Westar Financial Announces New Prime Credit Lease Products
25 November 1997
Westar Financial Announces New Prime Credit Lease Products; Tells Shareholders Growth Is on Track
OLYMPIA, Wash., Nov. 25 -- Westar Financial Services
Incorporated (OTC: WEST), a prime-credit auto lease finance company, announced
several new lease financing products at its annual meeting.
"We've achieved significant dealer penetration and proven our capability
to attain significant market share with a single lease product. Now we are
beginning a nearly continual process of developing and implementing new
competitive products, services and niches under the direction of Pete
Kanatzar, who joined Westar from NationsBank in August," Robert W.
Christensen, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, told shareholders.
The new products expected to be available by early 1998 include:
* Westar's Prime Plus Lease, which allows lower monthly payments to
lessees who drive less than 12,000 miles per year.
* Westar's Automatic Approval Program, which recognizes "WestBest"
clients -_ individuals whose impeccable credit and application information
allow credit approval in less than five minutes, and who warrant a price
reflecting the lower risk.
"With a five-minute turnaround, our new Automatic Approval Program will
lower Westar's average approval time from an already-impressive 23 minutes to
a range of between 15 and 18 minutes," Christensen said. "This product would
represent the second largest portion of our existing portfolio, testifying to
the high credit quality standards Westar has already set. "Our flagship
product, Westar's Prime Lease, will continue to represent the majority of our
lease portfolio; it is very competitive with other financing programs," he
added.
"Expansion of our ACH automatic payment program to a significant portion
of our customer base has the potential to reduce Westar's account servicing
costs by more than 80%," Christensen said. ACH stands for Automated Clearing
House, a nationwide debit processing firm. Account servicing is Westar's
largest single on-going cost factor.
"Over the next three months we will introduce seven more new lease
products Pete has developed for Westar's dealers and customers," Christensen
added as he introduced Kanatzar to shareholders. "These new offerings will
help us generate a substantial number of the high-quality leases we're seeking
as we expand nationally."
Kanatzar formerly was Senior Vice President of Credit Policy and Risk
Management for NationsCredit Corporation; part of the Financial Services Group
of the fourth largest bank in the US, NationsBank Corporation .
NationsCredit is the largest bank-owned finance company in the US, with
$10 billion in consumer operations.
Christensen noted that Westar's proprietary LASIR system for managing and
controlling its lease portfolio and credit risks continues to be improved,
even though it's already on a par with the largest competitors. "These
improvements could save vast amounts both in annual overhead costs and in
credit losses avoided, as well as lowering our financing costs far into the
future.
"About 300 dealers are currently signed with Westar," he added. "That is
43% of our current market and 1.5% of the national market. We expect to show
similar success as we enter new regional markets in the near future. We have
succeeded in becoming the largest independent retail lessor in the Pacific
Northwest; our goal now is to be the first truly national independent auto
lessor.
Westar Financial Services Incorporated is a fast-growing, Washington-based
automobile finance company focused solely on the prime-credit segment of the
$110-billion auto-lease finance market. Full-scale activities through its
innovative Dealer-Direct Retail Leasing(TM)(DDRL) program began in October
1995 to selected, high-quality automobile dealers in the Pacific Northwest.
Westar's shares are traded over-the-counter by Pacific Crest Securities,
Portland, OR; Hoefer & Arnett, San Francisco; and Monroe Securities,
Rochester, NY.
Statement regarding "Forward Looking Statements": Statements concerning
future performance, developments or events, the opening of new markets, or any
other guidance on future periods, constitute forward-looking statements that
are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including the ability to
locate, staff, and penetrate successful new markets, the ability to obtain
future financing, and the development and successful marketing of new products
which might cause actual results to differ from expectations.
SOURCE Westar Financial Services Incorporated