Sprott Inc. Announces 2016 First Quarter Results

TORONTO, May 13, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sprott Inc. (TSX:SII) (“Sprott” or the “Company”) today announced its financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2016.

2016 Financial Overview

• Assets Under Management (“AUM”) was $8.8 billion as at March 31, 2016, compared to $7.8 billion as at March 31, 2015 and $7.4 billion as at December 31, 2015.
• Total revenues were $31.7 million, reflecting a decrease of $1.7 million (5%) from the three months ended March 31, 2015.
• Total expenses were $29.8 million, reflecting an increase of $5.1 million (21%) from the three months ended March 31, 2015.The majority of this increase ($3.0 million) related to a one-time non-cash charge on the write down of a management contract.
• Net income was $1.3 million ($0.01 per share), reflecting a decrease of $5.6 million (81%) from the three months ended March 31, 2015.
• Adjusted base EBITDA was $5.2 million ($0.02 per share), reflecting a decrease of $2.0 million (28%) from the three months ended March 31, 2015. The decline was largely due to lower commissions and interest income and higher salaries and SG&A expenses, partially offset by higher management fees and lower discretionary bonus accruals.
• Investable capital stood at $294.6 million, reflecting a $10.0 million (3%) decrease from December 31, 2015.

Significant events for the three-months ended March 31, 2016 and Year-to-Date:

• Closed exchange offer for Central GoldTrust in January, increasing the AUM of Sprott Physical Gold Trust by approximately $1.1 billion
• Completed secondary offering of Sprott Physical Silver Trust Units in April, raising approximately $110 million in assets
• Launched Sprott Social Media Insights ETF ("BUZZ") on NYSE in May

"During what was a difficult quarter for many asset managers, our AUM increased by $1.4 billion through the completion of the Central GoldTrust exchange offer and strong investment performance across most of our mutual fund and alternative investment products," said Peter Grosskopf, CEO of Sprott.  "We have continued to attract new assets in the second quarter as investors have begun to return to the precious metals sector and, in April, we completed a $110 million secondary offering of Sprott Physical Trust units."

"We are pleased with the early results of the investments we have made in our business and we will continue investing in sales, marketing and product development as we focus on long-term growth and profitability," added Mr. Grosskopf.

Assets Under Management

Dividends

On May 12, 2016, a dividend of $0.03 per common share was declared for the quarter ended March 31, 2016.

Conference Call and Webcast

A conference call and webcast will be held today, May 13, 2016 at 8:00am ET to discuss the Company's financial results. To participate in the call, please dial (877) 930-8292 ten minutes prior to the scheduled start of the call and provide conference ID 65449483​. A taped replay of the conference call will be available until Friday, May 20, 2016 by calling (855) 859-2056, reference number 6656198.​

The conference call will be webcast live at www.sprottinc.com and http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/p7qoj4br 

*Non-IFRS Financial Measures

This press release includes financial terms (including AUM, AUA, EBITDA, adjusted base EBITDA and net sales) that the Company utilizes to assess the financial performance of its business that are not measures recognized under International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”). These non-IFRS measures should not be considered alternatives to performance measures determined in accordance with IFRS and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. For additional information regarding the Company's use of non-IFRS measures, including the calculation of these measures, please refer to the “Non-IFRS Financial Measures” section of the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis and its financial statements available on the Company's website at www.sprottinc.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. 

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release contain forward-looking information (collectively referred to herein as the “Forward-Looking Statements”) within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words “expect”, “anticipate”, “continue”, “estimate”, “may”, “will”, “project”, “should”, “believe”, “plans”, “intends” and similar expressions are intended to identify Forward-Looking Statements. In particular, but without limiting the forgoing, this press release contains Forward-Looking Statements pertaining to: (i) further investments will be required as we focus on long-term growth and profitability and (ii) investing in key growth areas such as sales, marketing and product development.

Although the Company believes that the Forward-Looking Statements are reasonable, they are not guarantees of future results, performance or achievements. A number of factors or assumptions have been used to develop the Forward-Looking Statements, including: (i) the impact of increasing competition in each business in which the Company operates will not be material; (ii) quality management will be available; (iii) the effects of regulation and tax laws of governmental agencies will be consistent with the current environment; and (iv) those assumptions disclosed herein under the heading “Significant Accounting Judgments and Estimates”. Actual results, performance or achievements could vary materially from those expressed or implied by the Forward-Looking Statements should assumptions underlying the Forward-Looking Statements prove incorrect or should one or more risks or other factors materialize, including: (i) difficult market conditions; (ii) poor investment performance; (iii)performance fee fluctuations; (iv) changes in the investment management industry; (v) risks related to regulatory compliance; (vi) failure to deal appropriately with conflicts of interest; (vii) failure to continue to retain and attract quality staff; (viii) competitive pressures; (ix) corporate growth may be difficult to sustain and may place significant demands on existing administrative, operational and financial resources; (x) failure to execute the Company’s succession plan; (xi) foreign exchange risk relating to the relative value of the U.S. dollar; (xii) litigation risk; (xiii) employee errors or misconduct could result in regulatory sanctions or reputational harm; (xiv) failure to implement effective information security policies, procedures and capabilities; (xv) failure to develop effective business resiliency plans; (xvi) failure to obtain or maintain sufficient insurance coverage on favourable economic terms; (xvii) historical financial information is not necessarily indicative of future performance; (xviii) the market price of common shares of the Company may fluctuate widely and rapidly; (xix) risks relating to the Company's proprietary investments; (xx) risks relating to the Company's lending business; (xxi) those risks described under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company’s annual information form dated March 10, 2016; and (xxii) those risks described under the headings “Managing Risk - Financial” and “Managing Risk - Other” in this MD&A.  In addition, the payment of dividends is not guaranteed and the amount and timing of any dividends payable by the Company will be at the discretion of the Board of Directors of the Company and will be established on the basis of the Company’s earnings, the satisfaction of solvency tests imposed by applicable corporate law for the declaration and payment of dividends, and other relevant factors. The Forward-Looking Statements speak only as of the date hereof, unless otherwise specifically noted, and the Company does not assume any obligation to publicly update any Forward-Looking Statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be expressly required by applicable Canadian securities laws.

About Sprott Inc.

Sprott Inc. is a global alternative asset manager with three primary lines of business: Exchange Listed Products, Diversified Alternative Asset Management and Private Resources. The Exchange Listed Products business platform houses the Company's closed-end physical trusts and exchange traded funds, both of which are actively traded on public securities exchanges. Sprott Asset Management LP ("SAM") is both the principal subsidiary and reportable segment through which these products are managed and distributed. The Diversified Alternative Asset Management business platform houses the Company's full suite of public mutual funds, alternative investment strategies and managed accounts and is also managed by SAM. The Private Resources business platform houses the Company's private resource-focused asset management activities. Primary activities include the management of: (1) U.S.-based fixed-term limited partnership vehicles, discretionary managed accounts and private placement activities; (2) direct and indirect resource lending activities via the Company’s balance sheet and through limited partnership structures; and (3) private equity style and direct asset investments through managed companies. Specific reportable segments and principal subsidiaries in this line of business are; Global - which is made up of Resource Capital Investment Corporation, Sprott Asset Management USA Inc. and Sprott Global Resource Investments Ltd.; Lending - which is primarily Sprott Resource Lending Corp.; and Consulting - which includes Sprott Consulting LP, Sprott Toscana and Sprott Korea Corporation. Sprott Inc. is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “SII”. For more information on Sprott Inc., please visit www.sprottinc.com.