Sprott Announces Third Quarter 2022 Results

Rhea-AI Summary

Sprott announced its financial results for Q3 and the first nine months of 2022, highlighting a 21 billion AUM, down 4% from Q2. Despite market depreciation, strong inflows from physical trusts and the North Shore Global Uranium Mining ETF acquisition largely offset losses. Management fees rose 2% year-over-year to 29.2 million, while carried interest dropped significantly by 74%. Net income fell 65% to 3.1 million, impacted by FX losses and a legacy legal claim. A quarterly dividend of 0.25 per share was declared.

Positive

• Strong inflows into physical trusts and private strategies.
• Acquisition of North Shore Global Uranium Mining ETF added 1 billion to AUM.
• Management fees increased 2% year-over-year.
• Adjusted base EBITDA rose 14% year-to-date.

Negative

• AUM decreased 4% from previous quarter due to market depreciation.
• Net income dropped 65% compared to Q3 2021.
• Carried interest and performance fees fell by 74% year-to-date.
• Commission revenues decreased 46% in the quarter.

TORONTO, Nov. 04, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sprott Inc. (NYSE/TSX: SII) (“Sprott” or the “Company”) today announced its financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022.

Management commentary
“Sprott delivered solid results during the third quarter as we remained focused on executing our strategy against a backdrop of ongoing market turbulence. Assets Under Management ("AUM") were $21 billion as at September 30, 2022, down $0.9 billion (4%) from June 30, 2022 and up $0.6 billion (3%) from December 31, 2021. On both a three and nine months ended basis, the declines were due to market value depreciation across our fund products. However, year-to-date, the negative market impacts have been more than offset by strong inflows to our physical trusts, private strategies and the acquisition of the North Shore Global Uranium Mining ETF," said Whitney George, CEO of Sprott.

"Energy transition is an increasingly important investment theme for Sprott. Over the past year, we have built a strong following in the space due to the success of our uranium vehicles and, during the third quarter, we launched an actively-managed strategy focused on energy transition materials. We expect this area to be a growth driver for our business going forward," added Mr. George.

Financial highlights¹

Key AUM highlights

• AUM was $21 billion as at September 30, 2022, down $0.9 billion (4%) from June 30, 2022 and up $0.6 billion (3%) from December 31, 2021. Our AUM was negatively impacted on both a three and nine months ended basis by market value depreciation across our fund products. However, on a nine months ended basis, our cumulative market value declines were more than offset by strong inflows to our physical trusts, private strategies and the onboarding of AUM on the closure of North Shore Global Uranium Mining ETF acquisition (“URNM acquisition”), adding $1 billion to our AUM in the second quarter.
  

Key revenue highlights

• Management fees were $29.2 million in the quarter, up $0.5 million (2%) from the quarter ended September 30, 2021 and $87 million on a year-to-date basis, up $10.8 million (14%) from the nine months ended September 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 nine months ended September 30, 2021. Net fees were $26.8 million in the quarter, up $0.7 million (3%) from the quarter ended September 30, 2021 and $80.3 million on a year-to-date basis, up $7.3 million (10%) from the nine months ended September 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. These increases were partially offset by lower average AUM in our managed equities segment and lower carried interest crystallization in our private strategies segment on a year-to-date basis.
• Commission revenues were $6.1 million in the quarter, down $5.2 million (46%) from the quarter ended September 30, 2021 and $25.6 million on a year-to-date basis, down $5.5 million (18%) from the nine months ended September 30, 2021. Net commissions were $3.2 million in the quarter, down $2.6 million (44%) from the quarter ended September 30, 2021 and $13.3 million on a year-to-date basis, down $3.7 million (22%) from the nine months ended September 30, 2021. Lower commissions were due to weaker mining equity origination activity in our brokerage segment and lower commissions earned in the quarter on the purchase of uranium in our exchange listed products segment.
• Finance income was $0.9 million in the quarter, up $0.4 million (65%) from the quarter ended September 30, 2021 and $3.6 million on a year to date basis, up $0.8 million (29%) from the nine months ended September 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 $14.1 million in the quarter, up $1.3 million (10%) from the quarter ended September 30, 2021 and $43.8 million on a year-to-date basis, up $8.3 million (23%) from the nine months ended September 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 $0.6 million (15%) from the quarter ended September 30, 2021 and $11.9 million on a year-to-date basis, up $1.4 million (13%) from the nine months ended September 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 $3.1 million ($0.12 per share) in the quarter, down 65%, or $5.6 million ($0.23 per share) from the quarter ended September 30, 2021 and $10.3 million on a year-to-date basis ($0.41 per share), down 55%, or $12.7 million ($0.51 per share) from the nine months ended September 30, 2021. Our results were negatively impacted by FX translation losses and the settlement of a legacy legal claim. Our earnings were also impacted by net market value depreciation of our co-investments and digital gold strategies on a year-to-date basis.
• Adjusted base EBITDA was $16.8 million ($0.67 per share) in the quarter, up 1%, or $0.1 million from the quarter ended September 30, 2021 and $52.9 million ($2.11 per share) on a year-to-date basis up 14%, or $6.6 million ($0.25 per share) from the nine months ended September 30, 2021. Our results benefited from strong net inflows into our physical trusts (primarily our physical uranium and gold trusts) and the URNM acquisition. These increases were only partially offset by weaker mining equity origination activity in our brokerage segment and lower AUM in our managed equities segment.

