MutualFundWire.com
   The insiders' edge for 40 Act industry executives!
an InvestmentWires' Publication |
Monday, May 13, 2013 Three Things to Know from Calamos' Earnings Facing outflows and earnings decline, executives at Calamos are hoping that new blood and new products can bring about a turnaround. First, the basics, which you can glean from the SeekingAlpha earnings call transcript as well as the company's earnings document. Calamos reported non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of 24-cents for the first quarter (consensus was 17-cents) compared to 30-cents a year ago, with net income of of $5.1 million, compared to $6.3 million a year ago. Revenues were $71 million, compared to $85.3 million a year ago. Total AUM for the quarter were $29.3 billion, compared to $30.6 billion in the fourth quarter and $36.2 billion a year ago. The firm saw net outflows of $2.5 billion for the quarter. Calamos also repurchased 312,469 shares of common stock during the quarter. There were a number of interesting themes to be gleaned from the earnings call conference. Three important points include: POINT 1: Calamos Continues to Turn to New Blood POINT 2: Calamos Sees Product Variety, Including Alts, as Very Important POINT 3: Calamos is Buying Back a Lot of Stock Now to drill down on these points. POINT 1: Calamos Continues to Turn to New Blood It is important to note that this is a company that has already experienced some turnover in its talent. For example, former co-CIO Nick Calamos left the firm last Fall. In February, James Boyne was named president and chief operating officer. Former senior vice president and chief administrative officer Randall Zipfell left soon after. Chair and chief executive officer John Calamos expressed an interest in continued talent shuffling, saying at various points during the call the following:
POINT 2: Calamos Sees Product Variety, Including Alts, as Very Important The company really hopes new products can cut down on outflows. Calamos had this to say on the subject during various points in the earnings call: By product category, 57% of our total assets mix is open-end funds followed by 20% in our close-end funds, and 16% in our institutional strategies. Slide 5 breaks down the important developments for the quarter. As mentioned our total assets were down 4% for the quarter and 19% year-over-year. We experienced net outflows of $2.5 billion for the quarter, primarily U.S. growth strategy and some low volatility equity strategies, while we’ve had recent performance challenges, which I will address later in the presentation.POINT 3: Calamos is Buying Back a Lot of Stock Calamos has been buying back a fair bit of its own stock lately. Here is what Calamos had to say on the subject. One other important point here, last quarter, we approved a share buyback to repurchase up to 3 million shares of our Class A common stock. The company repurchased approximately 312,000 shares totalling $3.4 million during the first quarter as part of the buyback. I want to point out that there is – has been some confusion in the market respect to the repurchases in the Form-4 filing that are required to be made with the SEC.Nimish Bhatt, who is senior vice president, chief financial officer and head of fund administration at Calamos, had these additional insights to offer. On Slide 16, you’ll see our liquid investments consist of cash and investments totaling $486 million as of March 31, 2013, these balances represent the consolidated strength of our organization. We feel these levels are definitive supporter ongoing business operations and allow us to provide capital for new funds such as our recently filed Long/Short equity fund, while like conservative levels of capital for companies regulated subsidiaries, fund accompanies share repurchase program and invest in other corporate strategic initiatives. This strategy is an important part of our efforts to grow the business, maintained strong investment grade credit rating and reflect our philosophy of investing a long-side outlines.To learn more, SeekingAlpha earnings call transcript as well as the company's earnings document. Printed from: MFWire.com/story.asp?s=43859 Copyright 2013, InvestmentWires, Inc. All Rights Reserved |