The Mint Leasing, Inc. Announces Second Quarter Operating Results

HOUSTON, Aug. 21, 2009 -- The Mint Leasing, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: MLES) ("Mint Leasing" or "the Company"), which provides innovative leasing services to customers of franchised automobile dealers throughout the United States, today announced its operating results for the second quarter and first half of 2009.

For the three months ended June 30, 2009, the Company reported revenues of approximately $5.8 million and a net loss of ($816,083), or ($0.01) per share. For the six months ended June 30, 2009, revenues approximated $12.0 million, and the Company recorded a net loss of ($963,860), or ($0.01) per share.

On a non-GAAP basis, the Company generated positive adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, financing fees, allowance for bad debts, taxes, depreciation and amortization), a non-GAAP financial measure, of $178,538 for the six months ended June 30, 2009. (Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA is presented in greater detail in a table at the end of this news release).

During the second quarter and first half of 2009, Mint Leasing's ability to generate revenues from new leases was greatly restricted by the lack of availability of financing to the Company. Mint Leasing's line of credit with Sterling Bank was fully utilized during the period between December 31, 2008 and June 30, 2009, and this prevented the Company from expanding its lease portfolio. Management believes that if additional capital had been available to the Company, revenues would have been higher, because demand for lease financing by brand-name automobile dealers has increased significantly during the past year.

"Demand for our unique vehicle leasing services among the more than 150 dealerships that we partner with in 17 states has been very strong, largely due to the contraction in direct leasing activities by commercial banks and the leasing arms of most automobile companies," stated Jerry Parish, Chief Executive Officer of The Mint Leasing, Inc. "Unfortunately, we were unable to take advantage of this demand, as our bank line of credit was substantially maxed out during the second quarter and first half of 2009."

"We believe our operating results should improve in the second half of the year, due to the availability of up to $10 million under a new credit facility that we signed with Moody National Bank earlier this month," continued Mr. Parish. "This new facility increases our total borrowing capacity, and we should be able to deploy the additional capital to expand our lease portfolio in the coming months."

For more information regarding the Company's second quarter and year-to-date operating results, please see the Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 19, 2009 which is available on the Internet at www.sec.gov.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release contains non-GAAP financial measures as defined in Item 10 of Regulation S-K, including adjusted EBITDA, for the six months ended June 30, 2009. The Company believes these measures provide useful information to management and investors; however, these non-GAAP measures should be viewed in addition to, and not as an alternative for, the Company's reported results prepared in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of EBITDA with the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, net loss, is presented in a reconciliation table that follows the presentation of Consolidated Operating Results below. EBITDA is calculated as net income plus interest, financing fees, allowance for bad debts, depreciation, amortization, and income taxes.

About The Mint Leasing, Inc.

The Mint Leasing, Inc. represents an alternative to traditional financing companies by providing its innovative vehicle leasing solutions to the customers of premier automotive retailers. Most of its customers are located in Texas and six other states in the southeastern U.S. The Mint Leasing's customers are primarily comprised of brand-name automobile dealers that seek to provide leasing options to their customers. The Mint Leasing, Inc. is responsible for underwriting criteria and procedures, administration of the leases, and collection of payments from lessees.

The Company is headquartered in Houston, Texas, and its common stock trades on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol "MLES".

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act"). In particular, when used in the preceding discussion, the words "believes," "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," or "may," and similar conditional expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Act, and are subject to the safe harbor created by the Act. Any statements made in this news release other than those of historical fact, about an action, event or development, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions that in the future may prove not to have been accurate and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations or any of its forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Factors that could cause results to differ include but are not limited to, successful performance of internal plans, product or services development and acceptance, the impact of competitive services and pricing, or general economic risks and uncertainties, and other risks disclosed in the Company's periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company takes no obligation to update or correct forward-looking statements, and also takes no obligation to update or correct information prepared by third parties that are not paid for by the Company.