home Equities T.U.UN Announces Second Quarter 2022 Results

T.U.UN Announces Second Quarter 2022 Results

Sprott Inc. (NYSE/TSX: SII) (“Sprott” or the “Company”) today announced its financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022.

Management commentary
“Assets Under Management (“AUM”) were $21.9 billion as at June 30, 2022, down $1.7 billion (7%) from March 31, 2022 and up $1.5 billion (7%) from December 31, 2021. While our AUM was negatively impacted on both a three and six months ended basis by market value depreciation across our fund products, we are pleased to have maintained strong sales momentum, reporting approximately $0.8 billion in net sales during the second quarter, and $2.2 billion in net sales for the first half of 2022,” said Whitney George, CEO of Sprott.

“Our resilient business model allows us to invest through the cycles irrespective of market conditions. We are actively developing new products in all of our asset management businesses. Notably, we continue to build scale in our ETF business through the completion of the previously announced acquisition of the North Shore Global Uranium Miners ETF (“URNM”) and, the recently announced launch of the Sprott ESG Gold ETF, the world’s first ETF to exclusively source and refine gold from globally recognized leaders in ESG based on special criteria developed by Sprott. Sprott is pleased to have partnered with Agnico Eagle, Yamana Gold and the Royal Canadian Mint on this new initiative,” concluded Mr. George.

Financial highlights1

Key AUM highlights

  • AUM was $21.9 billion as at June 30, 2022, down $1.7 billion (7%) from March 31, 2022 and up $1.5 billion (7%) from December 31, 2021. Our AUM was negatively impacted on both a three and six months ended basis by market value depreciation across our fund products. However, on a six months ended basis, our cumulative market value declines were offset by strong inflows to our physical trusts, private strategies and the onboarding of AUM from the URNM acquisition that added over $1 billion to our AUM in the quarter.

Key revenue highlights

  • Management fees were $30.6 million in the quarter, up $5.6 million (22%) from the quarter ended June 30, 2021 and $57.8 million on a year-to-date basis, up $10.3 million (22%) from the six months ended June 30, 2021. Carried interest and performance fees were nil in the quarter and $2 million on a year-to-date basis, down $5.9 million (74%) from the six months ended June 30, 2021. Net fees were $28.1 million in the quarter, up $4.9 million (21%) from the quarter ended June 30, 2021 and $53.6 million on a year-to-date basis, up $6.7 million (14%) from the six months ended June 30, 2021. Our revenue performance was primarily due to strong net inflows to our exchange listed products segment (primarily our physical uranium and gold trusts) and higher average AUM from the URNM acquisition. We also benefited from inflows to our private strategies segment. These increases were partially offset by lower carried interest crystallization in our private strategies segment on a year-to-date basis.
  • Commission revenues were $6.5 million in the quarter, down $0.9 million (12%) from the quarter ended June 30, 2021 and $19.5 million on a year-to-date basis, down $0.3 million (2%) from the six months ended June 30, 2021. Net commissions were $3.4 million in the quarter, down $0.8 million (20%) from the quarter ended June 30, 2021 and $10.1 million on a year-to-date basis, down $1.1 million (10%) from the six months ended June 30, 2021. Lower commissions were due to weaker mining equity origination activity in our brokerage segment that was partially offset by commissions earned on the purchase of uranium in our exchange listed products segment.
  • Finance income was $1.2 million in the quarter, up $0.3 million (27%) from the quarter ended June 30, 2021 and $2.6 million on a year to date basis, up $0.4 million (20%) from the six months ended June 30, 2021. Our results were primarily driven by higher income generation in co-investment positions we hold in LPs managed in our private strategies segment.

Key expense highlights

  • Net compensation expense was $13.9 million in the quarter, up $3.1 million (29%) from the quarter ended June 30, 2021 and $29.7 million on a year-to-date basis, up $7 million (31%) from the six months ended June 30, 2021. The increase was primarily due to higher long-term incentive plan (“LTIP”) amortization and higher salaries on new hires that were partially offset by lower annual incentive compensation (“AIP”).
  • SG&A was $4.2 million in the quarter, up $0.7 million (21%) from the quarter ended June 30, 2021 and $7.7 million on a year-to-date basis, up $0.8 million (12%) from the six months ended June 30, 2021. The increase was mainly due to higher marketing and technology costs.

