Legg Mason Profit Rises 19% in Fiscal 2Q

Legg Mason Tuesday announced its earnings during the fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30 rose 19% to $143.7 million from $121 million during the same period a year earlier. This earned shareholders $1 per share, versus 99 cents per share from a year ago, slightly below analysts’ average estimates of $1.02 a share.

Revenue, however, came in on target, more than doubling to $1.03 billion, up from $466.4 million a year earlier.

Legg Mason said its profits were aided by its acquisition of the asset management division of Citigroup and of hedge fund Permal Group.

Assets under management rose 4% from the previous quarter to reach $891.4 billion. Legg Mason Chairman and CEO Raymond “Chip” Mason acknowledged that some funds turned in poor performance. “While we were certainly disappointed by the results for the September quarter, we are encouraged by the fact that we entered the December quarter with higher levels of assets under management and a better market environment,” Mason said.

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