FirstCity Financial Corporation Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2011 Results

WACO, Texas, March 20, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

Highlights and Key Points:

• FirstCity reported fourth quarter 2011 earnings of $15.3 million or $1.47 per diluted share, and fiscal year 2011 earnings of $24.2 million or $2.33 per diluted share.
  
• Fourth quarter 2011 earnings included a $26.5 million non-cash gain related to a debt refinancing transaction, and $9.2 million of non-cash impairment charges recorded to the Company's investments in Mexico.
  
• FirstCity and its partners acquired $106.9 million of portfolio assets with a face value of $232.6 million during the fourth quarter of 2011. For the 2011 fiscal year, FirstCity and its partners acquired $287.3 million of portfolio assets with a face value of $558.1 million.
  
• FirstCity invested $7.6 million in non-portfolio debt and equity investments during the quarter, bringing year-to-date totals to $36.0 million.

Components of FirstCity's quarterly results are summarized below:

Portfolio Asset Acquisition and Resolution Business Segment

For the fourth quarter of 2011 ("Q4 2011"), our Portfolio Asset Acquisition and Resolution business segment reported $17.2 million in earnings – comprised primarily of a $26.5 million non-cash debt extinguishment gain, $13.5 million in revenues, $5.4 million of equity losses from unconsolidated subsidiaries, and $17.8 million of operating costs and expenses.

For fiscal year 2011 ("FY 2011"), our Portfolio Asset Acquisition and Resolution business segment reported $28.0 million in earnings – comprised primarily of a $26.5 million one-time, non-cash gain related to a debt refinancing transaction (see the "Other Corporate Matters" section below for additional discussion), $63.9 million in revenues, $0.6 million of equity losses from unconsolidated subsidiaries, $52.1 million of operating costs and expenses, $4.2 million of net provisions to consolidated assets, and $7.7 million of net income attributable to noncontrolling interests.

Net earnings for Q4 2011 and FY 2011 were impacted by continued revenue streams from our core investment activities and servicing platform (due primarily to increased collections), along with the following significant accounting events:

• The $26.5 million non-cash debt-related gain recognized in Q4 2011;
   
• Net impairment charges of $9.2 million recorded to our Mexican core business investments in Q4 2011. This net impairment charge was comprised of the following:

• $7.4 million write-down on our investments in unconsolidated Mexican Acquisition Partnerships (included in "equity income (loss) from unconsolidated subsidiaries"). This write-down to our unconsolidated subsidiaries resulted primarily from pricing information obtained on similar assets in Q4 2011 that revealed an economic loss in value of our unconsolidated subsidiaries that would not likely be recovered over time.

• $1.8 million write-down on our net investment in a majority-owned Mexican Acquisition Partnership (comprised of a $3.1 million consolidated impairment charge included in "other costs and expenses," off-set partially by the minority investor's share of $1.3 million included in "net income attributable to noncontrolling interests"). This net write-down to our consolidated subsidiary resulted from a lower-of-cost-or-market adjustment upon the subsidiary's classification as "held for sale" in Q4 2011 due to management's expectation to sell this subsidiary (and two other consolidated Mexican subsidiaries) over the next twelve months. The fair values of the other subsidiaries exceeded their carrying amounts.

Additional information related to our Portfolio Asset Acquisition and Resolution business segment for Q4 2011 and FY 2011, including investment activity and the major components of revenue, costs and expenses, is included in the supplemental schedules of this release.

