American investment management firm Legg Mason has reported an operating income of $109.9m for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2017, an increase of 224.1% compared to $33.9m a year earlier.
For the quarter ended 31 March 2017, the company’s net income was $75.9m, compared to a loss of $45.3m in the same quarter of previous year.Total operating revenues increased 16.7% to $723.1m from $619.6m in the year ago.
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The firm’s assets under management were $728.4bn at the end of March 2017, a rise of 8.7% from $669.6bn a year ago.
Legg Mason chairman and CEO Joseph Sullivan said: “Legg Mason delivered solid results for the quarter, despite volatile markets around the world. For the period, we were pleased to have delivered long-term net inflows led by fixed income at Western and Brandywine and equity inflows at ClearBridge and Martin Currie, which more than offset outflows in alternatives. Gross and net sales in our global retail distribution platform were near all-time highs and underscored continued demand for differentiated active strategies, across multiple vehicles.
“We also made progress with our investment affiliates in better serving clients through greater product and vehicle innovation, while expanding use of technology in alternative distribution channels. In an effort to complement these investments in growth, we continued to return capital to shareholders, most notably with our announcement today that we increased our dividend by 27 percent. We believe this increase better positions Legg Mason among industry peers in terms of investors’ ongoing appetite for current yield.”
