Legg Mason Inc. (NYSE: LM), a provider of investment management and related services to institutional and individual clients, company-sponsored mutual funds and other pooled investment vehicles, today, released its fourth-quarter financial results, posting a 10% increase in profit.
For the fourth quarter ended March 31, the Baltimore-based asset manager reported net income of $76.1 million, or $0.54 per share, compared with $69 million, or $0.45 per share reported for the same period in the previous year.
LM’s profit rose in the fourth quarter as the company finished a streamlining plan that reduced expenses. Under the plan, which LM implemented in 2012, the company saved $35 million in expenses during the fourth quarter.
At the end of the March quarter, LM’s assets under management stood at $643.3 billion, up from $627 billion at the end of December. At the end of the same period last year, the company’s assets under management stood at $677.6 billion.
During the fourth quarter, Legg Mason had net client outflows of $4.9 billion. The figure was, however, more than offset by $24.4 billion in market appreciation.
Revenue for the quarter dropped 9% to $648.6 million.
Mark Fetting, Chairman and CEO of Legg Mason, said that with the close of fiscal year 2012, Legg Mason completed its streamlining plan, generating more than $140 million in annual cost savings, and returned more than $440 million to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends. Fetting said that the company’s affiliates continued to generate strong investment performance, particularly in the critical 3-year time period and provided their clients with high quality customer service. He added that the efforts of both LM’s global distribution team and its affiliates have resulted in substantially reduced long-term outflows and the company’s client facing teams are building momentum in new product categories.
Legg Mason shares ended marginally lower in the previous trading session on Monday. The stock closed at $26.07, down 0.61%. Year-to-date, Legg Mason shares have gained 8.4%.
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