To Our Shareholders:
Gabelli Asset Management, Inc. (NYSE: GBL) reported its results for the first quarter ended
March 31, 2003. We are pleased to share with you the highlights.
Reflecting a 23% decline in assets under management, mostly related to the overall stock market,
revenues fell to $46.1 million in the first quarter of 2003 down 21% from the $58.0 million
reported in the prior year quarter. Operating income fell 35.6% to $16.3 million in the 2003
quarter versus $25.4 million in 2002. Net income was $9.3 million or $0.31 per diluted share in
2003 compared to $15.4 million or $0.51 per diluted share in 2002. Actual shares outstanding at
March 31, 2003 were 30,019,072 compared to 30,219,941 at March 31, 2002. From an analytical
point of view, adjusted cash and investments were $531 million at March 31, 2003, an increase
of $13 million from the $518 million at December 31, 2002 and up from $490 million at March 31,
2002. This amounted to approximately $13.46 per share net of debt. On a GAAP basis we have cash
and investments of $538 million at March 31, 2003 versus $535 million at December 31, 2002 and
$482 million at March 31, 2002.
Financial Results
After gaining ground early in January 2003, U.S. equity
markets declined during the remainder of the quarter with the
Standard and Poor’s 500, Russell 2000 and Morgan Stanley
Capital International World Index falling 3.2%, 4.5% and 5.0%,
respectively. Over the last twelve months these indices declined
24.8%, 27.0% and 23.8%, respectively. Against this backdrop
assets under management at March 31, 2003 were $20.1 billion
down 22.6% from record levels of $25.9 billion at March 31,
2002 and down 5.6% from $21.3 billion at December 31, 2002.
Average total assets under management were $20.7 billion
during the first quarter of 2003 versus $24.6 billion during the
first quarter of 2002. Our equity mutual funds and alternative
investment products experienced modest cash inflows during the
first quarter of 2003 which were offset by net cash outflows in
our institutional and separate accounts.
The decline in assets under management was larg e l y
responsible for the roughly 21% overall decline in total revenues
to $46.1 million for the first quarter of 2003 versus $58.0 million
in 2002. Investment advisory and incentive fees, which
comprise the largest portion of total revenues, totaled $39.6
million in 2003 versus $48.9 million in the first quarter of 2002
due to lower levels of assets under management.
Operating income declined 35.6% to $16.3 million in the first
quarter of 2003 compared to $25.4 million in 2002. Operating
margins were 35.5% down from 43.7% in the prior year quarter.
(If we were to exclude our two acquisitions, Woodland and
Grove from the 2003 first quarter, our operating margin was
36.1%.) We made the decision to add to our long-term strengths
in research and in client service. Total compensation costs, which
are largely variable in nature, declined 8.5% to $20.5 million in
2003 versus $22.4 million in the first quarter of 2002.
Compensation increased by $1.0 million as we added eleven
individuals to our sales, marketing and research staff since the
first quarter of 2002. Other operating expenses were unchanged
at $7.5 million in the first quarter of both 2003 and 2002. The
expensing of stock options, ($215,000 for the first quarter and
$1.5 million for the year), new product initiatives, insurance
premiums, benefit programs as well as costs from acquisitions
have all contributed to lower margins.
Management fee expense, which is totally variable and based
on pre-tax profits, declined 39.3% to $1.7 million from $2.7
million in the 2002 quarter.
Interest expense increased $0.3 million or 10.4% to $3.0
million in the first quarter of 2003 compared to $2.7 million in
the first quarter of 2002. The increase is attributable to having
approximately $85 million of mandatory convertible securities
outstanding ($90 million were issued in February 2002) for the
entire quarter in 2003 versus only two months in 2002.
Notwithstanding higher liquid investable assets, the combination
of lower interest rates and declining world equity markets
resulted in our proprietary investment earnings being down $0.4
million on a quarter to quarter basis.
The estimated effective tax rate for 2003 and calendar 2002 was
37.6%. Minority interest expense was unchanged quarter to quarter.
Investment, Business and Other Highlights - Positioning for Renewed Growth
We continue to position ourselves to improve investment
results, expand product offerings, improve client service,
marketing, research and portfolio management infrastructure
and invest in growth opportunities.
- Assets in our Non-Market Correlated Mutual Funds Group,
under the aegis of Henry Van der Eb, amounted to $712 million
at March 31, 2003, up 6% from $673 million at December 31,
2002, and 38% from $512 million a year earlier.
–The Ned Davis Research Asset Allocation Fund, launched
on March 31, 2003, is a new product offering in the Non-Market
Correlated Mutual Fund Group.
–The Comstock Capital Value Fund and Comstock Strategy
Fund both received first place awards for “consistent
performance relative to their peers” within their respective
categories, at the recent Lipper Fund Awards ceremony. The
Comstock funds, managed by Charles Minter and Martin
Weiner, were the only two funds with the same portfolio
managers to receive awards.
