Earnings Preview: H&R Block Inc.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — H&R Block Inc. reports earnings for its fiscal second quarter on Friday. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period.

OVERVIEW: H&R Block is in the midst of the U.S. income tax filing season, which is when the nation's largest tax preparer makes the majority of its revenue and profit.

Besides earnings, the company will also on Friday release tax return statistics through Feb. 28.

Chief Executive Officer Russ Smyth warned in January the tough economy would likely keep the total number of tax returns being filed flat or slightly below last year.

While Smyth didn't give any client predictions for the quarter, which ended Jan. 31, he said the company would try to grab a larger slice of the market by adding a net of 42 offices to its more than 13,000 retail locations and increasing its television advertising, especially toward clients with higher incomes, whose often complex returns can generate higher fees.

The company has also tried to compete better on the digital side, providing a free online tax filing program for lower income customers and keeping the price of its TaxCut tax preparation software below that of industry leader Intuit Inc.'s TurboTax software.