Elevate Credit : Announces First Quarter 2021 Earnings

ELEVATE CREDIT ANNOUNCES FIRST QUARTER 2021 RESULTS1

Continued Strong Credit Quality and Profitability

FORT WORTH, TX - May 3, 2021 - Elevate Credit, Inc. (NYSE: ELVT) ("Elevate" or the "Company"), a leading tech-enabled provider of innovative and responsible online credit solutions for non-prime consumers, today announced results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021.

"Elevate continues to deliver exceptionally strong bottom line growth," said Elevate CEO, Jason Harvison. "The recent stimulus combined with tax return refunds has led to low delinquencies and more customers returning to their normal payment schedules. At the end of March, the percentage of customers in an active payment flexibility program was 3%, down from 9% at year end. The team is focused on our return to growth strategy as we anticipate overall portfolio growth in the second half of the year."

First Quarter 2021 Financial Results2

• Net income (loss): Net income for the three months ended March 31, 2021 totaled $12.7 million, up $17.6 million compared to a net loss of $4.9 million in the first quarter of 2020. Fully diluted earnings per share for the first quarter of 2021 totaled $0.34, an increase from a $(0.11) loss per fully diluted share a year ago. Net income from continuing operations for the first quarter of 2021 totaled $12.7 million, an increase of $4.8 million, compared to $7.9 million in the first quarter of 2020 (excluding the net loss from the discontinued operations of the UK).
• Adjusted earnings: Adjusted earnings were $12.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021, up $1.5 million from $11.2 million in the first quarter of 2020. Adjusted diluted earnings per share for the first quarter of 2021 totaled $0.34 per fully diluted share, a 31% increase from $0.26 per fully diluted share in the first quarter of 2020. See "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" for a reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures of adjusted earnings and adjusted diluted earnings per share.
• Revenue: Revenues decreased during the first quarter of 2021 to $89.7 million, compared to $162.5 million for the first quarter of 2020. The decrease in revenue is attributable to reductions in loan origination volume and lower effective APRs earned on the loan portfolio due to the economic crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic beginning in March 2020.
• Combined loans receivable - principal: Combined loans receivable - principal totaled $353.1 million at March 31, 2021, a decrease of $200.4 million, or 36%, from $553.5 million at March 31, 2020. The number of new and former customer loans originated during the first quarter of 2021 totaled approximately 26,800 loans, a decrease from approximately 52,400 in the prior year first quarter. These decreases were also due to the COVID-19 pandemic and lower loan demand due to Federal monetary stimulus payments

received by our customers in the first quarter of 2021.

__________________________

1Our 2021 results and comparable periods are presented on a continuing operations basis and exclude the results of discontinued operations in the UK, unless otherwise stated. Elevate exited the UK market in the second quarter of 2020.

2Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, combined loans receivable - principal, combined loans receivable, combined loan loss reserve, adjusted earnings and adjusted diluted earnings per share are non-GAAP financial measures. These terms are defined elsewhere in this release. Please see the schedules appearing later in this release for reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures.

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• Credit quality: The combined loan loss reserve at March 31, 2021 totaled $39.2 million, or 10% of combined loans receivable a decrease of 300 basis points when compared to the same period for the prior year. Combined loans receivable - principal that were past due at the end of the first quarter of 2021 totaled 6%, down from 10% for the first quarter of 2020.
• Adjusted EBITDA: Adjusted EBITDA totaled $31.6 million in the first quarter of 2021, down 9.5% from $34.9 million in the first quarter of 2020. The Adjusted EBITDA margin for the first quarter of 2021 was 35.2%, up from 21.5% in the prior-year first quarter.

Impact of COVID-19 on Credit Quality

The Company and the bank originators are proud of the assistance that we were able to provide to borrowers through payment flexibility tools which allowed customers to manage through hardships created by the COVID-19 pandemic. As the economy continues to expand and customers find financial stability, we've seen a decrease in the number of customers in an active payment flexibility program. As of March 31, 2021, 3% of customers are in an active payment flexibility program for a total of $11.8 million in loans with deferred payments. This compares to $34.6 million in loans with deferred payments, or 9% of customers, as of December 31, 2020.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

The Company paid down its debt facilities by over $97 million in January 2021, including the remaining $18.1 million balance of the 4th Tranche Term Note, which was scheduled to mature on February 1, 2021.

In January 2021, the Company's Board of Directors authorized a $25 million increase to the Company's existing $30 million common stock repurchase program, providing for the repurchase of up to $55 million of the Company's common stock through July 31, 2024. During the first quarter of 2021, the Company purchased $10.8 million of common shares (2.5 million common shares) under the Company's previously approved common stock repurchase program or roughly 6.5% of common shares outstanding at the beginning of 2021. As of March 31, 2021, the Company has repurchased approximately 23% of all common shares issued and outstanding since August 2019 under this common stock repurchase program.

As of March 31, 2021, the Company is in compliance with all debt facility covenants.

Financial Outlook

As previously announced, the Company does not plan to issue 2021 earnings guidance at this time due to the uncertain impact on our business and results of operations resulting from the COVID -19 pandemic, including any past and future Federal monetary stimulus payments by the Federal government.

