Franklin Resources Inc.'s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings rose 22% amid investment gains and as assets under management increased.
An improving market has helped raise asset levels and brought investors back into the market. Rival fund operators T. Rowe Price Group Inc., Invesco Ltd. and Janus Capital Group Inc., which reported earnings last week, showed signs the sector is stabilizing, with assets under management increasing sequentially.
For the quarter ended Sept. 30, Franklin Resources reported Tuesday a profit of $367.4 million, or $1.60 a share, up from $300.5 million, or $1.28 a share, a year earlier. The latest period included $87.2 million net of investment and other income as well as $31.9 million of sponsored investment product gains, compared with year-earlier gains of $77.8 million for investment and other income and a loss of $35.5 million for sponsored investment products. Revenue fell 6%, to $1.24 billion as investment management fees fell 12%. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters most recently forecast earnings of $1.33 on revenue of $1.22 billion.
Assets under management rose to $523.4 billion at Sept. 30 from $451.2 billion at June 30, and $507.3 billion a year earlier. Net fund inflows were $12.2 billion in the quarter.
