H&R Block Gains on Results

Schneeberger noted that Bennett increased the adoption of H&R Block's Emerald Card, a prepaid credit card it sells to customers who don't have bank accounts.

Bennett said H&R Block would work to improve customer service in an effort to reduce the number of customers who walk out during a tax preparation session.

H&R Block booked a loss of $130.7 million, or 41 cents per share, compared with year-earlier losses of $133.6 million, or 40 cents per share.

Excluding one-time charges related to severance costs, adjusted losses from continuing operations were $114.8 million, or 36 cents per share, beating Wall Street's expectations for a loss of 41 cents per share. Analysts typically exclude such extraordinary items when forecasting earnings estimates.

H&R Block's revenue declined by $1 million, to $274.5 million. Though smaller than year-earlier sales, H&R Block's top-line figure managed to best analysts' consensus call for sales of $265.1 million.

Revenue from the firm's tax services segment did edge up though losses widened in that part of H&R Block's business. P/>H&R Block shares jumped 5.9% on nearly 2.5 times their average trading volume Friday to close at $13.31.

H&R Block competitors Intuit(INTU), maker of TurboTax, and Jackson Hewitt Tax Service(JTX) did not fare as well in trading Friday.

Intuit shares edged up less than 0.1% while Jackson Hewitt closed lower by 2.2%.

Intuit is a member of the Business Software Alliance, which earlier this week said it spent $480,000 in the second quarter to lobby the federal government on cybersecurity policy, data privacy legislation and tax issues. The BSA spend $380,000 lobbying in the first quarter, and $400,000 in the second quarter of 2009.

-- Written by Miriam Marcus Reimer in New York.

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