LaBranche & Co. Reports First Quarter Results
biz.yahoo.com
NEW YORK, April 23 /PRNewswire/ -- LaBranche & Co Inc. (NYSE: LAB - news), parent of one of the leading Specialist firms on the New York Stock Exchange, today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2001.
Revenues for the first quarter were $98 million, a 24% increase compared to $79 million for the first quarter last year. Net income increased slightly to $21 million. Fully diluted earnings per share were $0.40 compared to $0.44 in the same quarter of 2000 on five million additional shares outstanding. Cash earnings grew 19% to $28 million from $24 million in the comparable period last year. Cash earnings per diluted share were $0.55, an 8% increase from the $0.51 reported in the first quarter of 2000.
Michael LaBranche, Chairman and CEO stated, ``Our financial performance was respectable given the difficult market environment. We had a solid quarter despite the challenges presented by the full implementation of trading in decimals and the substantial decline in the market. We achieved these results while maintaining the highest possible market quality for our listed companies. Our cash earnings of $28 million, or $0.55 per share, were our second highest ever.''
Mr. LaBranche added, ``We continue to believe that market structure changes will lead to lower shareholder transaction costs, higher volumes and an increased role for the Specialist. In addition, we remain actively committed to pursuing strategic opportunities to expand our business and leverage our technology. Our acquisition of Robb Peck McCooey, which we completed on March 15, 2001 has strengthened our position and gives us greater flexibility to execute our growth strategy going forward.''
Founded in 1924, LaBranche is one of the leading Specialist firms on the New York Stock Exchange in terms of capital, number of stocks traded and dollar and share volume traded. With more than 100 seats on the NYSE, the Company is the Specialist for over 500 issues, nine of which are in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and 94 of which are in the S&P 500 Index. |
