Portfolio Recovery Associates Closes on New, $25 Million Credit Facility

NORFOLK, VA – Portfolio Recovery Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRAA), a company that purchases, collects and manages portfolios of defaulted consumer receivables, today announced that it has closed on a new, $25 million credit facility, which will replace an existing credit line of the same amount.

The new credit line, established with RBC Centura Bank, brings improved financial terms for Portfolio Recovery Associates, including reduced borrowing costs and lender fees. It will result in annual cash savings of about $240,000, assuming no usage of the line. Extinguishment of the existing $25 million line will result in an expected, one-time non-cash charge of approximately $300,000 in the fourth quarter of 2003. The company has no outstanding debt under the existing credit line and as of September 30, 2003 had $14.8 million in cash.

“It has always been our preference to fund portfolio purchases out of cash flow and available cash, and despite the strong purchasing of the past year our credit lines have no balances outstanding. This new credit facility simply reduces the cost of both credit availability and potential future borrowing, further strengthening our financial position as we move into the new year,” said Steve Fredrickson, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.

About Portfolio Recovery Associates, Inc.
Portfolio Recovery Associates is a full-service provider of outsourced receivables management. Portfolio Recovery Associates purchases, collects and manages portfolios of defaulted consumer receivables. Defaulted consumer receivables are the unpaid obligations of individuals to credit originators, including banks, credit unions, consumer and auto finance companies, retail merchants and other service providers. The defaulted consumer receivables Portfolio Recovery Associates collects are either purchased from the credit originator or are collected on behalf of clients on a commission basis.

Statements in this press release which are not historical, including Portfolio Recovery Associates’ or management’s intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations, representations, projections, plan or predictions of the future, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release include references to Portfolio Recovery Associates’ presentations and webcasts. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon management’s beliefs, assumptions and expectations of the Company’s future operations and economic performance, taking into account currently available information. These statements are not statements of historical fact. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, some of which are not currently known to us. Actual events or results may differ from those expressed or implied in any such forward-looking statements as a result of various factors including the risk factors and other risks that are described from time to time in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to its Registration Statements on Form S-1 and S-8, its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2002, and Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2003, June 30, 2003, and September, 30, 2003.