Legg Mason

Legg Mason Inc. said yesterday that it has made several high-level management changes, and that it will open an institutional equity sales office in San Francisco.James W. Brinkley, president of the Baltimore-based company's brokerage subsidiary, Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc., was named chief operating officer of the unit.Robert G. Donovan, who is responsible for operations and general services, was elected executive vice president of both Legg Mason and Legg Mason Wood Walker.In addition, Timothy C. Scheve will head corporate technology, finance, human resources, internal audit and Legg Mason Trust Co. Scheve was also elected executive vice president of both Legg Mason and Legg Mason Wood Walker.

Baltimore-based money managers T. Rowe Price and Legg Mason Inc. may offer actively managed exchange-traded funds after receiving a thumbs up from regulators. The Securities and Exchange Commission approved Price's application earlier this month to be allowed to issue active ETFs - the first, and most difficult, regulatory hurdle to entering the market. Legg received similar approval in mid-November, and now awaits the second step: the green light from the SEC to launch a specific fund.

Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc. said yesterday that it is beefing up its corporate finance business by hiring 11 professionals from a Philadelphia firm that caters to small and medium-sized companies.The Baltimore-based securities company said it has hired the corporate finance staff of Middle Market Group L.P., which has focused primarily on companies with annual sales of $15 million to $200 million.Legg Mason said its new staff members specialize in mergers and acquisitions and the private placement of securities.

Legg Mason Inc. said yesterday that it has agreed to acquire a Pennsylvania investment management company that specializes in serving banks.Fairfield Group Inc., based in Horsham, Pa., would become an independent subsidiary of the Baltimore-based company under the agreement. The financial details of the deal were not released.Fairfield manages two money market mutual funds with total assets of $600 million. It also invests about $1.3 billion in money market instruments for banks and their trust departments.

Legg Mason Inc. yesterday reported record revenues of $111.3 million in the quarter that ended June 30, driven up by surges in commissions and its investment advisory business.The Baltimore-based brokerage firm's net income also jumped during its 1995 first quarter to $7.8 million, a 56 percent gain over the corresponding period last year. Primary earnings per share rose at about the same rate, to 61 cents per share vs. 40 cents last year.The $111.3 million posted in revenues represents a 24 percent increase from the $89.8 million generated in Legg Mason's first fiscal quarter of 1994.

Buoyed by strong investor activity in the stock market, Legg Mason Inc. enjoyed record income and revenues in its second fiscal quarter, the Baltimore-based brokerage firm said yesterday.The company, which owns Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc., said its earnings increased by more than 25 percent, to $4.6 million, or 47 cents a share fully diluted, in the past three months.That compared with earnings of $3.7 million, or 39 cents a share, in the same period last year.Revenues rose to $68.7 million, compared with $64 million in the year-ago period.

NEW YORK -- At a time when many firms on Wall Street are suffering, Baltimore-based Legg Mason Inc. expects its fiscal year to close at the end of March with record or near-record earnings.Last year Legg Mason also was the exception to generally depressed industry conditions, generating record revenues and net earnings and coming within 6 cents of its record for earnings per share of $1.38, registered in 1987, when Wall Street was booming.Working to Legg Mason's benefit has been its ability to dodge the more destructive practices of many brokerage firms, such as 'junk' bonds, investment partnerships and bridge loans, while adding on a new, related, business -- money management -- that is producing large, and possibly sustainable, profits.

Legg Mason Inc. reported yesterday that its earnings for the three months that ended June 30 were up 84 percent compared with those of the same quarter a year ago, as lower interest rates led to more revenue for the company's investment banking operations and the company's mortgage operation also grew strongly.The Baltimore-based stock brokerage company said it earned $7.6 million during the quarter, the first of its fiscal year. That works out to 76 cents per fully diluted share, up from 43 cents in the same quarter of 1991.

Legg Mason Inc. said yesterday that it has hired a former Price Waterhouse executive to direct its real estate research division, as the Baltimore investment house seeks to expand its services in that area.With the hiring of Glenn R. Mueller, a Johns Hopkins University professor, Legg Mason hopes to better integrate research with real estate securities, commercial mortgage banking, finance and consulting divisions."Glenn will provide a common language between all those groups," said Robert A. Frank, a Legg Mason executive vice president and the company's director of research.

A Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc. client sued the Baltimore brokerage and a veteran broker yesterday, claiming that a substantial portion of her life's savings was invested in risky or inappropriate securities. The lawsuit, filed in Baltimore Circuit Court, seeks $1.3 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. It alleges fraud and negligence. Robert Patterson, deputy general counsel of Legg Mason Inc., parent of Legg Mason Wood Walker, declined to comment because he had not seen the lawsuit.