Knight Capital Group Announces Consolidated Earnings Of $6.5 Million Or $0.01 Per Diluted Share For The Fourth Quarter 2012

JERSEY CITY, N.J., Jan. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Knight Capital Group, Inc. (NYSE Euronext: KCG) today reported consolidated earnings of $6.5 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2012.

The fourth quarter 2012 GAAP net income attributable to common stockholders was $5.2 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, which includes a $7.4 million, or $0.02 per diluted share, non-cash write-down of a strategic investment as well as professional fees related to the announced merger and August 1st technology issue of $5.0 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, and a $1.2 million dividend on convertible preferred shares. On a non-GAAP basis, the fourth quarter 2012 net income attributable to common stockholders was $18.9 million, or $0.05 per diluted share. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP results is included below.

For the fourth quarter of 2011, the company reported consolidated earnings of $40.2 million, or $0.43 per diluted share.

Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2012 were $287.7 million, compared to $341.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2011.

At December 31, 2012, the company had $413.9 million in cash and cash equivalents. The company had $1.5 billion in aggregate stockholders' equity and preferred shares as of December 31, 2012, equivalent to a book value of $4.07 per share (which includes preferred shares on an as-converted basis). The company had $1.5 billion in stockholders' equity as of December 31, 2011, equivalent to a book value of $15.13 per share. Tangible book value as of December 31, 2012 was $3.30 per share (which includes preferred shares on an as-converted basis) as compared to $10.67 at December 31, 2011.

"In the fourth quarter of 2012, Knight fully recaptured market share in core product areas and returned to profitability," said Thomas M. Joyce, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Knight Capital Group. "The rapid normalization of client trading activity demonstrates Knight's critical role in the markets and commitment to providing superior executions. Nevertheless, the financial results for the quarter were negatively impacted by the steep year over year declines in consolidated U.S. equity volume and market volatility as well as the write-down of an investment and heightened professional fees. As previously disclosed, Knight announced a merger with GETCO LLC during the fourth quarter, which will create a true category leader among market makers and agency brokers. Separately, as part of our continuing efforts to align and focus resources, Knight will consolidate the full service and electronic institutional equities sales teams as well as discontinue correspondent clearing."

"Continuing operations" includes the company's Market Making, Institutional Sales and Trading, Electronic Execution Services, and Corporate and Other segments. Market Making consists of all global market making across equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, futures and options as well as the company's activities as a Designated Market Maker at the NYSE. Institutional Sales and Trading includes full-service institutional research, sales and trading as well as equity and debt capital markets, reverse mortgage origination and securitization, and asset management. Electronic Execution Services includes Knight Direct, Knight Hotspot FX and Knight BondPoint. Corporate and Other includes strategic investments primarily in financial services-related ventures, futures execution and custody services, clearing and settlement activity, corporate overhead expenses and all other income and expenses that are not attributable to the other reporting segments.

"Despite unprecedented challenges, Knight finished the year strong," said Mr. Joyce. "For the full year 2012, Knight ranked first among market makers in retail U.S. equity volume and continued to drive execution quality for individual investors. The firm's electronic trading products gained market share year over year across institutional equities, institutional spot foreign exchange and retail fixed income. Subsidiary Urban Financial Group ranked second in reverse mortgage origination and accounted for nearly a quarter of all HMBS issuance during the year."

Market Making
During the fourth quarter of 2012, the Market Making segment generated total revenues of $136.4 million and pre-tax income of $32.4 million. In the fourth quarter of 2011, Market Making reported total revenues of $187.4 million and pre-tax income of $84.4 million. Market Making had pre-tax margins of 24 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared to pre-tax margins of 45 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011. The results were impacted by an estimated eight percent decrease in overall retail U.S. equity volume year over year as well as an approximate 44 percent decline in market volatility over the same period.

"In Market Making, Knight posted its highest quarterly market share of retail U.S. equity volume in two years," said Mr. Joyce. "The data, I believe, reflect the completeness of Knight's offering in terms of market coverage, deep natural liquidity, execution quality and client service. Despite encouraging signs in retail trading activity, the poor overall market conditions constrained financial results."

Institutional Sales and Trading
During the fourth quarter of 2012, the Institutional Sales and Trading segment generated total revenues of $114.8 million and pre-tax income of $9.4 million. In the fourth quarter of 2011, Institutional Sales and Trading reported total revenues of $103.8 million and a pre-tax loss of $17.1 million.

"In Institutional Sales and Trading, Knight resumed the turnaround effort and recorded a profitable quarter," said Mr. Joyce. "The results are due to a combination of year over year segment revenue growth and expense reductions across the sales and trading desks. Urban made a major contribution from increased origination and securitization compared to a year ago."

Electronic Execution Services
During the fourth quarter of 2012, the Electronic Execution Services segment generated total revenues of $36.8 million and pre-tax income of $7.2 million. In the fourth quarter of 2011, Electronic Execution Services reported total revenues of $40.6 million and pre-tax income of $12.5 million. Electronic Execution Services had pre-tax margins of 20 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared to pre-tax margins of 31 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011. The results were impacted by declines in overall market volumes of U.S. equities, institutional spot foreign exchange and retail U.S. corporate bonds.

