CI Financial reports second quarter results: Earnings per share increase 13%

TSX Symbol: CIX

TORONTO, Aug. 6, 2015 /CNW/ - CI Financial Corp. ("CI") today released unaudited financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2015.

QUARTERLY RESULTS (in $millions except for per share data)^1	Quarter ended June 30, 2015	Quarter ended June 30, 2014	% change
Assets Under Management	108,839	99,882	9
Average Assets Under Management	109,750	97,895	12
Net Income	138.9	127.8	9
Adjusted Net Income^2	142.4	127.8	11
Earnings Per Share	0.50	0.45	11
Adjusted Earnings Per Share^2	0.51	0.45	13
EBITDA Per Share^2,3	0.86	0.78	10
Pre-Tax Operating Earnings Per Share^2,3	0.82	0.74	11
Cash Provided By Operating Activities	174.1	198.0	(12)
Free Cash Flow^3	151.1	137.9	10
OTHER METRICS	Quarter ended June 30, 2015	Quarter ended June 30, 2014	% change
Dividends Recorded Per Share (in $)	0.325	0.295	10
Long-Term Debt (in $millions; including current portion)	383.5	499.1	(23)
Net Debt (in $millions)^3	266.0	252.6	5
SG&A Expenses^4	33.6 bps	34.8 bps	(3)
Return on Equity	29.4%	25.8%	n/a

^1	All results are net of non-controlling interest.
^2	Net Income, EPS and EBITDA in Q2-2015 exclude a $4.8 million ($3.5 million after-tax) adjustment for a legal settlement.
^3	EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), 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 an annualized percentage of average assets under management.

Average assets under management reached a record $109.8 billion for the second quarter, an increase of 12% from the same quarter in the previous year. At June 30, 2015, CI's assets under management reached $108.8 billion, up 9% from $99.9 billion at June 30, 2014. Net sales of $2.7 billion in the first half of 2015 matched the record pace of net sales in the first half of 2014.

Net income for the quarter was $138.9 million, a 9% increase over $127.8 million in the second quarter of 2014. CI's earnings were impacted by a non-recurring $4.8 million ($3.5 million after-tax) provision for a voluntary settlement with clients of a former advisor. CI's earnings, adjusted for this item, were $142.4 million ($0.51 per share) up 11% from the prior year.

Pre-tax operating earnings per share were $0.82 for the quarter, up 11% from the quarter ended June 30, 2014 and up 4% from the first quarter of 2015. This represents an all-time high for CI. EBITDA per share for the second quarter increased 10% to $0.86 in 2015 from $0.78 in the second quarter of 2014.

CI continued to maintain its discretionary spending below the rate of growth in assets under management. Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses as an annualized percentage of average assets under management fell to 33.6 basis points in the second quarter of 2015 from 34.8 basis points in the second quarter of 2014.

CI generated $151.1 million in free cash flow during the quarter ended June 30, 2015. This represented a 10% increase compared to $137.9 million in the second quarter of 2014. CI's cash flow facilitated the repurchase of $71.2 million in CI shares and the payment of $90.0 million in dividends during the second quarter. As at July 31, 2015, CI had 278,555,123 shares outstanding.

"Despite the market turbulence experienced in the second quarter, CI's assets under management continued to grow," said Stephen A. MacPhail, CI President and Chief Executive Officer. "We recorded a record level of core earnings during the quarter, as well as continued strong flows into our investment products. Net sales of $3 billion for the year-to-date are in line with 2014 results and our assets under management reached a month-end record of $111 billion on July 31, 2015. In addition, we continue to see significant success in the high net worth segment, especially within Assante and Stonegate Private Counsel."

The Board of Directors declared a monthly cash dividend of $0.11 per share payable on each of September 15, October 15, and November 13, 2015 to shareholders of record on August 31, September 30 and October 31, 2015, respectively. The monthly dividend represents a yield of 4.0% on CI's closing share price of $33.27 on August 5, 2015.

For detailed financial statements for the quarter ended June 30, 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. The call and a slide presentation will be accessible through a webcast at www.ci.com/q2. Alternatively, investors may listen to the discussion by dialling [phone] or 1-866-696-5910 (passcode: 9465264). The call will be available for playback until August 20, 2015 at [phone] or 1-800-408-3053 (passcode: 6359388). The webcast will be archived at www.ci.com/q2.

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]