Sprott Inc. Announces 2016 Annual Results

TORONTO, March 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sprott Inc. SII ("Sprott" or the "Company") today announced its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2016.

2016 Financial Overview:

• Assets Under Management ("AUM") were $9.2 billion as at December 31, 2016, compared to $7.4 billion as at December 31, 2015 and $10.1 billion as at September 30, 2016.
• Assets Under Administration ("AUA") were $2.6 billion as at December 31, 2016, compared to $2.0 billion as at December 31, 2015, and $2.9 billion as at September 30, 2016.
• Total net revenues were $140.7 million, reflecting an increase of $36.1 million (35%) from the year ended December 31, 2015.
• Total expenses (excluding trailer fees and sub-advisor fees) were $102.8 million, reflecting a decrease of $32.7 million (24%) from the year ended December 31, 2015.
• Net income was $31.5 million ($0.13 per share), reflecting an increase of $71.2 million from the year ended December 31, 2015.
• Adjusted base EBITDA was $24.1 million ($0.10 per share), reflecting an increase of $7.5 million (45%) from the year ended December 31, 2015.
• Investable capital stood at $309.0 million as at December 31, 2016, compared to $304.6 million as at December 31, 2015 and $311.9 million as at September 30, 2016.

Significant events for the year ended December 31, 2016:

• Successfully concluded exchange offer for Central GoldTrust, increasing the AUM of Sprott Physical Gold Trust by approximately $1.1 billion
• Raised US$86 million through follow-on offering of Sprott Physical Silver Trust units
• Raised US$276 million for the Sprott Private Resource Lending strategies in its first year of launch
• Launched initial public offering of Sprott Energy Opportunities Trust, raising approximately $46 million
• Closed Sprott 2016 - II Flow-Through Limited Partnership, raising approximately $25 million
• Generated more than $100 million in net sales for private credit strategies

"During 2016 we grew our AUM by nearly $2 billion through a combination of successful growth initiatives and strong investment performance from our resource and alternative credit strategies," said Peter Grosskopf, CEO of Sprott. "This growth, combined with ongoing expense reduction initiatives, powered a 45% increase in our 2016 adjusted base EBITDA."

"We have started 2017 on positive footing, with the Sprott Private Resource Lending strategies raising additional commitments during the quarter," continued Mr. Grosskopf. "In addition, the Sprott Energy Opportunities Trust, the Sprott 2017 Flow-Through Limited Partnership and Sprott Resource Holdings Inc. had successful raises in the first quarter of 2017.  We believe the fundamentals are in place for a sustained rally in gold and silver prices and we expect our precious metal and resource strategies to be significant contributors once again in 2017."

Assets Under Management

⁽¹⁾ Prior to 2016, the "Bullion Funds" category combined Physical Trusts as well as Bullion Mutual Funds. Bullion Mutual Funds are now part of the "Mutual Funds" category while the Physical Trusts have been combined with ETFs as part of the "Exchange Listed Products" category.

Dividends

On March 1, 2017, a dividend of $0.03 per common share was declared for the quarter ended December 31, 2016.

Conference Call and Webcast

A conference call and webcast will be held today, March 2, 2017 at 10:00am ET to discuss the Company's financial results. To participate in the call, please dial (877) 930-8292 ten minutes prior to the scheduled start of the call and provide conference ID 80217797.  A taped replay of the conference call will be available until Thursday, March 9 by calling (855) 859-2056, reference number 80217797.

The conference call will be webcast live at www.sprottinc.com and http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/7whgjmcf

*Non-IFRS Financial Measures
This press release includes financial terms (including AUM, AUA, EBITDA, 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 financial statements available on the Company's website at www.sprottinc.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

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-Looking Statements pertaining to: (i) continued growth of our business and ability to meet our clients' needs; and (ii) the declaration, payment and designation of dividends.

