Assets Under Management

Legg Mason Inc.'s profit dropped 18 percent in the company's fiscal second quarter, driven lower by a decline in brokerage revenue, higher legal reserves and lower profit on margin loans to customers. Still, Legg Mason's assets under management jumped to a record, investment banking revenue nearly tripled and stockholders' equity, or capital, shot past $1 billion for the first time. The Baltimore-based asset management and brokerage company made $30.4 million in the quarter that ended Sept.

Buoyed by rising assets under management and market gains, T. Rowe Price Group reported Wednesday that it earned $247.3 million, or 94 cents per share, for the third quarter. Revenue reached $769.7 million for the three months ending Sept. 30. A year earlier, the Baltimore-based investment company earned $185.5 million, or 71 cents per share, on revenue of $679.4 million. The third-quarter results included a one-time gain of $31.2 million, accounting for 7 cents per share, from the sale of securities from a number of funds, said James A. C. Kennedy, president and CEO. That gain was re-invested in some of Price's European portfolios to beef up their assets and attract institutional shareholders, he said.

George A. Roche has little choice but to see the glass as half-full, rather than half-empty. Or even three-quarters full, for that matter.T. Rowe Price Associates Inc.'s stockholders have plenty of reason to share that view after yesterday's annual meeting, a gathering in which owners of the mutual fund giant received predictions of a healthy economy, approved a 2-for-1 common stock split, got news of record revenue in the first quarter of this year, and...

Baltimore money manager T. Rowe Price reported on Tuesday a nearly 10 percent increase in third-quarter profit, but clients withdrew more money than they put into mutual funds and other investments for the first time in nearly three years. Price missed Wall Street expectations by three cents, prompting shares to lose $4.91, or 8.8 percent. The stock closed Tuesday at $51.08. Net income for the three months ended Sept. 30 was $185.5 million, compared with $169.1 million in the corresponding period last year.

Despite the recession and a dour stock market, Legg Mason Inc. said yesterday that it made $41.1 million in its fiscal third quarter - the third-best quarterly results in the company's history - and that its assets under management reached record levels. However, the profit of the Baltimore asset manager and brokerage was essentially the same as last year's: 60 cents per diluted share in the quarter that ended Dec. 31, compared with 61 cents a year earlier. The results surprised Wall Street analysts, beating their estimates by 6 cents per share, according to Zacks Investment Research.

T. Rowe Price Group Inc. said yesterday that its first-quarter profit nearly doubled and earnings per share matched a record set during the first quarter of 2000, when stock market valuations peaked before entering a three-year slump. Mutual fund investors shrugged off concerns about sluggish job growth and fighting in Iraq and poured $6.4 billion into T. Rowe Price funds during the quarter, helping to lift the Baltimore investment firm's net income to $77.3 million, or 58 cents per share.

Hampered by a weak economy and listing stock market, T. Rowe Price Group Inc.'s fourth-quarter profit fell 18.9 percent as assets the firm manages declined, the company said yesterday. It was the first time since 1990 that Price's profit for the full year was less than the previous year. The Baltimore mutual fund company made $45 million, or 35 cents per share, in the fourth quarter that ended Dec. 31, compared with $55.5 million, or 43 cents per share, in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Moving to add more muscle to its wealth-management business, Mercantile Bankshares Corp. said yesterday that it will acquire Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC of Cleveland. The acquisition is the third major move by Baltimore-based Mercantile since it announced a renewed focus on its asset- and wealth-management businesses. "This is consistent with the strategy of the company," said Gary B. Townsend, a senior financial services analyst with Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group Inc. in Arlington, Va. Mercantile is "trying to bolster the asset-management and investment-management sides of its business."

By controlling costs and adding assets under management, Legg Mason Inc. overcame a rocky stock market to see its fiscal first-quarter earnings soar 39 percent - beating Wall Street's estimates. In the three months that ended June 30, net income was $49 million, an increase of 39 percent over the $35.4 million earned in the same quarter last year. Net income per diluted share was 71 cents, a jump of 37 percent from the 52 cents per share recorded in fiscal first quarter 2001. The consensus estimate of analysts was 68 cents per share, according to Thomson Financial/First Call.