1 See “non-IFRS financial measures” section on this press release and schedule 2 and 3 of “Supplemental financial information”

Earnings summary

  • Net income was $0.8 million ($0.03 per share) in the quarter, down 93%, or $10.3 million ($0.41 per share) from the quarter ended June 30, 2021 and $7.2 million on a year-to-date basis ($0.29 per share), down 49%, or $7.1 million ($0.28 per share) from the six months ended June 30, 2021.Adjusted base EBITDA was $17.9 million ($0.71 per share) in the quarter, up 19%, or $2.9 million ($0.11 per share) from the quarter ended June 30, 2021 and $36.1 million ($1.44 per share) on a year-to-date basis up 22%, or $6.4 million ($0.25 per share) from the six months ended June 30, 2021.

    Net income on both a three and six months ended basis was negatively impacted by net market value depreciation of our co-investments as a result of the recent pull back in market valuations across most global asset classes as well as unrealized market value declines on the mark-to-market of certain digital gold strategies. On a quarterly and year-to-date basis, Adjusted base EBITDA benefited from strong net inflows into our physical trusts (primarily our physical uranium and gold trusts), the URNM acquisition and inflows to our private strategies products. These increases were only partially offset by weaker mining equity origination activity in our brokerage segment.

Subsequent events

  • On August 1, 2022, the Sprott Board of Directors announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share.

Supplemental financial information

Please refer to the June 30, 2022 interim financial statements of the Company and the related management discussion and analysis filed earlier this morning for further details into the Company’s financial position as at June 30, 2022 and the company’s financial performance for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022.

Schedule 1 – AUM continuity

3 months results
(In millions $) AUM
Mar. 31, 2022
Net inflows (1) Market value changes Other (2) AUM
Jun. 30, 2022
Blended
net management
fee rate (3)
Exchange listed products
– Physical trusts
– Physical Gold Trust 5,887 219 (415 ) 5,691 0.35%
– Physical Gold and Silver Trust 4,302 (14 ) (462 ) 3,826 0.40%
– Physical Silver Trust 3,942 59 (734 ) 3,267 0.45%
– Physical Uranium Trust 3,144 210 (425 ) 2,929 0.30%
– Physical Platinum & Palladium Trust 164 5 (22 ) 147 0.50%
– Exchange Traded Funds
– Uranium ETFs 12 (296 ) 1,042 758 0.68%
– Gold ETFs 430 (1 ) (124 ) 305 0.35%
17,869 490 (2,478 ) 1,042 16,923 0.39%
Managed equities
– Precious metals strategies 2,364 (14 ) (636 ) 1,714 0.88%
– Other (4)(5) 1,239 15 (289 ) 965 1.14%
3,603 1 (925 ) 2,679 0.97%
Private strategies 1,441 302 (14 ) (118 ) 1,611 0.77%
Non-core AUM (6) 766 (34 ) 732 0.51%
Total (7) 23,679 793 (3,451 ) 924 21,945 0.49%
6 months results
(In millions $) AUM
Dec. 31, 2021
Net inflows (1) Market value changes Other (2) AUM
Jun. 30, 2022
Blended
net management
fee rate (3)
Exchange listed products
– Physical trusts
– Physical Gold Trust 5,008 809 (126 ) 5,691 0.35%
– Physical Gold and Silver Trust 4,094 (48 ) (220 ) 3,826 0.40%
– Physical Silver Trust 3,600 182 (515 ) 3,267 0.45%
– Physical Uranium Trust 1,769 849 311 2,929 0.30%
– Physical Platinum & Palladium Trust 132 24 (9 ) 147 0.50%
– Exchange Traded Funds
– Uranium ETFs 12 (296 ) 1,042 758 0.68%
– Gold ETFs 356 15 (66 ) 305 0.35%
14,959 1,843 (921 ) 1,042 16,923 0.39%
Managed equities
– Precious metals strategies 2,141 (7 ) (420 ) 1,714 0.88%
– Other (4)(5) 1,141 43 (219 ) 965 1.14%
3,282 36 (639 ) 2,679 0.97%
Private strategies 1,426 310 (7 ) (118 ) 1,611 0.77%
Non-core AUM (6) 776 (44 ) 732 0.51%
Total (7) 20,443 2,189 (1,611 ) 924 21,945 0.49%
(1) See ‘Net inflows’ in the key performance indicators and non-IFRS and other financial measures section of the MD&A.
(2) Includes new AUM from fund acquisitions and lost AUM from fund divestitures and capital distributions of our private strategies LPs.
(3) Management fee rate represents the weighted average fees for all funds in the category.
(4) Includes institutional managed accounts and high net worth discretionary managed accounts in the U.S.
(5) Prior year figures have been restated to confirm with current year presentation. See the “Business overview” section of the MD&A.
(6) Previously called Other, this AUM is related to our legacy asset management business in Korea, which accounted for less than 1% of consolidated net income and EBITDA.
(7) No performance fees are earned on exchange listed products. Performance fees are earned on all precious metals strategies (other than bullion funds) and are based on returns above relevant benchmarks. Other managed equities strategies primarily earn performance fees on flow-through products. Private strategies LPs earn carried interest calculated as a pre-determined net profit over a preferred return.

