The turnaround under new leadership at PRA Group is continuing — the company reported net income of $3.4 million for the first quarter of 2024, compared with a net loss of $59 million during the same period a year ago. Vikram Atal cited a new contact strategy that the company has put in place during the past few months and taking advantage of a “significant opportunity” with respect to legal collections and wage garnishments as some of the changes that have helped turn the company around in the year since he took over.
Overall, the company reported $255 million in revenue during the first three months of 2024, compared with $155 million during the same period last year. The company spent $174 million in the first quarter purchasing portfolios in the United States and Australia, compared with $117 million last year. Total cash collections for the first quarter were $257 million in the U.S. and Australia, compared with $228 million last year.
Atal did not go into detail about the new contact strategy during a call with analysts earlier this week. He did say the legal collections opportunity would increase the company’s cash collections by about $100 million over the next two years during a call with analysts.
“… we are encouraged by the pace at which we are realizing cash from wage garnishment,” Atal said. “The lift we are seeing from this specific process, along with the additional improvement across the overall legal collection processes, indicates that the overall sizing of the opportunities associated with our U.S. legal processes is likely to exceed our initial estimates.”
One analyst did seek additional information about the legal collection opportunity, and Atal did say the company “continues to invest more in the legal channel.”
