Federated Investors 1Q Net Income Down 21% On Legal Expenses

Federated Investors Inc. (FII) reported a 21% drop in first-quarter profits fueled by legal costs related to an expected settlement of litigation around the money manager's mutual fund fees.

For the quarter ended Mar. 31, Federated, a top U.S. money market funds manager, reported net income of $33.2 million, or 32 cents a share, down from $42 million, or 38 cents a share, a year earlier.

The results for the most recent quarter include an after-tax charge of 11 cents per share for a one-time legal expense tied to the expected settlement.

"As markets have recovered over the past two years, investors are once again becoming comfortable assuming moderate amounts of risk in their portfolios," Chief Executive J. Christopher Donahue said in a statement.

The Pittsburgh-based mutual fund company's shares, which closed up 1.2% at $26.52, were unchanged in post-market trading activity.

Federated's total assets under management stood at $354.9 billion in the first quarter, up 1% from a year earlier but down 1% from the prior quarter.

Money market assets in both funds and separate accounts totaled $271.1 billion as of the first quarter, down $4.9 billion or 2% from the prior quarter.

Federated's fixed-income assets totaled $41.8 billion at Mar. 2011, up 3% from the fourth quarter. Its equity assets totaled $31.6 billion in the first quarter, also up 3% from the prior quarter. Equity and fixed-income net flows for funds and separate accounts totaled $327 million for the quarter.

Revenue, at $238.9 million, increased by 3% from a year earlier.

Earlier Thursday, another money manager, Franklin Resources Inc. (BEN), reported a 41% jump in profit for the fiscal second-quarter fueled by rallying markets, cash inflows from investors and fee growth. Franklin Resources' shares closed Thursday at $127.33, up 1.2%.

-By Aparajita Saha-Bubna, Dow Jones Newswires; 617-654-6729; [e-mail]