The Company's unrealized gross profit associated with its core portfolio assets totaled $117.0 million at December 31, 2011. Unrealized gross profit is a non-GAAP measure. Refer to the Schedule of Estimated Unrealized Gross Profit from Portfolio Assets on page 10 of this release for a reconciliation of this measure with the most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

Special Situations Platform Business Segment

Our Special Situations Platform business segment provided $0.6 million in earnings for Q4 2011 – comprised primarily of $2.8 million in revenues, $0.3 million in equity losses from unconsolidated subsidiaries, and $1.7 million of operating costs and expenses. For FY 2011, our Special Situations Platform business segment provided $4.1 million in earnings – comprised primarily of $10.2 million in revenues, $2.9 million in equity income from unconsolidated subsidiaries, $8.0 million of operating costs and expenses, and $1.2 million of net income attributable to noncontrolling interests. Net earnings for FY 2011 were positively impacted by continued revenue streams from our consolidated railroad operations and other portfolio company investments, and a decline in real estate loss provisions.

Additional information related to our Special Situations Platform business segment for Q4 2011 and FY 2011, including the major components of revenue, costs and expenses, is included in the supplemental schedules of this release.

Other Corporate Matters

As reported in our December 20, 2011 news release and in our Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on December 23, 2011, FirstCity refinanced its senior credit facility with Bank of Scotland, which had an unpaid principal balance of approximately $173.2 million at closing. As a result, FirstCity's primary obligation under this loan facility, as amended ("BoS Facility A"), was reduced by the assumption of $25.0 million of debt ("BoS Facility B") by a newly-formed, wholly-owned subsidiary of FirstCity, combined with a $53.4 million reduction from proceeds obtained by FirstCity from its new $50.0 million credit facility with Bank of America and other cash payments at closing. FirstCity's remaining $94.8 million debt obligation under BoS Facility A (post-closing) carries a 0.25% annual interest rate through maturity (December 2014), and allows for repayment over time as cash flows from the underlying pledged assets are realized. FirstCity's $25.0 million debt obligation under BoS Facility B does not bear interest, and allows for repayment over time as cash flows from the underlying pledged assets are realized, if any (FirstCity has not received any significant cash flows from these underlying assets and has not allocated any value to these assets for the past two years). As a result of its December 2011 debt refinancing arrangements, FirstCity was able to significantly reduce its aggregate future cash outlay to Bank of Scotland and Bank of America under these new loan facilities in comparison to the repayment terms under its former senior credit facility with Bank of Scotland – which, in turn, will provide more liquidity in the future to fund investment opportunities. FirstCity recognized a $26.5 million non-cash gain in Q4 2011 in connection with this debt refinancing transaction, as FirstCity effectively reduced the carrying amount of debt on its balance sheet.

Conference Call

A conference call will be held on Tuesday, March 20, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. Central Time to discuss Q4 2011 and FY 2011 results. A question and answer session will follow the prepared remarks. Details to access the call and webcast are as follows:

Replay available on FirstCity's web page (www.fcfc.com/invest.htm)                                                                                                                               

FirstCity Financial Corporation is a diversified financial services company with operations dedicated primarily to distressed asset acquisitions and special situations investments. FirstCity has offices in the U.S. and affiliate organizations in Europe and Latin America. FirstCity common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market (Nasdaq:FCFC).

The FirstCity Financial Corporation logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=4413

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

FirstCity may from time to time make written or oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in this press release, FirstCity's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), in its reports to stockholders and in other FirstCity communications. These statements relate to FirstCity's or management's intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations, representations, projections, plans or predictions of the future and may be deemed to be forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon management's beliefs, assumptions and expectations of the Company's future operations and economic performance, taking into account currently available information. These statements are not statements of historical fact. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, some of which are not currently known to us. Actual events or results may differ from those expressed or implied in any such forward-looking statements as a result of various factors and risks, including the precautionary statements included in this document and those contained from time to time in the Company's filings with the SEC including but not limited to its annual reports on Form 10-K, its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and its current reports on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC and available through the Company's website, which contain a more detailed discussion of the Company's business, including risks and uncertainties that may affect future results. Due to such uncertainties and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Information in this press release may be superseded by more recent information or statements, which may be disclosed in later press releases, subsequent filings with the SEC or otherwise. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the Company's expectations with regard thereto or to reflect any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such forward-looking statements are based, in whole or in part.