FBR & Co. Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2015 Financial Results
Declares $0.20 Per Share Quarterly Cash Dividend
Financial Highlights for the Year Ended December 31, 2015:
ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 10, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FBR & Co. (NASDAQ:FBRC) ("FBR" or the “Company"), a leading investment bank serving the middle market, today reported a net loss of $7.5 million, or $0.92 per share, for the year ended December 31, 2015, compared to net income of $17.0 million, or $1.48 per diluted share in 2014. The pre-tax loss for 2015 was $15.8 million on revenue of $120.4 million, compared with pre-tax income of $17.4 million on revenue of $182.1 million in 2014. For the quarter ended December 31, 2015, the net after-tax loss was $4.4 million, or $0.59 per share, compared to net after-tax earnings of $0.9 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2014 and a net after-tax loss of $3.4 million, or $0.43 per share, in the third quarter of 2015. Pre-tax operating loss for the fourth quarter of 2015 was $10.0 million, compared to losses of $3.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2014 and $6.3 million in the third quarter of 2015. Fourth quarter 2015 revenues were $23.5 million, compared to $28.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2014 and $25.6 million in the third quarter of 2015. “Despite a difficult environment over the course of 2015, we completed important transactions across all of our verticals with Energy in particular being a meaningful contributor throughout the year. Additionally, we further lowered our non-compensation fixed costs and maintained our commitment to returning capital to shareholders,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Richard J. Hendrix. “Market challenges have intensified in early 2016 making us cautious about the near term outlook for capital markets activities. However, we are confident that over the course of the coming year we will take advantage of market dislocations to deliver alpha-generating investment ideas and transactions to our clients.” 2015 Composition of Revenues Investment Banking Investment banking revenue was $71.1 million in 2015, compared to $115.3 million in 2014. Full-year revenues were generated by 51 client engagements representing a total of $9.3 billion in transaction volume, compared to 55 client engagements representing $11.0 billion in transaction volume in 2014. The decline in year-over-year revenue primarily reflects the completion of fewer and smaller sole-managed private transactions – 2015 revenue included four 144As with an average deal size of $162 million, compared to six 144As with an average deal size of $206 million in 2014. Institutional Brokerage Net revenue generated in institutional brokerage was $53.5 million in 2015, compared to $59.0 million in 2014. This decrease in 2015 resulted from lower trading volumes in the cash equities business and lower capital committed to convertible and credit trading businesses – which translated to decreased revenue; partially offset by the impact of a full-year of operations for our securities lending business, added in August of 2014. Investment Income, Net Interest Income and Dividends The Company recorded investment losses, including interest and dividends, of $4.2 million in 2015, compared to investment income of $7.9 million in 2014. Investment positions were significantly reduced during 2015, ending the year at approximately $87 million. The Company expects to reduce positions further throughout the first half of 2016. 2015 Expenses Non-compensation fixed expenses for the year ended December 31, 2015 totaled $41.9 million, compared to $43.9 million in 2014. Compensation and benefits expense for the year ended December 31, 2015 was $77.5 million, compared to $103.8 million in 2014. The year-over-year decline in compensation is directly related to lower revenue year-over-year. The compensation-to-net revenue ratio was 64 percent for the full-year 2015, compared to 57 percent in 2014. Employees At December 31, 2015, the Company had 303 full-time employees, compared to 304 at September 30, 2015 and 300 at December 31, 2014. Share Repurchase Activity During the fourth quarter, the Company repurchased 376 thousand shares of its common stock at an average price of $20.51 per share. For the year ending December 31, 2015, repurchases totaled 1.9 million shares at an average price per share of $23.19 for a total of $45.2 million. Today the Board approved an increase in the Company’s available repurchase authorization to 1.0 million shares. Since 2010, FBR has repurchased 11.4 million shares returning capital of over $225 million to shareholders. Quarterly Dividend The Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.20 per common share to be paid March 4, 2016 to all shareholders of record as of the close of business on February 22, 2016. Balance Sheet As of December 31, 2015, FBR continues to maintain an unlevered and highly liquid balance sheet with shareholders’ equity of $211 million, including cash and cash equivalents of $70 million. This compares to equity of $260 million with cash and cash equivalents of $109 million, as of December 31, 2014. FBR’s repurchase of its common stock was the primary driver of the reduction in the cash and cash equivalents balance in 2015. Tangible book value per share was $27.83 with 7.347 million shares outstanding as of December 31, 2015. Conference Call Investors wishing to listen to the earnings call at 9:00 A.M. U.S. EST, Thursday, February 11, 2016, may do so via the Web or conference call at: Webcast link: http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/cip4bgsg Conference call dial-in number (domestic, toll-free): 855.425.4204 Conference call dial-in number (international): 484.756.4245 Access code: 27381527 About FBR FBR & Co. (Nasdaq:FBRC) provides investment banking, merger and acquisition advisory, institutional brokerage, and research services through its subsidiaries FBR Capital Markets & Co. and MLV & Co. FBR focuses capital and financial expertise on the following industry sectors: consumer; energy & natural resources; financial institutions; healthcare; insurance; industrials; real estate; and technology, media & telecom. FBR is headquartered in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area with offices throughout the United States. For more information, please visit www.fbr.com. Statements in this release concerning future performance, developments, events, market forecasts, revenues, expenses, earnings, run rates and any other guidance on present or future periods constitute forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of factors, risks and uncertainties that might cause actual results to differ materially from stated expectations or current circumstances. These factors include, but are not limited to, the effect of demand for public and private securities offerings, activity in the secondary securities markets, interest rates, the risks associated with merchant banking investments, the realization of gains and losses on principal investments, available technologies, competition for business and personnel, and general economic, political and market conditions. Financial results may fluctuate substantially from quarter-to-quarter depending on the number, size and timing of completed transactions. We have experienced, and expect to experience in the future, significant variations in our revenues and results of operations and, as a result, are unlikely to achieve steady and predictable earnings on a quarterly basis. For a discussion of these and other risks and important factors that could affect FBR's future results and financial condition, see "Risk Factors" in Part I, Item 1A and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in Part II, Item 7 of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014; and other items throughout the Company's Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. Financial data follows.
Contacts: Media: Shannon Hawkins at 703.469.1190 or shawkins@fbr.com Investors: Linda E. Eddy at 703.312.9715 or leddy@fbr.com |
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