CI Financial reports fourth quarter and annual results: Earnings per share increase 10%

TSX Symbol: CIX

TORONTO, Feb. 10, 2016 /CNW/ - CI Financial Corp. ("CI") today released audited financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2015.

ANNUAL RESULTS^1 (in $millions except for per share data)	Year ended December 31, 2015	Year ended December 31, 2014	% change
Assets Under Management	111,124	102,886	8
Average Assets Under Management	108,384	98,408	10
Net Sales	3,431	3,928	(13)
Net Income	553.5	525.0	5
Adjusted Net Income^2	563.7	520.0	8
Earnings Per Share	1.99	1.85	8
Adjusted Earnings Per Share^2	2.02	1.83	10
EBITDA Per Share^2,3	3.37	3.15	7
Pre-Tax Operating Earnings Per Share^2,3	3.20	2.99	7
Cash Provided By Operating Activities	647.4	702.6	(8)
Free Cash Flow^3	596.6	557.4	7

QUARTERLY RESULTS^1 (in $millions except for per share data)	Quarter ended December 31, 2015	Quarter ended December 31, 2014	% change
Average Assets Under Management	108,688	101,120	7
Net Income	127.2	140.4	(9)
Adjusted Net Income^2	137.0	135.4	1
Earnings Per Share	0.46	0.50	(8)
Adjusted Earnings Per Share^2	0.50	0.48	4
EBITDA Per Share^2,3	0.83	0.82	1
Pre-Tax Operating Earnings Per Share^2,3	0.79	0.78	1
Cash Provided By Operating Activities	146.8	187.2	(22)
Free Cash Flow^3	141.6	148.3	(5)

OTHER QUARTERLY METRICS	Quarter ended December 31, 2015	Quarter ended December 31, 2014	% change
Dividends Recorded Per Share (in $)	0.330	0.310	6
Long-Term Debt (in $millions; including current portion)	559.3	307.4	82
Net Debt (in $millions)^3	433.1	185.2	134
SG&A Expenses^4	35.4 bps	34.1 bps	n/a
Return on Equity^5	29.2%	27.9%	n/a

	^1 All results are net of non-controlling interest.
	^2  The year ended December 31, 2015 excludes income of $7.5 million related to a fair value adjustment to contingent consideration, an $8.8 million ($6.4 million after tax) provision for legal costs, a $10.8 million ($9.8 million after tax) provision for fund remediation (which includes $8 million paid to the OSC), and a $3.0 million ($1.4 million after tax and non-controlling interest) acceleration in the amortization of fund management contracts. The quarter ended December 31, 2015 excludes the $10.8 million ($9.8 million after tax) provision for fund remediation. The year ended and quarter ended December 31, 2014 exclude income of $5.0 million related to a fair value adjustment to contingent consideration.
	^3  EBITDA, pre-tax operating earnings, free cash flow and net debt are not standardized measures prescribed by IFRS; however, management uses these financial measures and also 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. These non-IFRS measures and reconciliations to IFRS, where necessary, are included in Management's Discussion and Analysis available at www.cifinancial.com.
	^4 As a percentage of average assets under management.
	^5 Trailing 12 months.

Average assets under management reached $108.4 billion for 2015, an increase of 10% from 2014. At December 31, 2015, CI's assets under management were $111.1 billion, up 8% from $102.9 billion at December 31, 2014. Over the same period, the S&P/TSX Composite Index declined 8% and the FTSE TMX Canada Universe Bond Index was up 4%. In 2015, CI had gross sales of $15.4 billion, up $1.0 billion from $14.4 billion in the prior year. Total net sales for the year were $3.4 billion compared to $3.9 billion in 2014. Net sales in the fourth quarter of 2015 were $299 million.

Net income for the year was $553.5 million, a 5% increase over $525.0 million in 2014. Earnings per share increased 8% to $1.99 from $1.85 in 2014. Earnings per share in the fourth quarter were $0.46, a decrease of 8% from $0.50 in the fourth quarter of 2014.

EBITDA per share for the year increased 7% to $3.37 in 2015 from $3.15 in 2014. EBITDA per share for the fourth quarter was $0.83, a 1% increase from the fourth quarter of 2014. Pre-tax operating earnings per share were up 7% for the year and up 1% in the quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2014.

During the year, CI maintained its discretionary spending below the rate of growth in assets under management. Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses as a percentage of average assets under management fell to 34.4 basis points in 2015, down from 34.7 basis points in 2014. However, SG&A for the fourth quarter of 2015 increased to 35.4 basis points from 34.1 basis points in the fourth quarter of 2014, as CI continued to invest in sales, marketing and investment management initiatives.

CI generated $596.6 million in free cash flow during the year ended December 31, 2015. This represented a 7% increase compared to $557.4 million in 2014. CI's cash flow facilitated the repurchase of $243.6 million in CI shares and the payment of $362.2 million in dividends. As at January 31, 2016, CI had 275,700,228 shares outstanding.

"In 2015, CI not only reported record year-end AUM and profits, but we also invested significantly in adding portfolio management resources and enhancing our service offering to continue growing our affluent and high-net-worth business," said Stephen A. MacPhail, CI President and Chief Executive Officer. "This is particularly evident in the success of Stonegate Private Counsel and Assante Wealth Management. In 2016, we expect to see the benefits of these investments, while we continue to focus on efficiently delivering our services."

The Board of Directors declared a monthly cash dividend of $0.11 per share payable on each of March 15, April 15 and May 13, 2016 to shareholders of record on February 29, March 31 and April 30, 2016, respectively. The monthly dividend represents a yield of 4.7% on CI's closing share price of $28.35 on February 10, 2016.

For detailed financial statements for the quarter ended December 31, 2015, including Management's Discussion and Analysis, which contains discussions of non-IFRS measures, please refer to CI's website at www.cifinancial.com under Reports, or contact [email protected].

Analysts' Conference Call

CI will hold a conference call with analysts today at 4 p.m. Eastern time. President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen MacPhail and Chief Financial Officer Douglas Jamieson will be presenting CI's results. Also attending will be Derek Green, President of CI Investments, Steven Donald, President of Assante Wealth Management, and Neal Kerr, President of CI Institutional Asset Management. The 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 1-888-789-9572 (passcode: 7958079).

The call will be available for playback until February 25, 2016 at [phone] or 1-800-408-3053 (passcode: 7508195). 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.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., [phone]