Legg Mason Inc. signed a definitive agreement to acquire money manager Brandywine Asset Management Inc. in a stock swap valued at about $135 million, the Baltimore-based company said yesterday.Legg will issue 2.6 million shares of common stock, or about 10 percent of its current outstanding shares, plus 200,000 stock options.Raymond A. "Chip" Mason, Legg's chairman and chief executive, said the Wilmington, Del.-based Brandywine fits well with its "value" style of investing. It also adds billions of dollars in assets to the company's managed portfolio.

T. Rowe Price Group, the Baltimore-based mutual fund and investment advisory company, reported Tuesday a profit of $204.7 million for the second quarter, a 29 percent increase over the corresponding period a year ago. On a per-share basis, Price earned 76 cents, up from 59 cents a year earlier. The quarterly earnings are a penny off analysts' expectation of 77 cents per share, according to Bloomberg. Revenue for the quarter reached $713.7 million, up from $577.4 million for the second quarter a year ago. The company said that despite "choppy markets," money coming in from new clients pushed Price's assets under management to a record high.

Market volatility in the second quarter took a bite out of assets that T. Rowe Price Group manages, but the Baltimore company reported Friday that profit rose nearly 60 percent as clients invested more money in its mutual funds. The money manger's reported quarterly net income of $158.5 million, or 59 cents per share, compared with $100 million, or 38 cents per share, in the corresponding period last year. Clients poured $5.1 billion into Price's mutual funds and other accounts, continuing the flow of new investments the firm has seen despite the economic downturn.

T. Rowe Price Group Inc. said Friday that its first-quarter profits tripled as investors sent more money to the Baltimore firm to manage and as financial markets rebounded from year-ago lows. The money manager said profits in the first three months of the year were $153 million, up from $48.2 million in the first quarter of 2009. The early part of last year was a bad stretch for many financial companies as the country struggled with a deep economic crisis. Price's earnings during the first quarter of last year were pulled down by a noncash impairment charge of nearly $36 million because of falling investment values in its mutual funds.

Baltimore money manager Legg Mason Inc. said Thursday that it posted a profit in its fiscal third quarter, but that clients continued to withdraw money from its stock and bond funds even as the rest of the industry saw increased investments. The company said net income was $44.9 million, or 28 cents per share for the quarter ended Dec. 31. That was compared to a loss of $1.49 million, or $10.59 per share, for the same period a year ago. Assets under management decreased 2 percent to $686.

Baltimore money manager T. Rowe Price Group said Friday that its second-quarter profits fell 38 percent from the same period a year ago, but the company beat Wall Street expectations and clients poured $3.5 billion into its mutual funds and other investments. Net income for the three months ending June 30 declined to $100 million, or 38 cents per share, compared with $162.2 million, or 59 cents per share, a year ago. Price's earnings exceeded Wall Street expectations of 34 cents per share.

Shares of Legg Mason Inc. fell more than 17 percent Tuesday after the Baltimore money manager reported its fifth quarterly loss in a row and announced it was slashing its quarterly dividend to 3 cents per share. The company lost $325.1 million, or $2.29 per share, in the fourth quarter ended March 31. That compares with a $255.5 million loss, or $1.81 a share, for the corresponding quarter a year earlier. Legg shares fell $3.90 to close at $18.63 per share. Mark R. Fetting, chairman and chief executive, said the drop in price was partly investor reaction to the 21-cent cut in the quarterly dividend on common stock.

In a move that would further build its rapidly growing asset management business, Legg Mason Inc. is reportedly negotiating to acquire Royce & Associates Inc., a New York mutual fund company. Royce operates a dozen mutual funds and private accounts with about $4.2 billion in assets under management, according to its Web site. Legg Mason is much larger, with 23 retail mutual funds and about $140 billion in assets under management. Companies such as Royce have been selling for 2 percent to 5 percent of assets, meaning it could sell for $80 million to $200 million, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, quoting unidentified sources.

Baltimore money manager Legg Mason Inc. has suffered its largest quarterly loss as a public company after taking $2.3 billion in charges and seeing investors pull billions of dollars out of its funds amid a deepening recession. The company reported yesterday a higher-than-expected net loss of $1.49 billion, or $10.55 per diluted share, in the fiscal third quarter that ended Dec. 31. That's compared with a net income of $154.6 million, or $1.07 a share, during the corresponding period a year ago. Ten analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News expected an average loss of $4.01 a share.