Cash America 2004 Annual Report Download - page 8

20 Years of Technology
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It฀was฀time฀to฀return฀to฀฀
our฀roots.
Another฀significant฀industry฀first฀for฀Cash฀
America฀was฀our฀expansion฀into฀Europe.฀
We฀moved฀into฀Europe฀in฀part฀to฀study฀
the฀workings฀of฀a฀pawn฀lending฀business฀
focused฀primarily฀on฀jewelry.฀By฀applying฀
our฀existing฀knowledge฀and฀systems,฀
we฀were฀able฀to฀significantly฀grow฀the฀
business฀in฀the฀United฀Kingdom฀and฀
Sweden.฀
฀ While฀we฀know฀this฀experience฀
has฀been฀a฀success,฀and฀the฀people฀
we฀worked฀with฀have฀been฀highly฀
valued฀members฀of฀the฀Cash฀America฀
family,฀in฀2004฀we฀made฀the฀decision฀
to฀refocus฀our฀efforts฀and฀concentrate฀
our฀resources฀exclusively฀on฀the฀U.S.฀
Board of Directors
increased dividend to
common shareholders
40% to annual equivalent
of $.07 per share.
2002
Company discontinued
rent-to-own segment through
sale of 22-store chain of
Rent-A-Tire locations.
2002
Cash America
loaned its five
billionth dollar.
2003
Company strategy
shifted to an exclusive
focus on U.S. operations.
European operations sold.
2004
“
Over the years,
Cash America has become
recognized as the market
leader. Everyone in the
Cash America family
recognizes and understands
that responsibility as we
strive for excellence.”
and฀divested฀ourselves฀of฀those฀two฀
subsidiaries.฀We฀have฀no฀doubt฀that฀
Harvey฀&฀Thompson฀in฀the฀United฀
Kingdom฀and฀Svensk฀Pantbelåning฀
in฀Sweden฀will฀certainly฀continue฀
to฀thrive.฀We฀want฀to฀thank฀the฀
ladies฀and฀gentlemen฀of฀those฀two฀
organizations฀for฀their฀contributions฀
over฀the฀last฀12฀years.฀Yet฀it฀was฀time฀
to฀return฀to฀our฀roots.
12
Acquired Cashland,
based in Dayton, Ohio,
operator of a chain of 121
cash advance locations.
2003
13
Changed NYSE ticker
symbol from “PWN” to
“CSH” to better highlight
the Companyʼs service
offering of cash to its
customers.
2004
Completed the 41-store
acquisition of SuperPawn,
establishing first locations in
states of Arizona, California,
Nevada and Washington,
finishing the year with 452
pawn lending locations in
21 states.
2004
2001
Total Pawn Loans and Cash
Advance Dollars Loaned per Year
(in millions)
2002 2003 2004
$1,000
$800
$600
$400
$200
$0
$357
$984
$427
$614
฀ We฀finished฀the฀first฀20฀
years฀with฀839฀total฀locations฀in฀฀
22฀states.฀During฀that฀time฀we฀have฀
provided฀over฀$5฀billion฀in฀credit฀to฀
our฀customers฀to฀help฀meet฀their฀
needs.฀As฀we฀look฀toward฀the฀next฀
20฀years,฀we฀are฀confident฀there฀
will฀be฀many฀more฀firsts฀as฀we฀seek฀
ways฀to฀reach฀more฀customers฀
through฀innovations฀to฀consumer฀
lending฀while฀maintaining฀our฀
position฀as฀the฀market฀leader.
2004
Company expanded into
California for the first time through
the acquisition of GoldX and
Urgent Money with a total of 32 cash
advance locations. Cash America
ends the year with 253 cash advance
locations in 6 states.