CI Financial reports 2011 financial results: Earnings per share increase 15%; dividend raised 7%

TSX Symbol: CIX

TORONTO, Feb. 16, 2012 /CNW/ - CI Financial Corp. ("CI") today released audited financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2011.

HIGHLIGHTS	Year ended December 31, 2011 ($millions except per share amounts)	Year ended December 31, 2010 ($millions except per share amounts)	% change
Average Assets Under Management	72,186	65,719	10
EBITDA Per Share^1	2.53	2.32	9
Earnings Per Share	1.31	1.14	15
Net income	376.9	328.6	15
Dividends Recorded Per Share	0.89	0.77	16
Net Debt^2	731	789	(7)
SG&A Expenses	40 bps	40 bps	0
Free Cash Flow	433	344	26

HIGHLIGHTS	Quarter ended December 31, 2011 ($millions except per share amounts)	Quarter ended September 30, 2011 ($millions except per share amounts)	% change	Quarter ended December 31, 2010 ($millions except per share amounts)	% change
Average Assets Under Management	69,349	70,823	(2)	69,297	0
EBITDA Per Share^1	0.61	0.61	0	0.62	(2)
Earnings Per Share	0.31	0.32	(3)	0.30	3
Dividends Recorded Per Share	0.23	0.23	0	0.21	10
SG&A Expenses	40 bps	40 bps	0	42 bps	(5)
Free Cash Flow	104	104	0	99	5

¹ EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) is not a 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's method of calculating this measure may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies.
² Includes amounts required for working capital.

For the year ended December 31, 2011, average assets under management were $72.2 billion, an increase of 10% from the previous year. At December 31, 2011, ending assets under management were $69.6 billion, down 4% from $72.8 billion at December 31, 2010. Over the past two months, positive market performance has resulted in CI's assets under management reaching $72.2 billion at February 15, 2012, up 4% from the average assets under management for the quarter ended December 31, 2011.

For the year ended December 31, 2011, CI reported earnings per share of $1.31, 15% higher than the previous year - a result of higher average assets under management combined with stable operating margins achieved through consistent expense management. In addition, CI reported EBITDA per share of $2.53, a 9% increase from 2010.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2011, CI reported earnings per share of $0.31, up from $0.30 per share in the fourth quarter of 2010 and down slightly from the third quarter of 2011. In comparison, the average quarterly level of the S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 7% year over year and down 5% from the third quarter.

"We had exceptional results for the year and fourth quarter, in what was a challenging environment," said Stephen A. MacPhail, CI President and Chief Executive Officer. "During the year, we continued to find operating efficiencies and redirected the savings into enhancing our sales and marketing, investment management and Assante operations. At the same time, our earnings outperformed the TSX considerably with minimal volatility. For our shareholders, this resulted in a 15% increase in earnings, higher dividends, a strong balance sheet and surplus cash used to repurchase $95 million in shares."

"Furthermore, the growth in assets for the year-to-date, combined with our expectation for continued strong free cash flow and earnings, set the stage for our decision to increase CI's dividend by 7%, effective in March."

CI successfully controlled discretionary spending, keeping the growth in 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 0.40% in 2011, unchanged from the prior year.

CI generated $433.5 million in free cash flow during the year ended December 31, 2011, up 26% from $343.7 million in 2010. The strength of CI's cash flow facilitated a reduction in net debt by $58.4 million, the payment of $254.2 million in dividends and the repurchase of 4.7 million shares at a cost of $95.2 million. As of January 31, 2012, CI had 283,633,366 shares outstanding.

Gross sales of funds for the year ended December 31, 2011 were $9.1 billion compared to $9.8 billion for the year ended December 31, 2010. Total redemptions in 2011 were $8.8 billion, unchanged from the previous year. CI had net sales of $0.3 billion in the year ending December 31, 2011.

The Board of Directors declared monthly cash dividends of $0.08 per share payable on each of March 15, April 13 and May 15, 2012 to shareholders of record on February 29, March 31 and April 30, 2012, respectively. The monthly dividend represents a yield of 4.4% on CI's closing share price of $21.90 on February 15, 2012.

For detailed financial statements for the quarter ended December 31, 2011, including Management's Discussion and Analysis, please refer to CI's website at www.ci.com/cix under Reports, or contact [email protected].

Analysts' Conference Call
CI will hold a conference call with analysts today at 4 p.m. Eastern time. Speaking on the call will be Stephen MacPhail, President and Chief Executive Officer 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/q4. Alternatively, investors may listen to the discussion by dialling [phone] or 1-866-696-5910 (passcode: 2211452).

The call will be available for playback later that day until March 1, 2012 at [phone] or 1-800-408-3053 (passcode: 5532613). The webcast will be archived at www.ci.com/q4.

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.ci.com/cix.

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.

 

 

Stephen A. MacPhail
President and Chief Executive Officer
CI Financial Corp.
[phone]