Stifel Financial Corp. reported first-quarter net revenues of $1.48 billion, up 17.7% from $1.26 billion a year earlier, as net income available to common shareholders surged to $242.1 million from $43.7 million. Diluted earnings per share climbed to $1.48 from $0.26.
The company said the quarter benefited from stronger investment banking, asset management, transactional revenue, and net interest income, along with a gain from the sale of Stifel Independent Advisors, which closed on Feb. 2.
Global wealth management delivered net revenues of $932.1 million, up 9.6% from $850.6 million, while pre-tax net income rose to $330.7 million from $126.4 million. Transactional revenues increased 9% to $202.7 million, asset management revenues rose 12% to $459.4 million, and net interest income climbed 8% to $264.4 million. Total client assets reached $538.7 billion, up 10.9% from $485.9 billion, and fee-based client assets increased 15.9% to $219.9 billion from $189.7 billion.
The institutional group posted net revenues of $495.3 million, up 28.7% from $384.9 million a year ago, with pre-tax net income rising to $97.9 million from $27.4 million. Investment banking revenues jumped 44.5% to $335.3 million. Advisory revenue increased 58.8% to $218.4 million, equity capital raising rose 37.3% to $67.3 million, and fixed income capital raising gained 8.9% to $49.6 million. Fixed income transactional revenue climbed 11.9% to $100.0 million, while equity transactional revenue slipped 7.1% to $55.4 million.
At the company level, compensation expense as a percentage of net revenues fell to 57.4% from 58.3%, while non-compensation expense dropped to 20.5% from 36.7%. Pre-tax margin widened to 22.1% from 5.0%.
Stifel repurchased $224.4 million of common stock, or 2.8 million shares, in the quarter at an average price of $80.32, compared with $210.9 million for 3.0 million shares at $69.30 a year ago. Weighted average diluted shares outstanding fell to 163.4 million from 166.0 million.
Tangible book value per common share rose 12% to $24.89, and total assets increased $2.5 billion, or 6%, from a year earlier. The company’s tier 1 common capital ratio improved to 15.8% from 14.7%, and tier 1 capital rose to $4.53 billion from $4.16 billion. As a result of these announcements, the company's shares have moved -0.4% on the market, and are now trading at a price of $72.24. If you want to know more, read the company's complete 8-K report here.
