Friedman Billings Ramsey Group Reports $0.12 Per Share in Second Quarter; National Advertising Campaign for fbr.com Begins Tomorrow
WASHINGTON, July 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Friedman Billings Ramsey Group, Inc.
(NYSE: FBR) today reported $5.8 million in net income or $0.12 per share for
the second quarter ended June 30, 1999 versus $7.4 million in net income or
$0.15 per share for the same quarter a year ago. Revenue for the quarter was
$40 million compared with $57 million in the second quarter of 1998.
"The second quarter was an excellent quarter for the firm with
contributions from each area of our business, notably with increases in M&A
advisory revenues and significant gains in incentive-based assets under
management" said Emanuel J. Friedman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
Friedman Billings Ramsey Group, Inc. "We are also pleased with the increase
in investment banking activity during the quarter led by our $182 million
equity offering for Key Energy Services (NYSE: KEG) in May."
Net income for the six-month period was $5.9 million or $0.12 per share
versus $23.0 million or $0.46 per share for the first six months of 1998. For
the six-month period ended June 30, 1999, revenue amounted to $62.4 million
compared to $125.3 million for the same period in 1998.
Friedman continued, "Our focus now is on pursuing the tremendous market
opportunity for fbr.com, our financial services portal for the online
investor. With no 'bricks-and-mortar' retail channel and no retail brokers,
we are in an excellent position to aggressively go after the online investor
market, which is expected to triple from approximately 8 million accounts to
24 million accounts over the next two and a half years. FBR, with
approximately 85 investment bankers and 55 research analysts, is well
positioned to leverage its strengths on the Internet."
"Tomorrow, our first national ads for fbr.com will appear in major daily
newspapers around the country," Friedman continued. "The message of the ads
is clear. As a leading underwriter with an electronic distribution channel,
we plan to put meaningful amounts of IPO shares in the hands of the online
investor. Last week's 'no action' letter by the SEC strengthens our ability
to allocate shares in size by effectively eliminating the practical problems
of confirming hundreds or thousands of orders by phone. The SEC's position is
a benefit to online investment banks and online investors alike."
Progress on fbr.com
President of FBR Group W. Russell Ramsey said, "We are pleased with the
progress we have made since launching fbr.com's IPO Desktop(SM) on April 15th.
We completed two, co-managed offerings during the quarter CareerBuilder (CBDR)
on May 12 followed by CAIS Internet (CAIS) on May 20."
Ramsey continued, "It is important for the investing public to realize
that FBR, as a lead and co-manager of IPOs, has a much greater ability to
allocate IPO shares than an underwriter who is participating in a syndicate or
selling group. This is a key point of differentiation for our company from
comparable online investment banks and electronic brokerages."
"We have recently established a $2,000 account minimum to invest online
with fbr.com and to have access to our IPOs at a 100 share, round-lot, minimum
order. This reasonable minimum is consistent with our goal to democratize the
IPO process for the online investor. Other firms, by comparison, have set
this minimum as high as $100,000 or higher, which eliminates many individual
investors," Ramsey said.
In July, fbr.com engaged Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos Inc. in New
York to create and execute an overall brand awareness campaign. The first
component of the campaign, full-page, print ads, will appear in tomorrow's
editions of The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Boston Globe,
The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Austin American-Statesmen, The Los
Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, San Jose
Mercury News, Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
On June 23, fbr.com launched online trading. Investors can now trade in
stocks and mutual funds and have access to research and IPOs through fbr.com.
As part of a summer promotion, new customers receive their first eight trades
commission-free before September 30, 1999.
President of fbr.com Suzanne Richardson said, "Our goal is to provide
online investors with exceptional customer service and the best possible user
experience. During the quarter, we established a customer service call center
in Arlington, Virginia with a capacity of 80 seats and room to grow."
Richardson continued, "Our goals for the next four months are to roll-out
Fund Desktop(SM), which will offer accredited investors private investment
partnerships, venture capital and private equity funds, as well as Research
Desktop(SM), which will offer both FBR's research and research from third
parties. Later in the year, we plan to introduce DAE (direct access
execution) Desktop(SM) to provide active investors with a highly efficient,
alternative way to trade online with Level II trading information.
Other 2nd Quarter Highlights
Other highlights for the second quarter include:
-- Friedman Billings Ramsey Group, Inc. ended the quarter with
$812 million in total assets under management as of June 30, 1999. This total
includes funds raised in connection with the closing of a second venture
capital fund by FBR Technology Venture Partners, Inc. (TVP) for investments in
technology start-up companies.
-- Three of FBR TVP's portfolio companies completed Initial Public
Offerings in the second quarter: Proxicom (PXCM), CareerBuilder (CBDR) and
Network Access Solutions (NASC). The market value increase in TVP's
investments in these newly public companies contributed to an increase in the
Company's investment gains and Assets under Management during the quarter.
-- The Company acted as M&A advisor to Building One Services Corporation
(BOSS) in its successful re-capitalization in April. (FBR originally acted as
the lead manager for the Initial Public Offering of the predecessor company to
Building One Services in 1997.) Following the completed re-capitalization,
the Company sold warrants it held from the completion of the IPO to Boss
Investment LLC in June, which resulted in investment gains in the second
quarter.
Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of FBR Group Eric Billings said,
"Through fbr.com, we are positioning FBR at the forefront of online investment
banking. In IPOs where we are the lead or co-manager, we plan to put up to 50
percent of our share allocation online. Based on our record as an underwriter
and the current health of the capital markets, FBR is in an excellent position
to move online investors into the realm of much larger allocations."
FBR had 48,881,817 common shares outstanding, shareholders' equity of
$188 million and book value per share of $3.84 as of June 30, 1999.
Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, is an investment bank and asset manager
and the parent company of fbr.com, an online investment bank and electronic
brokerage. Headquartered in Northern Virginia, home to many of the world's
leading online businesses, the Company has become a leading underwriter of
Initial Public Offerings and provides analyst research on 430 companies.
fbr.com, a division of FBR Investment Services, Inc., leverages the Company's
strengths as an underwriter and asset manager by providing online investors
with access to IPOs, online trading, research, and unique asset management
products. For more information, please visit our website at
fbr.com. |
