Excluding the CompuServe results, Block's revenues rose nearly 26 percent from $871.5 million in 1996 to $1.1 billion in 1997. The decline in earnings was due entirely to a $186.5-million pretax loss reported by CompuServe Corporation. H&R Block's previous year's earnings were $177.2 million, or $1.67 a share.
The company handled approximately 1 in every 7 regular returns and 51 percent of all electronic returns filed with the IRS that year.ĭespite losses incurred by the struggling CompuServe Corporation, which H&R Block eventually sold in January 1998, the company reported strong revenue growth in fiscal 1997 with net earnings of $47.8 million, or $.45 per share, and a 16.5-percent increase in revenues to $1.9 billion. In fiscal year 1998, H&R Block served more than 18 million taxpayers in more than 10,000 offices in the United States, Canada, and Australia. The company's subsidiary, Block Financial Corporation, develops and provides home mortgage loans, tax preparation software, temporary employment services, document processing, and sales of mutual funds, insurance, and annuities. diversified and experimented with products and services in many other areas. Founder Henry Bloch stated that, "Our biggest competitor is the person who does his own tax return." H&R Block operates and franchises about 9,700 tax preparation offices in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. H&R Block is probably best known for H&R Block Tax Services, the largest tax preparation service in the United States, handling approximately 1 in every 7 tax returns filed with the U.S.