Schedule 2 – Summary financial information

(In thousands $) Q2
2022
Q1
2022
Q4
2021
Q3
2021
Q2
2021
Q1
2021
Q4
2020
Q3
2020
Summary income statements
Management fees 30,620 27,172 27,783 28,612 25,062 22,452 22,032 19,934
Trailer, sub-advisor and fund expense (1,258 ) (853 ) (872 ) (637 ) (552 ) (599 ) (583 ) (527 )
Direct payouts (1,272 ) (1,384 ) (1,367 ) (1,892 ) (1,198 ) (890 ) (695 ) (476 )
Carried interest and performance fees 2,046 4,298 7,937 10,075
Carried interest and performance fee payouts – internal (1,029 ) (2,516 ) (126 ) (4,580 ) (5,529 )
Carried interest and performance fee payouts – external (1) (476 ) (790 ) (595 )
Net fees 28,090 25,476 26,536 26,083 23,186 23,725 25,300 18,931
Commissions 6,458 13,077 14,153 11,273 7,377 12,463 6,761 9,386
Commission expense – internal (2,034 ) (3,134 ) (4,128 ) (3,089 ) (3,036 ) (5,289 ) (2,093 ) (3,313 )
Commission expense – external (1) (978 ) (3,310 ) (3,016 ) (2,382 ) (49 ) (253 ) (98 ) (344 )
Net Commissions 3,446 6,633 7,009 5,802 4,292 6,921 4,570 5,729
Finance income 1,186 1,433 788 567 932 1,248 1,629 757
Gain (loss) on investments (7,884 ) (1,473 ) (43 ) 310 2,502 (4,652 ) (3,089 ) 4,408
Other income 170 208 313 529 438 303 949 914
Total net revenues 25,008 32,277 34,603 33,291 31,350 27,545 29,359 30,739
Compensation 19,364 21,789 20,632 18,001 15,452 22,636 20,193 16,280
Direct payouts (1,272 ) (1,384 ) (1,367 ) (1,892 ) (1,198 ) (890 ) (695 ) (476 )
Carried interest and performance fee payouts – internal (1,029 ) (2,516 ) (126 ) (4,580 ) (5,529 )
Commission expense – internal (2,034 ) (3,134 ) (4,128 ) (3,089 ) (3,036 ) (5,289 ) (2,093 ) (3,313 )
Severance, new hire accruals and other (2) (2,113 ) (514 ) (187 ) (207 ) (293 ) (44 ) (65 ) (210 )
Net compensation 13,945 15,728 12,434 12,813 10,799 11,833 11,811 12,281
Severance, new hire accruals and other 2,113 514 187 207 293 44 65 210
Selling, general and administrative 4,221 3,438 4,172 3,682 3,492 3,351 2,320 2,465
Interest expense 483 480 239 312 260 350 331 320
Depreciation and amortization 959 976 1,136 1,134 1,165 1,117 1,023 992
Other expenses 868 1,976 2,910 3,875 876 4,918 4,528 4,154
Total expenses 22,589 23,112 21,078 22,023 16,885 21,613 20,078 20,422
Net income 757 6,473 10,171 8,718 11,075 3,221 6,720 8,704
Net Income per share 0.03 0.26 0.41 0.35 0.44 0.13 0.27 0.36
Adjusted base EBITDA 17,909 18,173 17,705 16,713 15,050 14,605 14,751 12,024
Adjusted base EBITDA per share 0.71 0.73 0.71 0.67 0.60 0.59 0.60 0.49
Operating margin 55% 57% 55% 52% 52% 51% 51% 47%
Summary balance sheet
Total assets 376,128 380,843 365,873 375,819 361,121 356,986 377,348 358,300
Total liabilities 89,264 83,584 74,654 84,231 64,081 67,015 86,365 81,069
Total AUM 21,944,675 23,679,354 20,443,088 19,016,313 18,550,106 17,073,078 17,390,389 16,259,184
Average AUM 23,388,568 21,646,082 20,229,119 19,090,702 18,343,846 17,188,205 16,719,815 16,705,046
(1) These amounts are included in the “Trailer, sub-advisor and fund expenses” line on the consolidated statements of operations.
(2) The majority of the Q2 2022 amount is compensation and other transition payments to the former CEO that will be paid out over 3 years.

