Legg Mason Reports Strong Fiscal 4Q15 and Full-Year Profits
Legg Mason Beats Estimates for Fiscal 4Q15 and Annual Earnings (Part 1 of 5)
Legg Mason beats estimates
Legg Mason (LM) reported its fiscal 4Q15 and full-year earnings on May 1. The company managed to beat Wall Street analysts’ adjusted EPS (earnings per share) estimates of $0.67 with an adjusted EPS of $1.03. The last quarter’s earnings were driven by a strong operating performance of its funds combined with strong inflows for management.
Legg Mason reported operating revenues of $702.3 million, down by 2% when compared with the fourth quarter of the previous year. However, net income expanded by 20% to $83 million.
For the full year, the company posted $16.5 billion in net long-term flows, taking the total assets under management to $702.7 billion as of March 31, 2015.
Legg Mason’s CEO, Joseph A. Sullivan, said in the company’s press release on May 1 that, “Legg Mason reported another quarter of solid operating performance despite a challenging environment for active managers. Long-term inflows of $6.2 billion were driven by positive flows at Western, Brandywine, ClearBridge, and Martin Currie. We continued to integrate and commercialize the strategies of QS Investors and Martin Currie, bringing their new capabilities and products to our clients.”
A global asset manager
Legg Mason acts as a holding company, with its subsidiaries providing investment management and related services to individuals, institutions, company-sponsored mutual funds, and other investment vehicles. Its major subsidiaries include Western, Brandywine, ClearBridge, QS Investors, and Martin Currie. The company earns investment advisory fees, performance fees from separate accounts and funds, and distribution and service fees. The company’s offerings include investment management in equity, debt, and liquid funds.
Among other companies in the asset management industry that form part of the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF), Blackstone (BX) beat the estimates by 32%, KKR (KKR) beat the estimates by 17%, Janus Capital (JNS) beat the estimates by 15%, and BlackRock (BLK) beat the estimates by 8% in 1Q15.
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