SOUTH PORTLAND, ME – Wright Express has reported financial results for the quarter ended Mar. 31, 2006. Total revenue for the first quarter of 2006 increased 24 percent to $64.6 million from $52.2 million for the first quarter of 2005. Net income to common shareholders on a GAAP basis for the first quarter of 2006 was $11.4 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $18.5 million, or $0.46 per share, for the comparable quarter last year. On a non-GAAP basis, the company’s adjusted net income for the first quarter of 2006 increased to $12.3 million, or $0.30 per diluted share, from $11.3 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, for the year-earlier period.
Wright Express uses fuel-price derivative instruments to mitigate financial risks associated with the variability in fuel prices. For the first quarter of 2006, the company’s GAAP financial results include an unrealized $1.4 million pre-tax, non-cash, mark-to-market loss on these instruments. For the first quarter of 2005, the unrealized pre-tax, non-cash, mark-to-market loss was $34.4 million.
First-Quarter 2006 Performance Metrics:

• Average number of vehicles serviced increased 10 percent from the first quarter of 2005 to approximately 4.3 million.
  

• Total fuel transactions processed increased 11 percent from the first quarter of 2005 to 58.1 million. Payment processing transactions increased 16 percent to 43.5 million, and transaction processing transactions decreased 3 percent to 14.6 million.
  

• Average expenditure per payment processing transaction grew to $48.63, an increase of 25 percent from the same period last year.
  

• Average retail fuel price increased 22 percent to $2.41 per gallon, from $1.97 per gallon for the first quarter a year ago.
  

• Total MasterCard purchase volume grew to $269.4 million, an increase of 5 percent from the comparable period a year ago.
  

• Wright Express paid $6.5 million in principal on its financing debt during the first quarter of 2006.