Conference Call

The Company will host a conference call to discuss its first quarter 2021 financial results on Monday, May 3, at 4:00pm Central Time / 5:00pm Eastern Time. Interested parties may access the conference call live over the phone by dialing 1-877-407-0792 (domestic) or 1-201-689-8263 (international) and requesting the Elevate Credit First Quarter 2021 Earnings Conference Call. Participants are asked to dial in a few minutes prior to the call to register for the event. The conference call will also be webcast live through Elevate's Investor Relations website at https:// investors.elevate.com/corporate-profile/.

An audio replay of the conference call will be available approximately three hours after the conference call until 11:59 pm ET on May 17, 2021, and can be accessed by dialing 1-844-512-2921 (domestic) or 1-412-317-6671 (international), and providing the passcode 13718523, or by accessing Elevate's Investor Relations website.

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Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements contain words such as "may," "will," "might," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "could," "would," "estimate," "continue," "pursue," or the negative thereof or comparable terminology, and may include (without limitation) information regarding the Company's expectations, goals or intentions regarding future performance. These statements may include words such as "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "plan," "intend," "believe," "may," "will," "should," "likely" and other words and terms of similar meaning. The forward-looking statements include statements regarding our expectations regarding the underwriting changes implemented by us and the bank originators we support to address credit risk associated with loan originations during the economic crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the uncertain impact on our business and results of operations resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, including from payment of the second and third rounds of Federal monetary stimulus and potential future additional stimulus payments by the Federal government. Forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those discussed in any such statement. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and various policies being implemented to prevent its spread on the Company's business, financial condition and results of operations; the Company's limited operating history in an evolving industry; the Company's ability to grow revenue and maintain or achieve consistent profitability in the future; new laws and regulations in the consumer lending industry in many jurisdictions that could restrict the consumer lending products and services the Company offers, impose additional compliance costs on the Company, render the Company's current operations unprofitable or even prohibit the Company's current operations; scrutiny by regulators and payment processors of certain online lenders' access to the Automated Clearing House system to disburse and collect loan proceeds and repayments; a lack of sufficient debt financing at acceptable prices or disruptions in the credit markets; the impact of competition in our industry and innovation by our competitors; our ability to prevent security breaches, disruption in service and comparable events that could compromise the personal and confidential information held in our data systems, reduce the attractiveness of our platform or adversely impact our ability to service loans; and other risks related to litigation, compliance and regulation. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ are discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" and in other sections of the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, and in the Company's other current and periodic reports filed from time to time with the SEC. All forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date hereof, based on information available to the Company as of the date hereof, and the Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement.

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About Elevate

Elevate (NYSE: ELVT), together with the banks that license its marketing and technology services, has originated $9.0 billion in non-prime credit to more than 2.5 million non-prime consumers to date and has saved its customers more than $8.2 billion versus the cost of payday loans. Its responsible, tech-enabled online credit solutions provide immediate relief to customers today and help them build a brighter financial future. The company is committed to rewarding borrowers' good financial behavior with features like interest rates that can go down over time, free financial training and free credit monitoring. Elevate's suite of groundbreaking credit products includes RISE, Elastic and Today Card. For more information, please visit http://www.elevate.com.

Investor Relations:

Solebury Trout

Sloan Bohlen, [phone]

or

Media Inquiries:

Solebury Trout

James McCusker, [phone]

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Elevate Credit, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

(Unaudited)

		Three Months Ended March 31,
(Dollars in thousands, except share and per share		2021			2020
amounts)
Revenues ........................................................................................	$	89,733		$	162,467
Cost of sales:
Provision for loan losses.............................................................		20,970			78,575
Direct marketing costs .............................................................		4,383			10,969
Other cost of sales ...................................................................		2,047			2,670
..............................................................................Total cost of sales		27,400			92,214
.....................................................................................Gross profit		62,333			70,253
Operating expenses:
Compensation and benefits .................................................		19,008			23,474
Professional services ...........................................................		7,079			7,926
Selling and marketing ...........................................................		533			954
Occupancy and equipment.....................................................		4,956			4,636
Depreciation and amortization .............................................		5,243			4,296
Other ....................................................................................		775			1,071
...................................................................Total operating expenses		37,594			42,357
..........................................................................Operating income		24,739			27,896
Other expense:
Net interest expense...................................................................		(8,786)			(13,656)
Non-operatingincome (loss).......................................................		207			(4,263)
............................................................................Total other expense		(8,579)			(17,919)
............................Income from continuing operations before taxes		16,160			9,977

Income tax expense...................................................................
Net income from continuing operations.............................................
Net loss from discontinued operations.......................................
Net income (loss)...............................................................................	$
Basic earnings per share...................................................................
Continuing operations................................................................	$
Discontinued operations............................................................
Basic earnings (loss) per share.........................................................	$
Diluted earnings per share.................................................................
Continuing operations................................................................	$
Discontinued operations............................................................
Diluted earnings (loss) per share.......................................................	$
Basic weighted average shares outstanding ..................................
Diluted weighted average shares outstanding...................................

3,444			2,055
12,716			7,922
-			(12,833)
12,716		$	(4,911)
0.35	$	0.18
-			(0.29)
0.35	$	(0.11)
0.34		$	0.18
-			(0.29)
0.34		$	(0.11)
36,582,502			43,161,716
37,579,050			43,631,737

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