H&R Block reports that its revenues for the fiscal year ended on April 30 rose $118 million (4.1 percent), to slightly more than $3 billion.
The tax prep giant credited improved return mix and changes to pricing in its retail locations, as well as digital tax software product enhancements and monetization efforts and increased Tax Plus financial services product revenues.
For the quarter ended April 30, Block reported a profit of $910 million, compared with a prior-year profit of $664.3 million.
The delayed opening of the IRS e-file system shifted revenues into the fourth quarter of last year. Returns prepared by Block dropped 2.6 percent to 24.2 million worldwide, primarily due, the company said, to discontinuation of its U.S.-based free 1040EZ promotion. The company reported that U.S. assisted tax preparation fees and royalties increased 4 percent, to $2.1 billion.
The company also served a greater proportion of its clients with its Tax Plus products and increased year-round usage of its reloadable Emerald Prepaid MasterCard. Revenues related to Tax Plus jumped 11.2 percent, to $432 million.
Revenue per Emerald card increased 13 percent, driven by an increase in reloader rates and average deposits per card. Block issued 2.4 million Emerald cards in fiscal 2014, with approximately $9.2 billion in total deposits.