–Gabelli ABC Fund (inception May 14, 1993) is one of only
three equity-oriented funds, among 1,288 funds according to
Lipper Inc., which have had absolute total returns in each of the
last ten calendar years through 2002.
- Twelve Gabelli Mutual Funds, representing over 62% of our
total rated fund assets, have earned Morningstar Inc.’s overall
ratings of Five and Four Stars
- The Gabelli Convertible and Income Securities Fund Inc., a
closed-end diversified management investment company, raised
$50 million through an offering of two series of Preferred Stock
in March 2003
- During the second half of 2002 we continued building our
research team of security analysts and our institutional sales and
marketing staff. These additions, while negatively impacting
earnings in the short run, are essential to expanding our product
offerings including proprietary, fundamental sell-side research
for the institutional market
Outlook-Bleak to Bright
–Investors are “back to basics”. President Bush, as a
precondition for his reelection, will pull out all the stops. Lower
oil prices, rising confidence, record fiscal stimulus, and lower
interest rates should spark a pick up in the economy, especially
in the fourth quarter and first half of 2004. The stock market
generally anticipates economic recovery by six months.
–Our stock selection process, on the value side of Gabelli,
driven by our proprietary company and industry research,
continues to find fundamentally attractive investment
opportunities selling at discounts to private market value with
catalysts to trigger appreciation.
–We expect global merger, acquisition and restructuring
activity to continue to increase. In the U.S., regulatory reforms
for the utility, telecom, energ y, newspaper and broadcast
industries should provide catalysts. Deals for television, radio,
and newspaper firms are set to heat up after FCC regulators
meeting in June to decide easing the ban on same market
ownership of newspapers, TV and radio stations, as well as the
35% cap that limits how much of the national audience one
entity can reach. Banks and utilities are also ripe for another
round of consolidation.
Financial Strength and Flexibility
Our balance sheet remains strong with cash and liquid
investments totaling over $531 million at March 31, 2003 versus
$518 million at December 31, 2002. Our debt consists of a $100
million ten-year 6% convertible note and $84.2 million of
mandatory convertible securities which will be exchanged in
February 2005 for approximately two million Class A common
shares. Stockholders’ e q u i t y, including the mandatory
convertible securities, was $418.4 million at March 31, 2003
compared with $406.3 million at December 31, 2002 and $385.1
million at March 31, 2002. We include mandatory convertible
securities as equity since this instrument will be exchanged for
common shares in February 2005.
We continue our two Stock Repurchase Programs under
which the company may, from time to time, repurchase its Class
A common shares and its mandatory convertible securities in the
open market. During the first quarter of 2003 the Company
repurchased 7,417 Class A common shares at an aggregate
investment of $0.2 million and 15,300 shares of its mandatory
convertible securities at an aggregate investment of $0.3 million.
At March 31, 2003 we have $14.2 million available to purchase
Class A common shares and approvals to purchase an additional
466,500 shares of the mandatory convertible securities.
Outlook
Since we derive over 90% of our revenues from our equity
products, our firm’s profits are tied to the world equity market. Our
rising cost structure reflects increased distribution and our intense
focus on equity research where we have expanded our team of sellside
analysts and plan further additions opportunistically.
This will impact our short term earnings, as will higher costs
from expensing stock options, new product initiatives and
increased distribution expenses from our mutual funds.
However, we believe these initiatives provide the best cost
effective way to increase value for our clients as well as intrinsic
value for our shareholders on a longer-term basis. We note that
our liquidity is sufficient to take advantage of opportunities
including repurchasing our stock.
Mario J. Gabelli
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
Our disclosure and analysis in this report contain some
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements
give our current expectations or forecasts of future events.
You can identify these statements because they do not relate
strictly to historical or current facts. They use words such as
“anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “intend,”
“plan,” “believe,” and other words and terms of similar
meaning. They also appear in any discussion of future
operating or financial performance. In particular, these
include statements relating to future actions, future
performance of our products, expenses, the outcome of any
legal proceedings, and financial results. Although we believe
that we are basing our expectations and beliefs on reasonable
assumptions within the bounds of what we currently know
about our business and operations, there can be no assurance
that our actual results will not differ materially from what we
expect or believe. Some of the factors that could cause our
actual results to differ from our expectations or beliefs
include, without limitation: the adverse effect from a decline
in the securities markets; a decline in the performance of our
products; a general downturn in the economy; changes in
government policy or regulation; changes in our ability to
attract or retain key employees; and unforeseen costs and
other effects related to legal proceedings or investigations of
governmental and self-regulatory organizations. We also
direct your attention to any more specific discussions of risk
contained in our Form 10-K and other public filings. We are
providing these statements as permitted by the Private
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We do not undertake to
update publicly any forward-looking statements if we
subsequently learn that we are unlikely to achieve our
expectations or if we receive any additional information
relating to the subject matters of our forward-looking
statements.
|
Assets Under Management Grid
Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Income
Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition
Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income
PDF Version
|