Raymond James Financial : reports February 2014 operating data

March 19, 2014

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - In an effort to provide timely information to investors about general trends in our major business segments, we are releasing selected operating data for February 2014. Due to the limited nature of this data, a consistent correlation to earnings should not be assumed.

Securities commissions and fees of $263 million were up 8.2 percent from the prior year's February. Despite healthy activity levels in the Private Client Group and an increase in Equity Capital Markets commissions in February, total securities commissions and fees were down 3.1 percent from the preceding month due to two fewer trading days and continued subdued levels of Fixed Income commissions.

Record client assets under administration of $454 billion and record financial assets under management of $62 billion increased 13 percent and 25 percent, respectively, compared to the year-ago February. Relative to the preceding month, the 4.3 percent rise in the S&P 500 and healthy net inflows resulted in client assets under administration growing by 3.1 percent and financial assets under management growing by 4.6 percent in February.

"After a seasonally slow start in January, investment banking revenues actually declined further in February, which was attributable to both the Equity Capital Markets and Fixed Income divisions, said CEO Paul Reilly. "While the pipeline is encouraging, the slow start to this quarter will likely result in an unfavorable comparison to the preceding quarter.

Raymond James Bank net loans outstanding increased to $9.8 billion, a 15 percent increase over the prior year's February. Even as the bank maintains very targeted and conservative criteria for new loans, continued strong production and lower payoffs of existing loans continue to facilitate net loan growth.

"Record levels of client assets under administration and financial assets under management are positive for our Private Client Group and Asset Management segments. Continued loan growth should result in higher Raymond James Bank interest earnings in future quarters, although such growth gives rise to loan loss provision expense in the period of origination, explained Reilly. "While Capital Markets remains challenging, we believe we are well-positioned for future growth in this segment as well.