CI Financial reports fourth quarter and annual results: Earnings per share increase 23%

TSX Symbol: CIX

TORONTO, Feb. 12, 2015 /CNW/ - CI Financial Corp. ("CI") today released audited financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2014.

ANNUAL RESULTS^1 (in $millions except for per share data)	Year ended December 31, 2014	Year ended December 31, 2013	% change
Assets Under Management	102,886	91,090	13
Average Assets Under Management	98,408	83,325	18
Net Sales	3,928	3,686	7
Net Income	525	426	23
Earnings Per Share	1.85	1.50	23
Adjusted Earnings Per Share ^2	1.83	1.50	22
EBITDA Per Share^3	3.15	2.71	16
Cash Provided By Operating Activities	702.6	621.4	13
Free Cash Flow^3	557.4	456.2	22
QUARTERLY RESULTS (in $millions except for per share data)	Quarter ended December 31, 2014	Quarter ended December 31, 2013	% change
Average Assets Under Management	101,120	88,558	14
Net Income	140.4	116.2	21
Earnings Per Share	0.50	0.41	22
Adjusted Earnings Per Share^2	0.48	0.41	17
EBITDA Per Share^3	0.82	0.72	14
Pre-Tax Operating Earnings Per Share^3	0.78	0.68	15
Cash Provided By Operating Activities	187.2	176.6	6
Free Cash Flow^3	148.3	124.5	19
OTHER METRICS	Quarter ended December 31, 2014	Quarter ended December 31, 2013	% change
Dividends Recorded Per Share (in $)	0.310	0.280	11
Long-Term Debt (in $millions; including current portion)	307.4	498.9	(38)
Net Debt (in $millions)^3	185.2	315.3	(41)
SG&A Expenses^4	34.1 bps	36.9 bps	(8)
Return on Equity	27.9%	24.3%	n/a

¹       All results are net of non-controlling interest.
²       Excludes $5 million adjustment to contingent consideration.
³       EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization net of non-controlling interest), 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.

Average assets under management reached a record $101.1 billion for the fourth quarter, an increase of 14% from the same quarter in the previous year. At December 31, 2014, CI's assets under management were $102.9 billion, up 13% from $91.1 billion at December 31, 2013. The S&P/TSX Composite Index returned 11% and the FTSE TMX Canada Universe Bond Index was up 9% over the same period. Total net sales for the year were $3.9 billion compared to $3.7 billion in 2013. Net sales in the fourth quarter of 2014 were $511 million. Total assets under management at February 10, 2015 were 6% higher than the average assets under management for the fourth quarter of 2014.

"Two thousand and fourteen was another excellent year for CI," said Stephen A. MacPhail, CI President and Chief Executive Officer. "Net income rose 23%, assets under management at CI Investments ended the year at $103 billion, and assets at Assante Wealth Management and Stonegate Private Counsel reached $32 billion - all records for CI. In addition, CI posted its highest net sales in well over a decade, thanks to continuing strong performance by CI's money management teams, particularly Signature Global Asset Management and Cambridge Global Asset Management, coupled with CI's highly ranked comprehensive service offering, and our leadership role in helping advisors adapt to the changing regulatory environment."

Net income for the year was $525.0 million, a 23% increase over $426.4 million in 2013. Earnings per share increased 23% to $1.85 from $1.50 in 2013. Earnings per share in the fourth quarter were $0.50, an increase of 22% from $0.41 in the fourth quarter of 2013.

EBITDA per share for the year increased 16% to $3.15 in 2014 from $2.71 in 2013. EBITDA per share for the fourth quarter was $0.82, a 14% increase from the fourth quarter of 2013. Pre-tax operating earnings per share were up 18% for the year and up 15% in the quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2013.

CI continued to maintain 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 34.7 basis points in 2014, down from 37.7 basis points in 2013. SG&A for the fourth quarter of 2014 was 34.1 basis points compared to 36.9 basis points in fourth quarter of 2013.

CI generated $557.4 million in free cash flow during the year ended December 31, 2014. This represented a 22% increase compared to $456.2 million in 2013. CI's cash flow facilitated the repurchase of $108.1 million in CI shares and the payment of $335.5 million in dividends. In addition, the increase in cash reduced net debt by $130.1 million. As at January 31, 2015, CI had 281,725,681 shares outstanding.

The Board of Directors declared a monthly cash dividend of $0.105 per share payable on each of March 13, April 15, and May 15, 2015 to shareholders of record on February 28, March 31 and April 30, 2015, respectively. The monthly dividend represents a yield of 3.7% on CI's closing share price of $33.75 on February 11, 2015.

For detailed financial statements for the quarter ended December 31, 2014, 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, and Steven Donald, President of Assante Wealth 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 1-866-696-5910 (passcode: 5801192).

The call will be available for playback later that day until February 26, 2015 at [phone] or 1-800-408-3053 (passcode: 9525393). 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 Investments Inc.

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