxpayer may have a simple return one year, and because
of life changes (marriage, buying a house, having children, starting a business, and so on) that
same taxpayer may have a more complicated and more expensive return the next year. What counts
every year is how much our assistance helped each client save in taxes and time. The more change
occurs in the Tax Code, the more valuable our services are to help clients adjust to new
requirements and benefits, and the more the NAC may increase due to more complexity in client
returns.
The last decade saw a major expansion of the earned income tax credit (EITC) at the federal
level, and adoption or changes of the earned income tax credit in 22 states as well. EITC is a
major factor for many of our clients. There were also enormous and widespread changes in income
tax as the Clinton tax regime gave way to the Bush tax cuts. That led to hundreds of changes in
tax rates on income, dividends and capital gains, inclusions or exclusions of income, changes in
child care credits and allowances, and credits for dozens of different programs. Investment tax
credits to incentivize business investment after the events of 9/11 benefitted millions of clients,
and in 2008 there was an extensive tax rebate program to stimulate the economy. The Alternative
Minimum Tax or AMT was also a growing headache for millions of Americans, adding to the complexity
of their returns throughout the decade. The Obama Administration has already made a large number
of changes, with more on the horizon. Literally all of these changes are reflected in changes in
our NAC as the complexity of client returns increases. However, every time our professionals find a
client hundreds or thousands of dollars in refunds that they would have missed doing it themselves,
we know we have helped that family, and helped ease the overall burden of taxation.
After adjusting for inflation, the $77 increase in the NAC over the decade was a real increase
of $42, or less than 4% per year. After adjusting for inflation, from 2007-2010 the NAC has
increased just under $15 per return, or an annual average increase of less than $5.
In 2010, the NAC increased by only $2, or 1%. Basic form rates were not increased, so that
essentially the entire increase resulted from increases in taxpayer return complexity. Our recent
price restraint has helped improve our basic client value proposition, although that job is not
over. There is a multiyear dimension to pricing decisions, as if we hold the line on price in any
given year, we increase our flexibility to raise prices in following years.
An important change took place in 2009 in our pricing, when we introduced free federal tax
preparation through our online offerings. We expanded our promotional efforts in this area in
2010, and will continue to do so in the future. Our free service doesnt provide all the
functionality of paid online or assisted returns, and many clients ultimately upgrade to a
fee-paying product. However, we offer a capable free service because we believe that every
American taxpayer should have the option if they wish to prepare their taxes using one of our
online programs without charge. Whether it is because of a very simple tax position, or because of
economic need, we want to make sure that every client can take advantage of our expertise, no
matter what fee they ultimately pay. Todays client who uses a free service will hopefully convert
to a fee-paying client in the future.
Earnings 2001-2010
Diluted earnings per share have grown from $0.76 per share in 2001 to $1.43 this year, or a
growth of almost 90%. After losing $2.28 per share over the two-year period in 2007 and 2008 due
to subprime mortgage-related losses, we bounced back to earn a total of $2.88 during 2009 and 2010,
even while we were still incurring charges to income to provide for future mortgage losses.
We certainly dont miss the mortgage business, and we are happy to have exited it. The net
mortgage loan portfolio we hold for investment within H&R Block Bank is burning off relatively
quickly, having dropped from more than $1 billion in 2007 to less than $600 million today. We
project the outstanding net principal amount to be under $500 million by the end of this fiscal
year. The drag on earnings from provisioning against related mortgage losses has slowed, and we
expect it to continue slowing until it goes away completely once the mortgage portfolio falls to
zero.
RSM McGladrey 2001-2010
Our business services unit, RSM McGladrey, has shown strong growth over the past decade. H&R
Blocks revenues from RSM grew 123% from $386 million in 2001 to $860 million in 2010. Last year
revenues were down nearly 9% from their peak in 2008, but we believe this was a combination of the
bad economy hurting every accounting and consulting firm, and one-time impacts of the restructuring
of our strategic relationship with M&P.
We made excellent progress during 2008 and 2009 in improving margins in this business, which
were far below industry norms. The downturn in business this year and several non-operating
charges brought pretax earnings down to the 2007 level, but we believe results here will recover.
We believe that the weak economy demonstrated the benefits of the McGladrey structure, with H&R
Blocks access to capital as part of the equation. The recent decision of the Boston-area Caturano
firm to become part of McGladrey rather than maintaining its independence, making us a top-5 firm
in Boston, is a reflection of the attractions of a firm with a strong capital base.
McGladrey is the largest professional services firm specializing in middle market businesses
in the United States. We are excited about McGladreys renewed sense of purpose and its
attractiveness to clients, and believe we have outstanding opportunities to grow this business.
We hope that this review of H&R Blocks progress over the past decade, and our outlook on the
future, provides our shareholders useful perspective. We believe we have a solid foundation for
growth in the future, though of course it always comes down to results, not plans.
Respectfully,
Richard C. Breeden
Chairman of the Board, H&R Block, Inc.