Wealth business drives Canaccord earnings as M&A outlook improves

Wealth management drove profits at Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. in the latest quarter, as the firm’s capital markets business showed signs of life after a tough stretch for deal-making.

Canaccord reported revenue of $389.1 million for its third quarter, which ended Dec. 31 — an increase of 1.8% from a year earlier and 15.4% from the previous quarter.

Net income attributable to shareholders in the quarter was $14.3 million, compared to a $95.2-million loss a year earlier.

“We delivered our strongest quarterly result of the fiscal year, as our wealth management division continued to provide stable and growing earnings and our capital markets businesses returned to profitability, with a notable uptick in underwriting and advisory activities,” president and CEO Dan Daviau said in a release.

Canaccord’s combined global wealth management operations earned revenue of $195 million for the quarter, a year-over-year increase of 8.5%.

The firm’s Canadian wealth management business generated $77 million in third-quarter revenue, down 0.4% from a year earlier but up 8.8% from the previous quarter. Fee-related revenue in the division again grew by more than five percentage points for the quarter. Net income, excluding significant items, was $10.8 million in the most recent quarter, a year-over-year decrease of 12.6%.

Client assets in the Canadian wealth business totalled $36.3 billion on Dec. 31, an increase of 4.5% from a year earlier and 2.8% more than the previous quarter.

Globally, client assets in Canaccord’s wealth management business were $99.2 billion on Dec. 31, a year-over-year increase of 5.1%.

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.