Guardian Capital Group Limited (TSX: GCG; GCG.A) Announces 2021 Second Quarter Operating Results

TORONTO, Aug. 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- All per share figures disclosed below are stated on a diluted basis.

The Company is once again reporting historic highs in many key financial metrics for the quarter ended June 30, 2021, including Net revenue, Operating earnings, EBITDA attributable to shareholders, Adjusted cash flow from operations attributable to shareholders, assets under management (“AUM”) and assets under administration (“AUA”).

The Company’s total client assets, which include AUM and AUA, increased to $81.5 billion as at June 30, 2021, a 19% increase from $68.3 billion as at December 31, 2020, and a 59% increase from $51.2 billion as at June 30, 2020. AUM grew to $51.6 billion as at June 30, 2021, a 12% increase from $46.0 billion as at December 31, 2020, and a 66% increase from $31.2 billion as at June 30, 2020. The continued recovery in the global financial markets, and the strong inflow of assets experienced by GuardCap Asset Management Limited (“GuardCap”), our UK-based investment management subsidiary, and the acquisition of Agincourt in Q4 2020 drove the growth in AUM. GuardCap’s AUM has grown to $15.0 billion as at June 30, 2021, representing a $4.3 billion growth since the beginning of the current year. The Company’s AUA grew to $29.9 billion as at June 30, 2021, a 34% increase from $22.3 billion as at December 31, 2020 and a 49% increase from $20.0 billion as at June 30, 2020. The acquisition of a Canadian wealth management business on March 1, 2021, which was subsequently renamed Guardian Partners Inc., added $5.4 billion in total client assets in the first quarter of 2021, of which $5.1 billion was included in AUA and $0.3 billion in AUM.

The Company is reporting Operating earnings of $21.2 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2021, 58% or $7.8 million higher than the $13.4 million reported in the second quarter of 2020. The significant growth experienced by the Company’s businesses was led by GuardCap, IDC Worldsource Insurance Network Inc., our MGA subsidiary and, to a lesser extent, the contributions from the businesses acquired over the past three quarters.

Net revenue for the current quarter grew to a historic high of $70.0 million, 40% or $19.9 million higher than the $50.1 million reported in the same quarter in the prior year. The increase reflects largely our successful organic growth in revenues and, to a lesser extent, the addition of revenues from the acquired businesses over the same period.

Expenses in the current quarter were $48.8 million, a $12.1 million increase from $36.7 million in the same quarter in the prior year. The higher expenses reflect the growth in our businesses, strategic investments being made in the Canadian Retail Asset Management initiative and the addition of $5.3 million in new expenses from the acquired businesses over the same period.

Global equity markets continued to experience positive performance during the current quarter, resulting in Net gains of $56.5 million in the current quarter.

As a result of the Net gains and Operating earnings described above, the Company's Net earnings attributable to shareholders in the current quarter were $65.1 million, compared to $50.5 million in the same quarter in 2020.

EBITDA attributable to shareholders⁽¹⁾ for the current quarter was $24.7 million, compared to $17.3 million in the same period in the prior year. Adjusted cash flow from operations attributable to shareholders⁽¹⁾ for the current quarter was $19.2 million, compared to $15.4 million in the same quarter in the prior year. The increases of 43% and 25%, respectively, in these measures are reflective of the growth delivered by the Company’s operating businesses.

The Company’s Shareholders’ equity as at June 30, 2021 increased to $780 million, or $29.09 per share⁽¹⁾, from $700 million, or $25.69 per share⁽¹⁾ as at December 31, 2020, and $596 million, or $22.07 per share⁽¹⁾ as at June 30, 2020. The fair value of the Company’s Securities as at June 30, 2021 increased to $698 million, or $26.03 per share⁽¹⁾, from $633 million, or $23.23 per share⁽¹⁾ as at December 31, 2020 and $511 million, or $18.92 per share⁽¹⁾ as at June 30, 2020.

The Board of Directors has declared a quarterly eligible dividend of $0.18 per share, payable on October 18, 2021, to shareholders of record on October 11, 2021.

The Company's financial results for the past eight quarters are summarized in the following table.  

Guardian Capital Group Limited is a diversified financial services company founded in 1962. The Company is headquartered in Canada and also has offices in the United Kingdom, the United States and the Caribbean. It provides investment and wealth management services to clients and services to financial advisors in its national mutual fund dealer, securities dealer, and life insurance managing general agency. Its Common and Class A shares are listed on The Toronto Stock Exchange.

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⁽¹⁾The Company's management uses EBITDA attributable to shareholders (formerly EBITDA), including the per share amount, Adjusted cash flow from operations attributable to shareholders (formerly Adjusted cash flow from operations), including the per share amount, Shareholders' equity per share and Securities per share to evaluate and assess the performance of its business. These measures do not have standardized measures under International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"), and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. However, management believes that most shareholders, creditors, other stakeholders and investment analysts prefer to include the use of these measures in analyzing the Company's results. The Company defines EBITDA as net earnings before interest, income taxes, amortization, stock-based compensation, net gains or losses, less amounts attributable to non-controlling interests. The Company defines Adjusted cash flow from operations attributable to shareholders (formerly Adjusted cash flow from operations) as net cash from operating activities, net of changes in non-cash working capital items and non-controlling interests. The most comparable IFRS measures are Net earnings, which were $66.8 million in 2021 (2020 - $51.2 million), and Net cash from operating activities, which was $26.4 million in 2021 (2020 - $24.8 million). The per share amounts for EBITDA attributable to shareholders, Adjusted cash flow from operations attributable to shareholders, Shareholders' equity and Securities are calculated by dividing the amounts by diluted shares, which Is calculated in a manner similar to net earnings attributable to shareholders per share. More detailed descriptions of these non-IFRS measures are provided in the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis, including a reconciliation of these measures to their most comparable IFRS measures.