TORONTO, May 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sprott Inc. (TSX: SII) (“Sprott” or the “Company”) today announced its financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2020.
As previously disclosed, all financial figures are now reported in US dollars unless indicated otherwise.

Financial Overview (3 months results)
•Assets Under Management (“AUM”) were $10.7 billion as at March 31, 2020, up $1.5 billion (16%) from December 31, 2019
•Total net revenues (net of commission expenses, trailer fees and sub-advisor fees, carried interest and performance fee payouts) were $15 million, reflecting a decrease of $0.2 million (1%) from the 3 months ended March 31, 2019.
•Total expenses (excluding commission expenses, trailer fees and sub-advisor fees, carried interest and performance fee payouts) were $12 million, reflecting an increase of $0.4 million (3%) from the 3 months ended March 31, 2019
•Net income was $1.1 million ($0.01 per share), reflecting a decrease of $1.8 million from the 3 months ended March 31, 2019.
•Adjusted base EBITDA was $8.2 million ($0.03 per share), an increase of $1.3 million (18%) from the 3 months ended March 31, 2019.

Year-to-Date Highlights
•Subsequent to quarter end, the Company's AUM has increased materially due to strong net sales in its Exchange Listed Products segment, stronger gold and silver prices, and improving investment performance in its Managed Equities segment.
•As of May 6, 2020, pro-forma AUM was $12.1 billion, an increase of 30% from December 31, 2019 and up 13% from March 31, 2020

"The COVID-19 crisis has become the greatest challenge that we have collectively faced in a generation," said Peter Grosskopf, CEO of Sprott. "The impacts of the virus and the related economic fallout are far reaching and will continue to be felt in the months and years to come. Our thoughts are with those who have been hardest hit."

"As governments have responded with unprecedented levels of fiscal and monetary stimulus, investor demand for precious metals has increased, and gold prices have surged to their highest levels since the global credit crisis," added Mr. Grosskopf. "As at May 6, 2020, our estimated pro-forma AUM has increased by more than 30% since December 31, 2019. This growth was driven largely by $1 billion in new sales in our physical bullion trusts and the acquisition of the Tocqueville gold strategies. All of our core businesses are performing well and the entire Sprott team is focused on capitalizing on this opportunity to deliver outstanding results for our clients and shareholders."

Assets Under Management (3 months results)

(In millions $) AUM
Dec 31, 2019 Net
Inflows (1) Market
Value
Changes Other (2) AUM
Mar. 31, 2020
Exchange Listed Products
- Physical Trusts 6,579 474 (255) — 6,798
- ETFs 252 (9) (56) — 187
6,831 465 (311) — 6,985

Managed Equities
- Precious Metals Strategies 601 (30) (393) 1,741 1,919
- Other 350 (4) (137) — 209
951 (34) (530) 1,741 2,128

Lending 783 63 (6) (1) 839 (3)

Other 688 133 (38) — 783

Total 9,253 627 (885) 1,740 10,735

(1) See 'Net Inflows' in the key performance indicators (non-IFRS financial measures) section of this MD&A.
(2) Includes new AUM from fund acquisitions and lost AUM from fund divestitures and capital distributions of our lending LPs.
(3) $1.3 billion of committed capital remains uncalled, of which $506 million earns a commitment fee (AUM), and $748 million does not (future AUM).

Dividends
On May 7, 2020, a dividend of CAD$0.03 per common share was declared for the quarter ended March 31, 2020.

Conference Call and Webcast

A conference call and webcast will be held today, May 8, 2020 at 10:00 am ET to discuss the Company's financial results. To participate in the call, please dial (855) 458-4215 ten minutes prior to the scheduled start of the call and provide conference ID2509439. A taped replay of the conference call will be available until Friday, May 15, 2020 by calling (855) 859-2056, reference number 2509439. The conference call will be webcast live at www.sprott.com and https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/t9gfimh8.

*Non-IFRS Financial Measures
This press release includes financial terms (including AUM, investable capital, net revenues, expenses, adjusted base EBITDA and net sales) that the Company utilizes to assess the financial performance of its business that are not measures recognized under International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”). These non-IFRS measures should not be considered alternatives to performance measures determined in accordance with IFRS and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. For additional information regarding the Company's use of non-IFRS measures, including the calculation of these measures, please refer to the “Non-IFRS Financial Measures” section of the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis and its annual financial statements available on the Company's website at www.sprott.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

A reconciliation from net income to adjusted base EBITDA is shown below:
3 months ended
(in thousands $) Mar. 31, 2020 Mar. 31, 2019

Net income for the periods 1,062 2,847
Adjustments:
Interest expense 236 244
Provision (recovery) for income taxes 1,865 659
Depreciation and amortization 988 829
EBITDA 4,151 4,579

Other adjustments:
(Gains) losses on investments (1) 4,352 (55 )
Non-cash stock-based compensation 98 1,247
Other expenses (2) (414 ) 1,147
Adjusted EBITDA 8,187 6,918

Other adjustments:
Carried interest and performance fees — —
Carried interest and performance fee related expenses — —
Adjusted base EBITDA 8,187 6,918

(1) This adjustment removes the income effects of certain gains or losses on short-term investments, co-investments and digital gold strategies to ensure the reporting objectives of our EBITDA metric as described above are met.
(2) See Other expenses in Note 6 of the interim financial statements. In addition to the items outlined in Note 6, Other expenses also includes severance and new hire accruals of $0.7 million for the 3 months ended (3 months ended March 31, 2019 - $0.1 million).

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release contain forward-looking information (collectively referred to herein as the "Forward-Looking Statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words "expect", "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe", "plans", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify Forward-Looking Statements. In particular, but without limiting the forgoing, this press release contains Forward- etc. etc..
For more information, please visit www.sprott.com