H&R Block U.S. Tax Return Volume Declines 5.8%

By Tess Stynes 

H&R Block Inc. reported that the number of U.S. tax returns handled during the latest tax season fell 5.8%, prompting the company to unveil a plan to streamline operations and shuffle management .

Chief Executive Bill Cobb said in prepared remarks that "the volume losses are not acceptable and as CEO, I take complete responsibility for delivering stronger results."

H&R Block's shares fell 6.6% to $22.25 in recent after-hours trading.

For period through April 19, H&R Block said total U.S. tax return volume declined to 12.2 million, with most of the drop occurring early in the tax season. Tax returns prepared with its software fell 2.6%, which the company attributed to "aggressive pricing strategies by industry competitors."

Earlier Tuesday, rival Intuit Inc. raised its guidance for consumer-tax revenue growth for the current quarter as online sales of TurboTax rose 15% in the lastest tax season through April 24.

For Intuit's fiscal year that ends in July, the company now expects consumer tax revenue will increase by 8% to 9%, compared with its earlier guidance for growth of 5% to 7%.

H&R Block also named company veteran Tony Bowen as its new chief financial officer starting next month. He will succeed Greg Macfarlane, who will head up the company's U.S. retail products and operations, which will include greater involvement in day-to-day operations.

Other planned changes include a realignment of its field operations and a significant cost reduction effort.

The company plans to provide more details when its releases its annual earnings results on June 9.

Write to Tess Stynes at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 26, 2016 18:45 ET (22:45 GMT)

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