Although the Company believes that the Forward-Looking Statements are reasonable, they are not guarantees of future results, performance or achievements. A number of factors or assumptions have been used to develop the Forward-Looking Statements, including: (i) the impact of increasing competition in each business in which the Company operates will not be material; (ii) quality management will be available; (iii) the effects of regulation and tax laws of governmental agencies will be consistent with the current environment; and (iv) those assumptions disclosed under the heading "Significant Accounting Judgments and Estimates" in the  Company's MD&A for the period ended December 31, 2016. Actual results, performance or achievements could vary materially from those expressed or implied by the Forward-Looking Statements should assumptions underlying the Forward-Looking Statements prove incorrect or should one or more risks or other factors materialize, including: (i) difficult market conditions; (ii) poor investment performance; (iii)performance fee fluctuations; (iv) changes in the investment management industry; (v) risks related to regulatory compliance; (vi) failure to deal appropriately with conflicts of interest; (vii) failure to continue to retain and attract quality staff; (viii) competitive pressures; (ix) corporate growth may be difficult to sustain and may place significant demands on existing administrative, operational and financial resources; (x) failure to execute the Company's succession plan; (xi) foreign exchange risk relating to the relative value of the U.S. dollar; (xii) litigation risk; (xiii) employee errors or misconduct could result in regulatory sanctions or reputational harm; (xiv) failure to implement effective information security policies, procedures and capabilities; (xv) failure to develop effective business resiliency plans; (xvi) failure to obtain or maintain sufficient insurance coverage on favourable economic terms; (xvii) historical financial information is not necessarily indicative of future performance; (xviii) the market price of common shares of the Company may fluctuate widely and rapidly; (xix) risks relating to the Company's proprietary investments; (xx) risks relating to the Company's lending business; (xxi) those risks described under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual information form dated March 1, 2017; and (xxii) those risks described under the headings "Managing Risk - Financial" and "Managing Risk - Other" in the Company's MD&A for the period ended December 31, 2016.  In addition, the payment of dividends is not guaranteed and the amount and timing of any dividends payable by the Company will be at the discretion of the Board of Directors of the Company and will be established on the basis of the Company's earnings, the satisfaction of solvency tests imposed by applicable corporate law for the declaration and payment of dividends, and other relevant factors. The Forward-Looking Statements speak only as of the date hereof, unless otherwise specifically noted, and the Company does not assume any obligation to publicly update any Forward-Looking Statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be expressly required by applicable Canadian securities laws.

About Sprott Inc.

Sprott Inc. is a global alternative asset manager with three primary lines of business: Exchange Listed Products, Alternative Asset Management and Private Resource Investments. The Exchange Listed Products business platform houses the Company's closed-end physical trusts and exchange traded funds, both of which are actively traded on public securities exchanges. Sprott Asset Management LP ("SAM") is both the principal subsidiary and reportable segment through which these products are managed and distributed. The Diversified Alternative Asset Management business platform houses the Company's full suite of public mutual funds, alternative investment strategies and managed accounts and is also managed by SAM. The Private Resources business platform houses the Company's private resource-focused asset management activities. Primary activities include the management of: (1) U.S.-based fixed-term limited partnership vehicles, discretionary managed accounts and private placement activities; (2) direct and indirect resource lending activities via the Company's balance sheet and through limited partnership structures; and (3) private equity style and direct asset investments through managed companies. Specific reportable segments and principal subsidiaries in this line of business are; Global - which is made up of Resource Capital Investment Corporation, Sprott Asset Management USA Inc. and Sprott Global Resource Investments Ltd.; Lending - which is primarily Sprott Resource Lending Corp.; and Consulting - which includes Sprott Consulting LP, Sprott Toscana and Sprott Korea Corporation. Sprott Inc. is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "SII". For more information on Sprott Inc., please visit www.sprottinc.com.

Investor contact information:

Glen Williams
Director of Communications
(416) 943-4394
gwilliams@sprott.com