TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- CI Financial Corp. (“CI”) (TSX: CIX) today released financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2024.

Financial highlights

CI's results for the quarter on an IFRS basis reflect accounting charges from the take-private transaction, including: (a) the revaluation of the preferred share liability as a result of its expected redemption sooner than originally estimated; (b) higher stock-based compensation as a result of the acceleration of outstanding equity awards upon close of the transaction; and (c) deal-related costs. In addition, currency-related charges increased due to the strengthening of the U.S. dollar versus the Canadian dollar.

Fourth quarter net loss attributable to shareholders was $405.4 million compared to a net loss of $27.6 million in the third quarter of 2024. Excluding non-operating items, adjusted net income attributable to shareholders¹ was $153.9 million in the fourth quarter, up 9.0% from the previous quarter.

Fourth quarter total net revenues were $677.8 million, down from $785.4 million in the third quarter of 2024. Excluding non-operating items, adjusted total net revenues¹ were $799.5 million, up 5.9% from $754.9 million due to the strength of capital markets, performance fees earned in the Asset Management segment and recent acquisitions at Corient.

Fourth quarter total expenses increased to $1,046.7 million from $778.1 million in the third quarter of 2024. Excluding non-operating items, adjusted total expenses¹ were $534.0 million, up 4.1% from $513.2 million in the previous quarter, primarily due to higher SG&A expenses and increased advisor and dealer fees.

Capital allocation

In the fourth quarter of 2024, CI paid $28.7 million in dividends at a rate of $0.20 per share. CI also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share on January 15, 2025 to shareholders of record as of December 31, 2024.

Under a substantial issuer bid that expired on October 3, 2024, CI purchased for cancellation 2,157,201 common shares at a purchase price of $18.25 per share, for an aggregate price of approximately $39.4 million. Under its Normal Course Issuer Bid and Automatic Securities Purchase Plan, CI repurchased 1,217,437 shares during the quarter at a cost of $25.0 million, for an average cost of $20.50 per share.

Mubadala Capital transaction

As previously announced, CI has entered into a definitive agreement with an affiliate of Mubadala Capital to take CI private by way of a plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario), which was overwhelmingly approved by CI shareholders on February 12, 2025, and approved by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) on February 18, 2025.

As a result of the pending transaction, CI will not be holding a conference call to discuss its earnings, nor does CI intend to provide further monthly updates of its asset levels, unless the definitive agreement is terminated.

Operating and financial data highlights

1. Free cash flow, net debt, adjusted net income, adjusted earnings per share, adjusted diluted earnings per share, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net revenues and adjusted expenses are not standardized earnings measures prescribed by IFRS. For further information, see “Non-IFRS Measures” note below.
2. Includes $36.0 billion, $36.0 billion, $34.7 billion, $34.4 billion and $33.2 billion of assets managed by CI and held by clients of advisors with CI Assante Wealth Management (Assante), CI Private Counsel (CIPC) and Aligned Capital Partners (Aligned Capital) as at December 31, 2024, September 30, 2024, June 30, 2024, March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively.
3. Includes $29.8 billion, $27.5 billion, $25.6 billion, $24.5 billion and $21.5 billion of assets advised by CI and held by clients of advisors with Assante, CIPC, CI Direct Investing and Aligned Capital as at December 31, 2024, September 30, 2024, June 30, 2024, March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively.
4. Month-end USD/CAD exchange rates of 1.4375, 1.3524, 1.3680, 1.3546 and 1.3250 for December 2024, September 2024, June 2024, March 2024 and December 2023, respectively.
5. Includes 100% of flows from CI’s minority investments in Columbia Pacific Advisors, OCM Capital Partners (up to and including October 2024), The Cabana Group and GLASfunds Holdings.

About CI Financial

CI Financial Corp. is a diversified global asset and wealth management company operating primarily in Canada, the United States and Australia. Founded in 1965, CI has developed world-class portfolio management talent, extensive capabilities in all aspects of wealth planning, and a comprehensive product suite. CI operates in three segments:

• Asset Management, which includes CI Global Asset Management, which operates in Canada, and GSFM, which operates in Australia.
• Canadian Wealth Management, operating as CI Wealth, which includes CI Assante Wealth Management, Aligned Capital Partners, CI Assante Private Client, CI Private Wealth, Northwood Family Office, CI Coriel Capital, CI Direct Investing, CI Direct Trading and CI Investment Services.
• U.S. Wealth Management, which includes Corient Private Wealth, an integrated wealth management firm providing comprehensive solutions to ultra-high-net-worth and high-net-worth clients across the United States.

CI is headquartered in Toronto and listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: CIX). To learn more, visit CI’s website or LinkedIn page.

Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information may relate to our future outlook and anticipated events or results and may include information regarding our financial position, business strategy, growth strategy, budgets, operations, financial results, taxes, dividend policy, plans and objectives. Particularly, information regarding our expectations of future results, performance, achievements, prospects or opportunities, including the timing for receipt of the final court order or completion of the Arrangement, is forward-looking information. In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “plans”, “targets”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “an opportunity exists”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “outlook”, “forecasts”, “projection”, “prospects”, “strategy”, “intends”, “anticipates”, “does not anticipate”, “believes”, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might”, “will”, “will be taken”, “occur” or “be achieved”. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, intentions, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances contain forward-looking information. Statements containing forward-looking information are not historical facts but instead represent management’s expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events or circumstances.

Undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking information. The forward-looking information in this press release is based on our opinions, estimates and assumptions in light of our experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that we currently believe are appropriate and reasonable in the circumstances. Despite a careful process to prepare and review the forward-looking information, there can be no assurance that the underlying opinions, estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct. Further, forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to, those described in this press release. The belief that the investment fund industry and wealth management industry will remain stable and that interest rates will remain relatively stable are material factors made in preparing the forward-looking information and management’s expectations contained in this press release and that may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information disclosed in this press release. In addition, factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include, among other things, the possibility that the Arrangement may not be completed, the timing of closing of the Arrangement, the negative impact that the failure to complete the Arrangement for any reason could have on the price of the shares or on the business of the Corporation, general economic and market conditions, including interest and foreign exchange rates, global financial markets, the impact of pandemics or epidemics, changes in government regulations or in tax laws, industry competition, technological developments and other factors described or discussed in CI’s disclosure materials filed with applicable securities regulatory authorities from time to time. Additional information about the risks and uncertainties of the Corporation’s business and material risk factors or assumptions on which information contained in forward‐looking information is based is provided in the Corporation’s disclosure materials, including the Corporation’s most recently filed annual information form and any subsequently filed interim management’s discussion and analysis, which are available under our profile on SEDAR+ atwww.sedarplus.ca.

There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward looking information, which speaks only as of the date made. The forward-looking information contained in this press release represents our expectations as of the date of this news release and is subject to change after such date. CI disclaims any intention or obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

This communication is provided as a general source of information and should not be considered personal, legal, accounting, tax or investment advice, or construed as an endorsement or recommendation of any entity or security discussed. Individuals should seek the advice of professionals, as appropriate, regarding any particular investment. Investors should consult their professional advisors prior to implementing any changes to their investment strategies.

CI Global Asset Management is a registered business name of CI Investments Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of CI.

NON-IFRS MEASURES

In an effort to provide additional information regarding our results as determined by IFRS, we also disclose certain non-IFRS information which we believe provides useful and meaningful information. Our management reviews these non-IFRS financial measurements when evaluating our financial performance and results of operations; therefore, we believe it is useful to provide information with respect to these non-IFRS measurements so as to share this perspective of management. Non-IFRS measurements do not have any standardized meaning, do not replace nor are superior to IFRS financial measurements and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. The non-IFRS financial measurements include:

• Adjusted net income and adjusted basic and diluted earnings per share
• Adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin and adjusted net revenue
• Free cash flow
• Net debt.

These non-IFRS financial measurements exclude the following revenues and expenses which we believe allows investors a consistent way to analyze our financial performance, allows for better analysis of core operating income and business trends and permits comparisons of companies within the industry, normalizing for different financing methods and levels of taxation:

• Costs related to our acquisitions, including:
  • amortization of intangible assets
  • change in fair value of contingent consideration
  • related advisory and legal fees
  • contingent consideration and consideration for strategic recruitment classified as compensation per IFRS
  • Interest expense associated with redeemable preferred shares issued in connection with acquisitions
    

• Integration-related costs associated with our U.S. Wealth segment, including:
  • organizational expenses for the establishment of Corient
  • restructuring and severance-related charges
  • rebranding efforts
  • technology, operations and real estate related integration costs
    

• Accounting treatment of Corient and CIPW Canada redeemable units including:
  • compensation expenses associated with Corient and CIPW Canada redeemable units
  • non-cash charges related to guarantees for Corient and CIPW Canada related loans
    

• Gains or losses related to foreign currency fluctuations
• Legal provisions for a class action related to market timing and others
• Certain realized and unrealized gains or losses in assets and investments
• Costs related to issuing or retiring debt obligations and any related gains or losses
• Unusual trading or bad debt write-off charges
• Preparation costs for the planned initial public offering of our U.S. Wealth business or sale to a group of institutional investors
• Pass-through carried interest revenue and expense as a result of CI being deemed the principal to a revenue arrangement but where the economics are directly related to an entity in which CI has no interest.
• Changes in fair value for preferred shares issued to a group of institutional investors
• Costs related to the Mubadala privatization offer, including third-party costs and additional share-based compensation expenses directly attributable to the transaction.

Further explanations of these Non-IFRS measures can be found in the “Non-IFRS Measures” section of Management’s Discussion and Analysis dated February 28, 2025 available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca or at www.cifinancial.com.