Encore Capital Group, Inc. Added to Russell 3000 Index
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 28, 2004--Encore Capital Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:ECPG), a leading accounts receivable management firm, today announced that it has been included on the preliminary list of companies joining the Russell 3000(R) Index. Membership in the Russell 3000, which remains in place for one year, means automatic inclusion in the large-cap Russell 1000 or small-cap Russell 2000, as well as the appropriate growth and style indexes. Final index membership will be announced on July 6, 2004.
The Russell 3000 Index measures the performance of the 3,000 largest U.S. companies based on total market capitalization. The Russell family of 21 U.S. indexes is designed to be a comprehensive representation of the investable portion of the U.S. equity market.
Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for both passive and active investment strategies. More than $360 billion is invested in passive funds based on Russell's indexes and an additional $1.4 trillion is benchmarked to them. Investment managers who oversee these funds purchase shares of member stocks according to that company's weighting in the particular index.
"We are very pleased to be included in the Russell 3000 index, which raises our visibility within the investment community," said Carl C. Gregory, III, President and CEO of Encore Capital Group, Inc. "It represents a meaningful acknowledgement of the growth of our business, and the market's valuation of our prospects."
About Encore Capital Group, Inc.
Encore Capital Group, Inc. is an accounts receivable management firm that specializes in purchasing charged-off and defaulted consumer debt.
Forward Looking Statements
The statements in this press release that are not historical facts, including, most importantly, those statements preceded by, or that include, the words "may," "believes," "projects," "expects," "anticipates" or the negation thereof, or similar expressions, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Reform Act"), including statements regarding our inclusion in the Russell 3000(R) index, as well as related assumptions. For all "forward-looking statements," the Company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Reform Act. Such forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company and our subsidiaries to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could affect the Company's results and cause them to materially differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements include: the Company's continued inclusion in the Russell 3000(R) index; the impact of index trading on the Company's stock independent of operating results; and risk factors and cautionary statements made in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K as of and for the year ended December 31, 2003.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statement was made. They are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which the Company cannot predict or quantify. Future events and actual results could differ materially from the forward-looking statements. The Company will not undertake and specifically declines any obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events, whether as the result of new information, future events or for any other reason. In addition, it is the Company's policy generally not to make any specific projections as to future earnings, and the Company does not endorse any projections regarding future performance that may be made by third parties.
CONTACT: Encore Capital Group, Inc. (Shareholders/Analysts)
Carl C. Gregory, III, 858-309-6961
carl.gregory@encorecapitalgroup.com
or
Financial Relations Board (Press)
Tony Rossi, 310-407-6563 (Investor Relations)
trossi@financialrelationsboard.com
SOURCE: Encore Capital Group, Inc.