Two finance stocks, two levels of risk

Article Excerpt

CASH STORE FINANCIAL SERVICES INC. $14.25 (Toronto symbol CSF; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (780-408-5110; www.csfinancial.ca; Shares outstanding: 17.2 million; Market cap: $245.0 million; Dividend yield: 3.4%) operates 566 stores under two banners: The Cash Store and Instaloans. Both stores offer consumer payday loans (advances on upcoming paycheques). The company continues to expand overseas: it recently opened four branches in the U.K. That’s on top of its 18.4% interest in The Cash Store Australia Holdings Inc. (Toronto symbol AUC), which operates 61 Cash Store branches in Australia. In its first quarter, which ended December 31, 2010, Cash Store’s revenue rose 16.6% to $49.3 million from $42.3 million a year earlier. However, earnings fell 39.4%, to $0.20 a share from $0.33 a share a year earlier. The decline came in part from the costs of opening 101 new branches over the last year. As well, the company paid higher legal costs related to new regulatory requirements in the payday loan industry. Cash Store…