Raymond James Financial : reports July 2014 operating data

August 20, 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 July 2014. Due to the limited nature of this data, a consistent correlation to earnings should not be assumed.

Total securities commissions and fees of $285.1 million increased 18.1 percent over last year's July and 3.8 percent over the preceding month. An increase in the Private Client Group was driven primarily by strong growth of assets in fee-based accounts, which are billed based on balances at the beginning of the quarter. In the Capital Markets segment, an uptick in market volatility and an active underwriting calendar in July resulted in a robust increase in institutional equity commissions, which was almost completely offset by continued declines in institutional fixed income commissions.

Client assets under administration of $473.4 billion grew 13.3 percent over the prior year's July but declined 1.2 percent during the month, as the S&P 500 dropped 1.5 percent in July. Similarly, financial assets under management of $64.0 billion increased 16.4 percent over the prior year's July but declined 2.0 percent during the month.

"In the Capital Markets segment, investment banking revenues were unusually strong in July, driven by a surge in M&A closings, explained CEO Paul Reilly. "Despite a very challenging interest rate environment for Fixed Income, trading profits remain resilient.

Net loans at Raymond James Bank grew to $10.6 billion in July, a substantial 21.8 percent increase over last year's July and a 1.9 percent increase over the preceding month. While margin compression from new loan production appears to be waning, payoffs of higher yielding loans in the portfolio are expected to continue to result in further modest declines in the Bank's net interest margin.

"We continue to enjoy excellent retention, and are recruiting high quality financial advisors at a near-record pace, said Reilly. "Looking forward, we are focused on growing all of our businesses both organically and through niche acquisitions, while maintaining a disciplined and long-term approach to expense and risk management.