Schedule 3 – EBITDA reconciliation

3 months ended 6 months ended
(in thousands $) Jun. 30, 2022 Jun. 30, 2021 Jun. 30, 2022 Jun. 30, 2021
Net income for the periods 757 11,075 7,230 14,296
Adjustments:
Interest expense 483 260 963 610
Provision for income taxes 1,662 3,390 4,354 6,101
Depreciation and amortization 959 1,165 1,935 2,282
EBITDA 3,861 15,890 14,482 23,289
Other adjustments:
(Gain) loss on investments (1) 7,884 (2,502 ) 9,357 2,150
Amortization of stock based compensation 3,101 423 7,278 796
Other expenses (2) 3,063 1,113 5,506 6,056
Adjusted EBITDA 17,909 14,924 36,623 32,291
Other adjustments:
Carried interest and performance fees (2,046 ) (7,937 )
Carried interest and performance fee payouts – internal 126 1,029 4,706
Carried interest and performance fee payouts – external 476 595
Adjusted base EBITDA 17,909 15,050 36,082 29,655
Operating margin (3) 55 % 52 % 56 % 51 %

(1) This adjustment removes the income effects of certain gains or losses on short-term investments, co-investments, and digital gold strategies to ensure the reporting objectives of our EBITDA metric as described below are met.

(2) In addition to the items outlined in Note 5 of the interim financial statements, this reconciliation line also includes $2.1 million severance, new hire accruals and other for the three months ended June 30, 2022 (three months ended June 30, 2021 – $0.3 million) and $2.6 million for the six months ended (six months ended June 30, 2021 – $0.3 million). This reconciliation line excludes income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interest of ($0.1) million for the three months ended June 30, 2022 and a nominal loss for the six months ended June 30, 2022 (three and six months ended June 30, 2021 – $0.1 million).

(3) Calculated as adjusted base EBITDA inclusive of depreciation and amortization. This figure is then divided by revenues before gains (losses) on investments, net of direct costs as applicable.

Conference Call and Webcast

A webcast will be held today, August 2, 2022 at 10:00 am ET to discuss the Company’s financial results. To listen to the webcast, please register at

https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/nnm2fbz4.

Please note, analysts who cover the company should register at https://register.vevent.com/register/BI3a8f92db523d446294ec50bcf3e57349 to participate in the live Q&A session.

Non-IFRS Financial Measures

This press release includes financial terms (including AUM, net revenues, net commissions, net fees, expenses, adjusted base EBITDA, net compensation) that the Company utilizes to assess the financial performance of its business that are not measures recognized under International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”). These non-IFRS measures should not be considered alternatives to performance measures determined in accordance with IFRS and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Non-IFRS financial measures do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Our key performance indicators and non-IFRS and other financial measures are discussed below. For quantitative reconciliations of non-IFRS financial measures to their most directly comparable IFRS financial measures please see schedule 2 and schedule 3 of the “Supplemental financial information” section of this press release.

Net fees

Management fees, net of trailer, sub-advisor, fund expenses and direct payouts, and carried interest and performance fees, net of carried interest and performance fee payouts (internal and external), are key revenue indicators as they represent the net revenue contribution after directly associated costs that we generate from our AUM.

Net commissions

Commissions, net of commission expenses (internal and external), arise primarily from transaction-based service offerings of our brokerage segment and purchases and sales of uranium in our exchange listed products segment.

