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Westar Financial Reports 75% Increase in Fourth Quarter Lease Volumes

3 April 2000

Westar Financial Reports 75% Increase in Fourth Quarter Lease Volumes; Fourth Origination Channel Slated to Begin Production in April

    OLYMPIA, Wash.--April 3, 2000--Westar Financial Services, Incorporated (OTCBB:WEST), a prime credit auto lessor and Internet loan originator, today reported record fourth quarter lease volumes. The company also announced it will begin generating volumes through its fourth distribution channel, an innovative Intranet business model that bundles vehicle acquisition and financing solution in a complete turnkey system for affinity organizations and is offered in conjunction with DriveOff.com, Inc., a subsidiary of Navidec, Inc .
    Westar originated 1,123 leases for $35 million in its fourth fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2000 compared to 739 leases for $20 million in the like quarter a year ago. Fiscal 2000 lease volumes almost doubled to 3,668 leases costing $107 million, compared to 1,651 leases costing $56 million in fiscal 1999. The face value of Westar's servicing portfolio increased 112% in the period, to $201 million.
    "The recent expansion of our Dealer Direct Retail Lease channel into California is starting to make a significant contribution to our production," said Cindy Kay, VP and Controller. "In addition, Washington consumers who waited until January to complete their automotive purchases when the I-695 vehicle tax reduction took effect, coupled with milder weather conditions throughout the western United States, helped boost auto sales and provided strong improvements in our fourth quarter activity."
    "The next quarter will be particularly interesting, as we begin both Private Label and Intranet originations in April. In February, we inked a deal with AmSouth Bank as our first Private Label channel partner, and in this quarter, we start our first Intranet activities, where our customers will have access to our services through their affiliation with one or more types of affinity organizations," said Kay. "For the first time, Westar will have production from all four of our distribution channels, including its classic Dealer Direct channel and the Internet model with DriveOff.com, simultaneously. We believe that this will also be a first for our industry, where one firm has been active in so many bricks and clicks channels at the same time."
    "It's particularly rewarding to accelerate our string of significant volume increases while at the same time actually improving our overall credit profile," noted Robert E. (Pete) Kanatzar, Jr., Senior Vice President - Risk Management. "Our average bureau scores have improved more than 15 points in the past two years to our current level of more than 710. Combining growth and quality is what our LASIR risk management system was designed to do and that's exactly what it's delivering."
    WEST is the only publicly traded automobile lease finance company focused solely on the prime-credit segment of the $112 billion auto-lease finance market. Westar entered into automotive e-finance through a $1 billion funding commitment to DriveOff.com, a 3rd generation e-commerce business model allowing consumers to buy and finance new automobiles in a single electronic transaction. Through DriveOff.com, Westar completed the first entirely electronic Internet automobile purchase and lease transaction in October 1999. The company operates its Dealer Direct leasing program in the western states and is rapidly expanding its e-finance capabilities nationally through alliances with DriveOff.com, AmSouth Bank and others.

    Statement regarding "Forward Looking Statements": Statements concerning future performance, developments or events, including expansion of operations, growth of loan originations, ability to place securitizations, success of the e-commerce model, trends in interest rates, various statements concerning expectations for growth or profits and any other guidance on future periods, constitute forward-looking statements which are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties which might cause actual results to differ materially from stated expectations.