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Press Information:
Toronto - February 23, 2005

ACCORD FINANCIAL CORP.

Accord Announces Record Fourth Quarter and Annual Earnings;
Fiscal 2004 Net Earnings increase 31% over 2003

Accord Financial Corp. (TSX – ACD), a leading North American provider of asset-based financial services to businesses, including factoring, financing, credit investigation and guarantees, is pleased to announce its consolidated financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2004. The financial figures presented in this release are reported in Canadian dollars and have been prepared in accordance with Canadian generally accepted accounting principles.

SUMMARY OF FINANCIAL RESULTS
	Three Months Ended December 31		Year Ended December 31
	2004	2003	2004	2003
Factoring volume (millions)	$ 358	$ 376	$ 1,489	$ 1,439
Revenue	$ 7,194,477	$ 7,158,677	$ 27,418,051	$ 26,213,614
Net earnings	$ 2,771,482	$ 2,052,372	$ 7,624,088	$ 5,839,261
Earnings per share
Basic	$ 0.28	$ 0.21	$ 0.78	$ 0.61
Diluted	$ 0.27	$ 0.21	$ 0.76	$ 0.61
Weighted average number of shares
Basic	9,873,829	9,626,990	9,788,810	9,557,480
Diluted	10,103,156	9,736,669	10,011,030	9,608,985

Net earnings for 2004 increased by 31% to a record $7,624,000 compared to $5,839,000 for 2003, while diluted earnings per share increased by 25% to 76 cents compared to 61 cents last year. 2003’s net earnings were after a non-recurring provision for the settlement of a claim, net of taxes, of $440,000. Both the Company’s Canadian and U.S. factoring operations reported improved results in 2004. The Company’s return on average shareholders’ equity rose to 19.1% in 2004 from 13.2% in 2003.

Factoring volume in 2004 increased by 3% to a record $1,489 million compared to $1,439 million in 2003. Total revenue for 2004 rose by 5% to $27,418,000 compared with $26,214,000 the prior year on the increase in volume and proportion of higher yielding recourse factoring.

Commenting on 2004’s record results, Ken Hitzig, the Company’s President, notes “the Company is extremely pleased with the record net earnings achieved in 2004. The Company rewarded shareholders in 2004 with a 24% increase in share price and dividends totalling $1.68, including a special dividend of $1.50 per share paid on July 2, 2004, for an overall return to shareholders of 48% on the stock price at the beginning of 2004.”

Net earnings for the fourth quarter of 2004 increased by 35% to a record $2,771,000 compared to $2,052,000 in the fourth quarter of 2003. Diluted earnings per share increased by 29% to 27 cents compared to 21 cents in the fourth quarter of 2003. Factoring volume declined by 5% to $358 million in the fourth quarter compared with the $376 million last year. Revenue rose slightly to $7,194,000 compared to $7,159,000 in the previous year as yields improved somewhat. The improvement in net earnings for the quarter resulted from a significant recovery of credit and loan losses in the quarter as the Company’s allowance for losses was reduced due to the usual year-end run off in the Company’s total portfolio and substantial recoveries were recognized against accounts previously written off.

For further information please contact:

Stuart Adair
Chief Financial Officer
Accord Financial Corp.
77 Bloor Street West, 18th floor
Toronto, ON M5S 1M2

(416) 961-0304 Ext. 207
info@accordfinancial.com

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