N@N

Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2011 Results; Assets Under Management Increase 43% Year-over-year to Recor

^{Published on 2011-07-20 13:15:45 - Market Wire}
 

DALLAS--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. (NYSE: WHG) today reported 2011 second quarter revenues of $18.9 million, net income of $3.7 million and earnings per diluted share of $0.52. This compares to revenues of $13.2 million, net income of $2.5 million and earnings per diluted share of $0.34 in the second quarter of 2010. The second quarter 2011 results include the impact of a performance-based fee of approximately $991,000. Economic Earnings were $6.7 million compared to $5.2 million for the second quarter of 2010. Economic Earnings per share (aEconomic EPSa) were $0.94 per diluted share compared to $0.76 per diluted share for the second quarter of 2010. (Economic Earnings and Economic EPS are non-GAAP performance measures and are explained and reconciled with the most comparable GAAP numbers in the attached tables.)

Assets under management were $13.8 billion as of June 30, 2011, an increase of 43% compared to $9.7 billion as of June 30, 2010. The increase was primarily due to market appreciation of assets under management, the acquisition of McCarthy Group Advisors in November 2010 and asset inflows from new and existing clients, partially offset by the withdrawal of assets by certain clients. Mutual fund assets were $1.3 billion as of June 30, 2011, an increase of 98% compared to assets of $652 million as of June 30, 2010, driven by net asset inflows as well as market appreciation.

Brian Casey, Westwooda™s President & CEO, commented, aWhile market volatility returned in the second quarter, our investment teams produced returns ahead of the corresponding benchmarks for most of the products we manage. We posted record assets under management and generated the highest level of quarterly revenue in our history. Our WHG Funds continue to attract strong net inflows resulting in an organic growth rate for the funds of greater than 50% over the last twelve months.a

Westwooda™s Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.35 per common share payable on October 3, 2011 to stockholders of record on September 15, 2011.

For the six months ended June 30, 2011, Westwood reported revenues of $35.9 million, net income of $7.3 million and earnings per diluted share of $1.01, compared to revenues of $26.4 million, net income of $5.4 million and earnings per diluted share of $0.74, for the same 2010 period. First half 2011 results include the impact of a performance-based fee of approximately $991,000. Economic Earnings for the six months ended June 30, 2011 were $12.8 million compared to $10.0 million for the same period in 2010, while Economic EPS for the six months ended June 30, 2011 were $1.79 per diluted share compared to $1.48 per diluted share for the same period in 2010.

Total expenses for the second quarter were $12.9 million compared with $9.3 million for the second quarter of 2010. Economic Expenses were $10.0 million compared with $6.6 million for the second quarter of 2010. (An explanation and reconciliation of Economic Expenses to total expenses is included in the attached tables.)

Westwood will host a conference call to discuss second quarter 2011 results and other business updates at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time today. To join the conference call, dial 866-337-6663 (domestic) or 904-520-5771 (international). The conference call can also be accessed at [ www.westwoodgroup.com ] under the Investor Relations tab and will be available for replay through July 27 by dialing 888-284-7564 (domestic) or 904-596-3174 (international) and entering passcode 2591371.

About Westwood

Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. manages investment assets and provides services for its clients through two subsidiaries, Westwood Management Corp. and Westwood Trust. Westwood Management Corp. is a registered investment advisor and provides investment advisory services to corporate pension funds, public retirement plans, endowments, foundations, the WHG Funds, other mutual funds, individuals and clients of Westwood Trust. Westwood Trust provides trust services and participation in common trust funds that it sponsors to institutions and high net worth individuals. Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol aWHG.a

For more information on Westwood, please visit [ www.westwoodgroup.com ].

For more information on the WHG Funds, please visit [ www.whgfunds.com ].

Note on Forward-looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not purely historical facts, including statements about our expected future financial position, results of operations or cash flows, as well as other statements including words such as aanticipate,a abelieve,a aplan,a aestimate,a aexpect,a aintend,a ashould,a acould,a agoal,a atarget,a adesigned,a aon track,a acomfortable with,a aoptimistica and other similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Actual results and the timing of some events could differ materially from those projected in or contemplated by the forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including, without limitation: our ability to identify and successfully market services that appeal to our customers; the significant concentration of our revenues in four of our customers; our relationships with investment consulting firms; our relationships with current and potential customers; our ability to retain qualified personnel; our ability to successfully develop and market new asset classes; our ability to maintain our fee structure in light of competitive fee pressures; competition in the marketplace; downturns in the financial markets; new legislation adversely affecting the financial services industries; interest rates; changes in our effective tax rate; our ability to maintain an effective system of internal controls; and the other risks detailed from time to time in Westwooda™s SEC filings, including but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010 and its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31 and June 30, 2011. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, Westwood is not obligated to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

As supplemental information, we are providing non-GAAP performance measures that we refer to as Economic Earnings, Economic Earnings per share (or Economic EPS), and Economic Expenses. We provide these measures in addition to, not as a substitute for, net income, earnings per share and total expenses, which are reported on a GAAP basis. Management and our Board of Directors review Economic Earnings, Economic EPS and Economic Expenses to evaluate Westwooda™s ongoing performance, allocate resources and review dividend policy. We believe that these non-GAAP performance measures, while not substitutes for GAAP net income, earnings per share and total expenses, are useful for both management and investors when evaluating Westwooda™s underlying operating and financial performance and its available resources. We do not advocate that investors consider these non-GAAP measures without considering financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP.

We define Economic Earnings as net income plus non-cash equity-based compensation expense, amortization of intangible assets and deferred taxes related to goodwill. We define Economic Expenses as total expenses less non-cash equity-based compensation expense and amortization of intangible assets. Although depreciation on fixed assets is a non-cash expense, we do not add it back when calculating Economic Earnings or deduct it when calculating Economic Expenses because depreciation charges represent a decline in the value of the related assets that will ultimately require replacement. In addition, we do not adjust Economic Earnings for tax deductions related to restricted stock expense or amortization of intangible assets. Economic EPS represents Economic Earnings divided by diluted weighted average shares outstanding.

(WHG-G)