Net compensation

Net compensation excludes commission expenses paid to employees, other direct payouts to employees, carried interest and performance fee payouts to employees, which are all presented net of their related revenues in the MD&A, and severance, new hire accruals and other which are non-recurring.

EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted base EBITDA

EBITDA in its most basic form is defined as earnings before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization. EBITDA is a measure commonly used in the investment industry by management, investors and investment analysts in understanding and comparing results by factoring out the impact of different financing methods, capital structures, amortization techniques and income tax rates between companies in the same industry. While other companies, investors or investment analysts may not utilize the same method of calculating EBITDA (or adjustments thereto), the Company believes its adjusted base EBITDA metric, in particular, results in a better comparison of the Company’s underlying operations against its peers and a better indicator of recurring results from operations as compared to other non-IFRS financial measures.

Forward Looking Statements
Although the Company believes that the Forward-Looking Statements are reasonable, they are not guarantees of future results, performance or achievements. A number of factors or assumptions have been used to develop the Forward-Looking Statements, including: (i) the impact of increasing competition in each business in which the Company operates will not be material; (ii) quality management will be available; (iii) the effects of regulation and tax laws of governmental agencies will be consistent with the current environment; (iv) the impact of COVID-19; and (v) those assumptions disclosed under the heading “Critical Accounting Estimates, Judgments and Changes in Accounting Policies” in the Company’s MD&A for the period ended June 30, 2022. Actual results, performance or achievements could vary materially from those expressed or implied by the Forward-Looking Statements should assumptions underlying the Forward-Looking Statements prove incorrect or should one or more risks or other factors materialize, including: (i) difficult market conditions; (ii) poor investment performance; (iii) failure to continue to retain and attract quality staff; (iv) employee errors or misconduct resulting in regulatory sanctions or reputational harm; (v) performance fee fluctuations; (vi) a business segment or another counterparty failing to pay its financial obligation; (vii) failure of the Company to meet its demand for cash or fund obligations as they come due; (viii) changes in the investment management industry; (ix) failure to implement effective information security policies, procedures and capabilities; (x) lack of investment opportunities; (xi) risks related to regulatory compliance; (xii) failure to manage risks appropriately; (xiii) failure to deal appropriately with conflicts of interest; (xiv) competitive pressures; (xv) corporate growth which may be difficult to sustain and may place significant demands on existing administrative, operational and financial resources; (xvi) failure to comply with privacy laws; (xvii) failure to successfully implement succession planning; (xviii) foreign exchange risk relating to the relative value of the U.S. dollar; (xix) litigation risk; (xx) failure to develop effective business resiliency plans; (xxi) failure to obtain or maintain sufficient insurance coverage on favourable economic terms; (xxii) historical financial information being not necessarily indicative of future performance; (xxiii) the market price of common shares of the Company may fluctuate widely and rapidly; (xxiv) risks relating to the Company’s investment products; (xxv) risks relating to the Company’s proprietary investments; (xxvi) risks relating to the Company’s lending business; (xxvii) risks relating to the Company’s brokerage business; (xxviii) those risks described under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Company’s annual information form dated February 24, 2022; and (xxix) those risks described under the headings “Managing Financial Risks” and “Managing Non-Financial Risks” in the Company’s MD&A for the period ended June 30, 2022. In addition, the payment of dividends is not guaranteed and the amount and timing of any dividends payable by the Company will be at the discretion of the Board of Directors of the Company and will be established on the basis of the Company’s earnings, the satisfaction of solvency tests imposed by applicable corporate law for the declaration and payment of dividends, and other relevant factors. The Forward-Looking Statements speak only as of the date hereof, unless otherwise specifically noted, and the Company does not assume any obligation to publicly update any Forward-Looking Statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be expressly required by applicable securities laws.

About Sprott

Sprott is a global leader in precious metal and real asset investments. We are specialists. Our in-depth knowledge, experience and relationships separate us from the generalists. Our investment strategies include Exchange Listed Products, Managed Equities, Private Strategies and Brokerage. Sprott has offices in Toronto, New York and London and the company’s common shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol (SII). For more information, please visit www.sprott.com.

Investor contact information:

Glen Williams
Managing Director
Investor and Institutional Client Relations;
Head of Corporate Communications
(416) 943-4394
gwilliams@sprott.com

Source: Sprott Asset Management