Subsequent events

• On November 3, 2022, the Sprott Board of Directors announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share.
  

Supplemental financial information

Please refer to the September 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 September 30, 2022 and the Company's financial performance for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022.

Schedule 1 - AUM continuity

3 months results
(In millions $)	AUM June 30, 2022	Net inflows (1)	Market value changes	Other (2)	AUM Sep. 30, 2022		Blended net management fee rate (3)
Exchange listed products
- Physical trusts
- Physical Gold Trust	5,691	12	(468)	—	5,235		0.35%
- Physical Gold and Silver Trust	3,826	(12)	(291)	—	3,523		0.40%
- Physical Silver Trust	3,267	75	(207)	—	3,135		0.45%
- Physical Uranium Trust	2,929	45	(131)	—	2,843		0.30%
- Physical Platinum & Palladium Trust	147	(7)	7	—	147		0.50%
- Exchange Traded Funds
- Uranium ETFs	758	24	102	—	884		0.68%
- Gold ETFs	305	24	(43)	—	286		0.35%
	16,923	161	(1,031)	—	16,053		0.39%
Managed equities
- Precious metals strategies	1,714	(48)	(162)	—	1,504		0.89%
- Other (4)(5)	965	6	(68)	—	903		1.20%
	2,679	(42)	(230)	—	2,407		1.00%
Private strategies	1,611	382	(6)	(91)	1,896		0.75%
Non-core AUM (6)	732	—	(44)	—	688		0.51%
Total (7)	21,945	501	(1,311)	(91)	21,044		0.50%
9 months results
(In millions $)	AUM Dec. 31, 2021	Net inflows (1)	Market value changes	Other (2)	AUM Sep. 30, 2022		Blended net management fee rate (3)
Exchange listed products
- Physical trusts
- Physical Gold Trust	5,008	821	(594)	—	5,235		0.35%
- Physical Gold and Silver Trust	4,094	(60)	(511)	—	3,523		0.40%
- Physical Silver Trust	3,600	257	(722)	—	3,135		0.45%
- Physical Uranium Trust	1,769	894	180	—	2,843		0.30%
- Physical Platinum & Palladium Trust	132	17	(2)	—	147		0.50%
- Exchange Traded Funds
- Uranium ETFs	—	36	(194)	1,042	884		0.68%
- Gold ETFs	356	39	(109)	—	286		0.35%
	14,959	2,004	(1,952)	1,042	16,053		0.39%
Managed equities
- Precious metals strategies	2,141	(55)	(582)	—	1,504		0.89%
- Other (4)(5)	1,141	49	(287)	—	903		1.20%
	3,282	(6)	(869)	—	2,407		1.00%
Private strategies	1,426	692	(13)	(209)	1,896		0.75%
Non-core AUM (6)	776	—	(88)	—	688		0.51%
Total (7)	20,443	2,690	(2,922)	833	21,044		0.50%
(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 conform 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 accounts 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 $)	Q3 2022		Q2 2022		Q1 2022		Q4 2021		Q3 2021		Q2 2021		Q1 2021		Q4 2020
Summary income statements
Management fees	29,158		30,620		27,172		27,783		28,612		25,062		22,452		22,032
Trailer, sub-advisor and fund expenses	(1,278	)	(1,258	)	(853	)	(872	)	(637	)	(552	)	(599	)	(583	)
Direct payouts	(1,121	)	(1,272	)	(1,384	)	(1,367	)	(1,892	)	(1,198	)	(890	)	(695	)
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	26,759		28,090		25,476		26,536		26,083		23,186		23,725		25,300
Commissions	6,101		6,458		13,077		14,153		11,273		7,377		12,463		6,761
Commission expense - internal	(2,385	)	(2,034	)	(3,134	)	(4,128	)	(3,089	)	(3,036	)	(5,289	)	(2,093	)
Commission expense - external (1)	(476	)	(978	)	(3,310	)	(3,016	)	(2,382	)	(49	)	(253	)	(98	)
Net commissions	3,240		3,446		6,633		7,009		5,802		4,292		6,921		4,570
Finance income	933		1,186		1,433		788		567		932		1,248		1,629
Gain (loss) on investments	45		(7,884	)	(1,473	)	(43	)	310		2,502		(4,652	)	(3,089	)
Other income	(227	)	170		208		313		529		438		303		949
Total net revenues	30,750		25,008		32,277		34,603		33,291		31,350		27,545		29,359
Compensation	18,934		19,364		21,789		20,632		18,001		15,452		22,636		20,193
Direct payouts	(1,121	)	(1,272	)	(1,384	)	(1,367	)	(1,892	)	(1,198	)	(890	)	(695	)
Carried interest and performance fee payouts - internal	—		—		(1,029	)	(2,516	)	—		(126	)	(4,580	)	(5,529	)
Commission expense - internal	(2,385	)	(2,034	)	(3,134	)	(4,128	)	(3,089	)	(3,036	)	(5,289	)	(2,093	)
Severance, new hire accruals and other (2)	(1,349	)	(2,113	)	(514	)	(187	)	(207	)	(293	)	(44	)	(65	)
Net compensation	14,079		13,945		15,728		12,434		12,813		10,799		11,833		11,811
Severance, new hire accruals and other	1,349		2,113		514		187		207		293		44		65
Selling, general and administrative	4,239		4,221		3,438		4,172		3,682		3,492		3,351		2,320
Interest expense	884		483		480		239		312		260		350		331
Depreciation and amortization	710		959		976		1,136		1,134		1,165		1,117		1,023
Other expenses	5,697		868		1,976		2,910		3,875		876		4,918		4,528
Total expenses	26,958		22,589		23,112		21,078		22,023		16,885		21,613		20,078
Net income	3,071		757		6,473		10,171		8,718		11,075		3,221		6,720
Net Income per share	0.12		0.03		0.26		0.41		0.35		0.44		0.13		0.27
Adjusted base EBITDA	16,837		17,909		18,173		17,705		16,713		15,050		14,605		14,751
Adjusted base EBITDA per share	0.67		0.71		0.73		0.71		0.67		0.60		0.59		0.60
Operating margin	55	%	55	%	57	%	55	%	52	%	52	%	51	%	51	%
Summary balance sheet
Total assets	375,386		376,128		380,843		365,873		375,819		361,121		356,986		377,348
Total liabilities	103,972		89,264		83,584		74,654		84,231		64,081		67,015		86,365
Total AUM	21,044,252		21,944,675		23,679,354		20,443,088		19,016,313		18,550,106		17,073,078		17,390,389
Average AUM	21,420,015		23,388,568		21,646,082		20,229,119		19,090,702		18,343,846		17,188,205		16,719,815