"In Electronic Execution Services, Knight continued to outperform the markets and post solid margins," said Mr. Joyce. "Knight Direct, Knight Hotspot FX and Knight BondPoint all increased market share year over year amid weaker overall volumes in their respective categories. The client acceptance underscores the spread of electronic trading and exceptional utility of Knight's platforms."

The combined institutional equities sales team, comprised of staff from Institutional Sales and Trading and Electronic Execution Services, will be jointly led by Head of Institutional Equities Joseph Mazzella and Head of International Albert Maasland. As a result of the consolidation, Head of Electronic Execution Services David Lehmann will leave the firm.

"In David's 10 years at Knight, he made numerous meaningful contributions to our growth. We thank him for his advice and guidance over the years and wish him all the best as he moves forward," said Mr. Joyce.

Corporate and Other
During the fourth quarter of 2012, the Corporate and Other segment reported a pre-tax loss of $42.3 million, which included an $11.4 million non-cash write-down of a strategic investment and approximately $7.7 million in professional fees associated with the announced merger and the August 1st technology issue. In the fourth quarter of 2011, the Corporate and Other segment reported a pre-tax loss of $16.5 million.

Given the discontinuation of correspondent clearing, Head of Correspondent Clearing Steven Sadoff will leave the firm.

"Steven performed tremendous work in leading Knight's technology and operations, and we thank him for his service," said Mr. Joyce.

Headcount at December 31, 2012 was 1,524 full-time employees, compared to 1,423 full-time employees at December 31, 2011. The increase in headcount year over year is primarily due to the acquisition of our futures business as well as the expansion of market making and reverse mortgage origination.

During the fourth quarter of 2012, the company did not repurchase any shares under the company's existing stock repurchase program. To date, the company has repurchased 76.7 million shares for $879.1 million. The company has approximately $120.9 million of availability to repurchase shares under the program. The company cautions that there are no assurances that any further repurchases may actually occur.

Non-GAAP Financial Presentations
The company believes that certain non-GAAP financial presentations, when taken into consideration with the corresponding GAAP financial presentations, are important in understanding the company's operating results. Selected financial information is included in the company's non-GAAP financial presentations for the three months and year ended December 31, 2012. This information includes the effects of the August 1, 2012 technology issue and subsequent related costs, the write-down of goodwill and intangible assets, trading losses related to the Facebook IPO, a gain resulting from a change in the tax status of a strategic investment, the write-down of a strategic investment, professional fees related to the announced merger, and a deemed dividend related to the beneficial conversion feature of convertible preferred shares issued in August 2012. We believe this presentation provides meaningful information to stockholders and investors as it provides comparability for our results of operations for the three months and year ended December 31, 2012 with the results for the three months and year ended December 31, 2011. See schedules below for a full reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial presentations.

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Copies of this earnings release and other company information can be obtained on Knight's website, http://www.knight.com. In addition, the company will release its monthly volume statistics for December 2012 on its website at http://www.knight.com/ourfirm/volumestats.asp before the start of trading today. Due to the announced merger with GETCO LLC, Knight will not host a conference call on the fourth quarter of 2012.

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About Knight
Knight Capital Group (NYSE Euronext: KCG) is a global financial services firm that provides access to the capital markets across multiple asset classes to a broad network of clients, including broker-dealers, institutions and corporations. Knight is headquartered in Jersey City, N.J. with a global presence across the Americas, Europe, and the Asia Pacific regions. For further information about Knight, please visit www.knight.com.

Certain statements contained herein may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "target," "estimate," "continue," "positions," "prospects" or "potential," by future conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could" or "may", or by variations of such words or by similar expressions. These "forward-looking statements" are not historical facts and are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the parties' industry, management beliefs and certain assumptions made by management, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and beyond our control. Accordingly, readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict including, without limitation, risks associated with the August 1, 2012 technology issue at Knight that resulted in Knight sending numerous erroneous orders in NYSE-listed and NYSE Arca securities into the market and the impact to Knight's capital structure and business as well as actions taken in response thereto and consequences thereof, risks associated with Knight's ability to recover all or a portion of the damages that are attributable to the manner in which NASDAQ OMX handled the Facebook IPO, risks associated with changes in market structure, legislative, regulatory or financial reporting rules, risks associated with past or future changes to organizational structure and management and the costs, integration, performance and operation of businesses previously acquired or developed organically, or that may be acquired or developed organically in the future. Readers should carefully review the risks and uncertainties disclosed in Knight's reports with the SEC, including, without limitation, those detailed under "Certain Factors Affecting Results of Operations" and "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year-ended December 31, 2011 and in the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2012, and in other reports or documents Knight or the new Knight/GETCO holding company files with, or furnishes to, the SEC from time to time.

In addition to factors previously disclosed in Knight's reports filed with the SEC and those identified elsewhere in this filing, the following factors among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements or historical performance: ability to obtain regulatory approvals and meet other closing conditions to the mergers, including approval by Knight and GETCO stockholders, on the expected terms and schedule; delay in closing the mergers; difficulties and delays in integrating the Knight and GETCO businesses or fully realizing cost savings and other benefits; business disruption following the mergers; the inability to sustain revenue and earnings growth; customer and client actions; and the inability to realize cost savings or revenues or to implement integration plans and other consequences associated with mergers, acquisitions and divestitures.

SOURCE Knight Capital Group, Inc.