Cash America 2009 Annual Report Download - page 50

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• make certain investments;
• merge or consolidate with, or convey, transfer, lease or dispose of all of its assets to, another
company;
• make certain dispositions;
• make certain payments, including dividend payments; and
• engage in certain transactions with affiliates.
Some of the Company’s debt agreements also require the Company to maintain certain financial
ratios. The covenants and restrictions contained in the debt agreements could limit the Company’s ability to
fund its business, make capital expenditures, and make acquisitions or other investments in the future. Any
failure to comply with any of these financial and other affirmative and negative covenants would constitute an
event of default under the debt agreements, entitling the lenders to, among other things, terminate future credit
availability under the agreement, and/or increase the interest rate on outstanding debt, and/or accelerate the
maturity of outstanding obligations under that agreement. Any such default could materially adversely affect
the Company’s business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition.
The Company’s business depends on the uninterrupted operation of the Company’s facilities, systems and
business functions, including its information technology and other business systems.
The Company’s business, particularly its internet business, depends highly upon its employees’
ability to perform, in an efficient and uninterrupted fashion, necessary business functions, such as internet
support, call centers, and processing and making cash advances. Additionally, the Company’s storefront
operations depend on the efficiency and reliability of the Company’s point-of-sale system. A shut-down of or
inability to access the facilities in which the Company’s internet operations, storefront point-of-sale system
and other technology infrastructure are based, such as a power outage, a failure of one or more of its
information technology, telecommunications or other systems, or sustained or repeated disruptions of such
systems could significantly impair its ability to perform such functions on a timely basis and could result in a
deterioration of the Company’s ability to write and process internet cash advances, perform efficient
storefront lending and merchandise disposition activities, provide customer service, perform collections
activities, or perform other necessary business functions. Any such interruption could materially adversely
affect the Company’s business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition.
A security breach of the Company’s computer systems could also interrupt or damage its operations
or harm its reputation. In addition, the Company could be subject to liability if confidential customer
information is misappropriated from its computer systems. Despite the implementation of significant security
measures, these systems may still be vulnerable to physical break-ins, computer viruses, programming errors,
attacks by third parties or similar disruptive problems. Any compromise of security could deter people from
entering into transactions that involve transmitting confidential information to the Company’s systems, which
could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business.
The Company’s growth is subject to external factors and other circumstances over which the Company has
limited control or that are beyond the Company’s control. These factors and circumstances could adversely
affect the Company’s ability to grow through the opening and acquisition of new operating units.
The Company’s expansion strategy includes acquiring existing stores and opening new ones. The
success of this strategy is subject to numerous external factors, such as the availability of attractive acquisition
candidates, the availability of sites with acceptable restrictions and suitable terms, the Company’s ability to
attract, train and retain qualified store management personnel, the ability to access capital, the ability to obtain
required government permits and licenses, the prevailing laws and regulatory environment of each state or
jurisdiction in which the Company operates or seeks to operate, which are subject to change at any time, the
degree of competition in new markets and its effect on the Company’s ability to attract new customers and the
ability to adapt the Company’s infrastructure and systems to accommodate its growth. Some of these factors