Franklin Resources posts 1st-quarter profit jump on sales spike as market rallied

Franklin Resources 1Q profit nearly triples

SAN MATEO, Calif. — Franklin Resources Inc., which operates as Franklin Templeton Investments, on Thursday said its fiscal first-quarter profit nearly tripled as the market rally and investors bought more of its mutual funds.

For the final three months of 2009, net income rose to $355.6 million, or $1.54 per share, compared with $120.9 million, or 52 cents per share, in the last quarter of 2008.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, expected profit of $1.41 per share.

Revenue rose 42 percent to $1.38 billion, compared with revenue of $969.3 million for the 2008 first quarter

Wall Street forecast revenue of $1.36 billion.

Total assets under management rose to $553.5 billion at Dec. 31, from $416.2 billion a year earlier. Inflows rose 52 percent to $42.2 billion, while redemptions fell 37 percent to $28.2 billion.

Revenue from investment management fees rose 34 percent, to $806.7 million. Revenue from underwriting and distribution fees jumped 60 percent, to $488 million.

Operating expenses rose 30 percent, to $910.4 million. The jump mainly reflected increases in underwriting and distribution and advertising and promotion.

In midday trading, Franklin Resources shares slid $1.30 to $102.58 as the broader market declined. The stock has traded between $37.11 and $116.39 in the past 52 weeks.