Janus Capital Group Inc.'s fourth-quarter net income fell 60% from a year earlier on slumping management fees caused by declining equity markets.
Money managers have struggled amid falling asset values, investor redemptions from mutual funds, and lower profit margins. Analysts projected such companies would book some of the worst numbers in years.
Janus, a Denver fund company, reported Thursday it had fourth-quarter net income of $7.8 million, or 5 cents a share. Revenue fell 43%, to $177.1 million. The average analyst surveyed by Thomson Reuters called for per-share earnings of 3 cents on $203 million of revenue.
Assets under management fell 40% from a year earlier and 23% from the previous quarter, and Janus had $3 billion of long-term net outflows in the fourth quarter. That decline in assets has hurt margins, and Janus said it will continue to do so this year.
Some of the company's largest funds have been punished by big bets on financials, energy, and other once-hot sectors. The Janus Twenty Fund loaded up on Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. right before Lehman collapsed last fall.
Janus is still looking for areas to expand. Last month it bought an additional 50% ownership interest in the value manager Perkins, Wolf, McDonnell and Co. LLC. The $90 million deal gave Janus an 80% stake in the Chicago firm. In addition, Janus is looking to bulk up in Asia, starting with markets such as Taiwan and China.
