TSX Symbol: CIX
TORONTO, May 7, 2013 /CNW/ - CI Financial Corp. ("CI") today released
unaudited financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2013.
|
HIGHLIGHTS
|
Quarter ended
March 31, 2013
($millions except
per share amounts)
|
Quarter ended
December 31, 2012
($millions except
per share amounts)
|
%
change
|
Quarter ended
March 31, 2012
($millions except
per share amounts)
|
%
change
|
|
Assets Under Management
|
80,471
|
75,723
|
6
|
73,361
|
10
|
|
Average Assets Under Management
|
78,810
|
74,323
|
6
|
72,262
|
9
|
|
Pre-Tax Operating Earnings Per Share1 |
0.59
|
0.58
|
2
|
0.56
|
5
|
|
EBITDA Per Share 1 |
0.64
|
0.63
|
2
|
0.62
|
3
|
|
Net Income
|
98.5
|
95.0
|
4
|
94.6
|
4
|
|
Earnings Per Share
|
0.35
|
0.34
|
3
|
0.33
|
6
|
|
SG&A Expenses
|
39 bps
|
39 bps
|
0
|
40 bps
|
(3)
|
|
Dividends Recorded Per Share
|
0.250
|
0.240
|
4
|
0.235
|
6
|
|
Net Debt2 |
503.6
|
526.5
|
(4)
|
646.7
|
(22)
|
|
Gross Sales
|
3,804
|
3,513
|
8
|
2,641
|
44
|
|
Net Sales
|
1,147
|
724
|
58
|
160
|
615
|
| |
|
|
1 |
Pre-Tax Operating Earnings and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortization) are not standardized earnings
measures prescribed by IFRS; however, management believes that most of
its shareholders, creditors, other stakeholders and
investment analysts prefer to include the use of these performance
measures in analyzing CI's results. CI defines pre-tax operating
earnings as income before income taxes less redemption fee revenue,
non-recurring items, performance fees and investment gains,
plus amortization of deferred sales commissions (DSC) and fund
contracts. CI's method of calculating these measures may not be
comparable to similar measures presented by other companies.
|
| |
|
|
2 |
Net of cash and marketable securities not required for regulatory
working capital.
|
For the quarter ended March 31, 2013, average assets under management
reached a record high of $78.8 billion, an increase of 9% from the same
quarter of the previous year and an increase of 6% from the prior
quarter. CI also had its highest level of first quarter gross sales
since 2000 and the highest level of first quarter net sales since 2006.
Gross sales of funds were $3.8 billion during the quarter, an increase
of 44% year over year, while net sales increased 615% to $1.1 billion.
At March 31, 2013, CI also reached a record level of assets under
management for a quarter-end at $80.5 billion, up 10% from $73.4
billion at March 31, 2012. In comparison, the S&P/TSX Composite and the
DEX Universe Bond indexes increased 6% and 5%, respectively, over the
same period.
For the first quarter of 2013, CI reported earnings per share of $0.35,
up 6% from $0.33 per share in the first quarter of 2012 and up 3% from
$0.34 per share in the last quarter of 2012. In addition, CI reported
EBITDA per share for the first quarter of 2013 of $0.64, a 3% increase
from the first quarter of 2012 and a 2% increase from the prior
quarter. Pre-tax operating earnings per share, which include
adjustments for non-recurring items, were up 5% from the first quarter
of 2012 and up 2% from the prior quarter.
CI successfully controlled discretionary spending, keeping expenses in
line with the growth in assets under management. Selling, general and
administrative (SG&A) expenses as a percentage of average assets under
management were 0.39% in the first quarter of 2013, down slightly from
0.40% in the first quarter of the prior year.
CI generated $98.6 million in free cash flow during the quarter ended
March 31, 2013 compared to $98.5 million in the first quarter of 2012.
CI's cash flow facilitated a reduction in net debt by $22.9 million and
the payment of $69.3 million in dividends. As at April 30, 2013, CI had
283,323,896 shares outstanding.
"It has been a great start to 2013 for CI Financial," said Stephen A.
MacPhail, CI President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our sales have
been the best since 2000, with retail net sales so far this year
totalling $1.6 billion, and our assets under management have reached
$82 billion, a record for CI. The performance of our fund managers has
been exemplary and while we have invested heavily in the staff and
service elements of our business as well as advertising the CI
Financial and Assante brands, we were able to reduce our SG&A spending
in basis points from the prior year."
CI's assets under management at May 6, 2013 of $82 billion were up 4%
from the average of $78.8 billion for the first quarter of 2013. The
robust performance led the Board of Directors to increase CI's monthly
dividend by $0.005 per share to $0.09 per share payable on each of June
14, July 15 and August 15, 2013 to shareholders of record on May 31,
June 30 and July 31, 2013, respectively. The monthly dividend
represents a yield of 3.7% on CI's closing share price of $29.23 on May
6, 2013.
For detailed financial statements for the quarter ended March 31, 2013,
including Management's Discussion and Analysis, please refer to CI's
website at www.cifinancial.com under Reports, or contact investorrelations@ci.com.
Analysts' Conference Call
CI will hold a conference call with analysts today at 4 p.m. Eastern
time. Speaking on the call will be Mr. MacPhail and Douglas Jamieson,
Senior Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer. The conference call
and a slide presentation will be accessible through a webcast at www.ci.com/q1. Alternatively, investors may listen to the discussion by dialling
1-866-696-5910 or (416) 340-2217 (passcode: 1047993).
The call will be available for playback later in the day until May 21,
2013 at (905) 694-9451 or 1-800-408-3053 (passcode: 9604919). The
webcast will be archived at www.ci.com/q1.
CI Financial Corp. (TSX: CIX) is an independent, Canadian-owned wealth
management company. CI offers a broad range of investment products and
services, including an industry-leading selection of investment funds,
and is on the Web at www.cifinancial.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to
CI and its products and services, including its business operations and
strategy and financial performance and condition. Although management
believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking
statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and
uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations
include, among other things, general economic and market factors,
including interest rates, business competition, changes in government
regulations or in tax laws, and other factors discussed in materials
filed with applicable securities regulatory authorities from time to
time.
SOURCE: CI Financial Corp.
Stephen A. MacPhail
President and Chief Executive Officer
CI Financial Corp.
(416) 364-1145