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Microcap & Penny Stocks : ASK: "THE LAST DON" OF MOMENTUM TRADES -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Joe Copia who wrote (14772)	6/22/1999 9:31:00 AM
From: Jason B	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 15987

Let's see what happens with WEST this morning should gap on great news released after close. It closed at $5 5/8 should open at $6.00 and move up from there. They are starting a website to sell cars online and the company is already profitable? Only 2.1 million shares outstanding and 75% owned by insiders. Check out PR from Yesterday!! Westar Financial Scores Improved Results in Fiscal 1999 Accelerating Volumes and Margins Produce $8.9 Million in Positive Cash Flow OLYMPIA, Wash., June 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Westar Financial Services Incorporated (OTC Bulletin Board: WEST - news), a prime-credit auto lessor, today reported improving results for fiscal 1999 with accelerating lease volumes, gross margins and cash flow as well as lower net losses for the year ended March 31, 1999. Substantially increased volumes contributed to strong positive operating cash flow and positive gross margins in fiscal 1999. Westar generated $8.9 million in operating cash flow for the year compared to negative operating cash flow of $12 million in fiscal 1998. The company posted a $2.0 million gross profit, or 3% of total revenues in fiscal 1999 compared to a negative gross profit of $55,000 in fiscal 1998. Net losses in fiscal 1999 narrowed to $1.7 million from $5.1 million in fiscal 1998. Net losses applicable to basic common shares after payment of preferred dividends were $1.9 million or $.85 per share compared to $5.5 million or $2.99 per share. In fiscal 1999, Westar generated revenues of $67 million compared to $2 million in total revenues in fiscal 1998. Westar recognizes the majority of its revenues and profits when leases are sold in cash-flow positive Security-Based Assets Sales (SBAS). In fiscal 1999, $64 million in revenues were generated from sales and securitizations of leases compared to $804,000 in the prior year. Recently, the company completed its tenth transaction using its proprietary, reusable Carlson Trust, which provides significant cost savings. ''Lease volumes grew at a monthly rate of 15% and are now annualizing at well over $100 million per year,'' said Robert E. Kanatzar, Senior Vice President, Risk Management. ''Lease volumes rapidly accelerated this year due to increasing demand from our established dealer network and strong growth in new dealer relationships. Our new Phoenix-based Southwestern Region is exceeding early forecasts and was among Arizona's top 10 auto lessors after only 100 days of operations.'' Fourth quarter originations totaled $20 million, a seven-fold increase from the fourth quarter a year ago. In fiscal 1999, lease volumes totaled $56 million a 431% increase compared to a year ago. Direct costs increased during fiscal 1999 to $65 million, primarily due to costs related to SBAS transactions compared to $2 million in direct costs a year ago. General and administrative expenses increased 32% to $3 million in fiscal 1999 compared to $2 million in fiscal 1998. ''While our information technology and infrastructure has tremendous capacity, we are continuing to build our management team and operations staff to continue to stay ahead of our very steep growth curve. As a result, we have doubled our staff levels to 39 employees today from 19 employees a year ago,'' stated R.W. Christensen, Jr., Chairman and CEO. ''We recently recruited Scott Cavanaugh, a very experienced credit manager, to serve as Vice President of Collections. ''The investments we've made over the past several years have built a highly scalable operating platform, and our automotive lease program is positioned to become a highly profitable industry model in the coming decade,'' stated Christensen. ''We believe we now have achieved the critical mass in terms of our dealer network and lease originations to expand gross margins and achieve sustained profitability in our core business in the coming fiscal year, even while continuing to invest in regional expansion and in new business opportunities like DriveOff.com. Our alliance to launch DriveOff.com with Navidec, supported by a $1 billion annual funding source from First Union is one example of the strengths of our business model.'' This new e-commerce model for Internet automotive transactions allows consumers to complete an automotive transaction and financing on-line. The face value of leases Westar services, a reliable measure of the company's growth, more than doubled to $95 million at March 31, 1999 from $40 million one year ago. Credit performance remains excellent. Westar Financial Services Incorporated is a fast-growing, Washington-based automobile finance company which has focused solely on the prime-credit segment of the $110-billion auto-lease finance market. Westar has announced its entry into automotive e-commerce through a $1 billion funding commitment to DriveOff.com, a 3rd generation e-commerce business model allowing consumers to buy and finance new automobiles in a single electronic transaction. Westar's shares are traded over-the-counter by Hill Thompson, Jersey City; Sharp Capital, New York, NY; and Monroe Securities, Rochester, NY.