David GoodmanYvonne Berg
A 45-per-cent increase in revenue helped DundeeWealth Inc. return to profitability in the fourth quarter of 2009, the wealth management and mutual fund firm said Tuesday.
The Toronto-based firm reported profit from continuing operations of $11.2-million, reversing a loss of $126.3-million booked during the corresponding quarter of 2008. Earnings per share were not immediately available.
Quarterly revenue surged to $248.2-million, up 45 per cent from $171.7-million booked the year before.
DundeeWealth also posted a profit of $51.6-million for the full 2009 fiscal year despite the fact that revenue declined to $779-million from $819-million recorded in 2008.
Full-year profit included $10.6-million in fair value adjustments related to the company's holdings of asset-backed commercial paper, which had been devalued and written down after the Canadian ABCP market collapsed.
DundeeWealth, a publicly traded subsidiary of Dundee Corp. , provides investment management, securities brokerage, financial planning and investment advisory services.
The Dundee companies are controlled by the Goodman family through multiple vote shares, although Bank of Nova Scotia bought a significant minority stake in DundeeWealth about two years ago.
DundeeWealth announced on Monday that its quarterly dividend will be doubled to seven cents per share from 3.5 cents per share, with the payout to be on April 15 to shareholders of record on April 1.