Jackson Hewitt Shares Tumble After Loss

PARSIPPANY, N.J. (TheStreet) -- Sometimes, ousting a CEO is a gift that keeps on giving.

That's what Jackson Hewitt(JTX Quote) explained in its first quarter earnings release today, as charges -- including one related to a severance package for former CEO Michael Yerington -- helped drag on results. Still, the tax servicer managed to beat some estimates.

After the release, shares were down 9.3%, or 46 cents, at $4.39 in the morning.

Amid mounting losses and increasing competition from the likes of H&R Block(HRB Quote) and Intuit(INTU Quote), the company shook up management and brought in former H&R Block CEO Harry Buckley in June to steady the helm.

In a statement today, Buckley said Jackson Hewitt is keying on certain goals (well, every goal) while staring at the coming 2010 tax season: improving training, retention, product design, marketing and pricing. He also touched on Jackson Hewitt's exclusive deal with Walmart, which will put the company in approximately 1,500 to 1,750 Walmart locales when finalized.

Earlier today, Jackson Hewitt said its loss widened a bit to $21.8 million, or 76 cents per share, from $20.5 million, or 72 cents a share in the year-earlier period. After excluding certain items, including the aforementioned $4.3 million severance hit, the tax preparer's adjusted net loss landed at slimmer 67 cents per share. That just bettered the 71 cent per share loss expected by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Sales jumped nearly 18% to $5.04 million thanks to an uptick in financial product fees.

-- Written by Sung Moss in New York

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