⁽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 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				9 months ended
(in thousands $)	Sep. 30, 2022		Sep. 30, 2021		Sep. 30, 2022		Sep. 30, 2021
Net income for the periods	3,071		8,718		10,301		23,014
Adjustments:
Interest expense	884		312		1,847		922
Provision for income taxes	721		2,550		5,075		8,651
Depreciation and amortization	710		1,134		2,645		3,416
EBITDA	5,386		12,714		19,868		36,003
Other adjustments:
(Gain) loss on investments (1)	(45	)	(310	)	9,312		1,840
Amortization of stock based compensation	3,633		452		10,911		1,248
Other expenses (2)	7,863		3,857		13,369		9,913
Adjusted EBITDA	16,837		16,713		53,460		49,004
Other adjustments:
Carried interest and performance fees	—		—		(2,046	)	(7,937	)
Carried interest and performance fee payouts - internal	—		—		1,029		4,706
Carried interest and performance fee payouts - external	—		—		476		595
Adjusted base EBITDA	16,837		16,713		52,919		46,368
Operating margin (3)	55	%	52	%	55	%	52	%

⁽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 above are met.

⁽²⁾ In addition to the items outlined in Note 5 of the interim financial statements, this reconciliation line also includes $1.3 million severance, new hire accruals and other for the three months ended September 30, 2022 (three months ended September 30, 2021 - $0.2 million) and $4 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 (nine months ended September 30, 2021 - $0.5 million). This reconciliation line excludes income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interest of $(0.8) million for the three months ended September 30, 2022 (three months ended September 30, 2021 - $0.2 million) and $(0.9) million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 (nine months ended September 30, 2021 - $0.3 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, November 4, 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/6iyict5f 

Please note, analysts who cover the company should register at https://register.vevent.com/register/BI38780e28eb664c3e9d7419920d8f929a 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
Certain statements in this press release contain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively referred to herein as the "Forward-Looking Statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws. The use of any of the words "expect", "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe", "plans", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify Forward-Looking Statements. In particular, but without limiting the forgoing, this press release contains Forward-Looking Statements pertaining to: (i) our belief that we will continue to grow in the energy transition space; and (ii) the declaration, payment and designation of dividends and confidence that our business will support the dividend level without impacting our ability to fund future growth initiatives.

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 September 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 September 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 

FAQ

What are Sprott's financial results for Q3 2022?

Sprott reported a net income of 3.1 million for Q3 2022, down 65% year-over-year.

How much did Sprott's AUM change in Q3 2022?

Sprott's AUM was 21 billion as of September 30, 2022, down 4% from June 30, 2022.

What was the management fee revenue for Sprott in Q3 2022?

Management fees were 29.2 million for Q3 2022, representing a 2% increase from Q3 2021.

Did Sprott declare any dividends in Q3 2022?

Yes, Sprott announced a quarterly dividend of 0.25 per share on November 3, 2022.