(Source: Business Wire)KBW, Inc. (NYSE: KBW), a full-service investment bank that specializes in the financial services sector, today announced record quarterly revenues of $122.6 million and a non-GAAP operating net income of $13.4 million, or $0.37 per diluted share, for the quarter ended September 30, 2009. This compares to a non-GAAP operating net loss of $21.3 million, or $0.69 per diluted share for the corresponding 2008 period and non-GAAP operating net income of $8.8 million, or $0.25 per diluted share for the second quarter of 2009. Non-GAAP operating net income for nine months ended September 30, 2009 was $23.8 million, or $0.66 per diluted share. This compares to a non-GAAP operating net loss of $35.1 million, or $1.14 per diluted share in the same period of 2008. See "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below for a reconciliation of our non-GAAP operating results to our GAAP results. GAAP net income was $11.9 million, or $0.33 per diluted share, and $19.8 million, or $0.55 per diluted share, for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2009, respectively, compared to net losses of $23.0 million, or $0.75 per diluted share and $40.2 million, or $1.31 per diluted share, respectively, for the corresponding 2008 periods. GAAP net income for the second quarter of 2009 was $7.2 million, or $0.20 per diluted share.

John G. Duffy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said "Our results for the first nine months of 2009 reflect a record number of capital markets transactions as select financial companies have recapitalized, in many cases positioning themselves to take advantage of potential future consolidation opportunities. This trend began in the second quarter and accelerated in the third. While cash equity commissions are lower in comparison to the first nine months of last year, commissions trends improved during the quarter, compared to the first half of this year. Fixed income results continued to improve, benefiting from our investment in talent made earlier in the year. The nine-month results demonstrate the strength of our specialist model, which positioned our Company to assist our clients as the markets for financial services companies have improved."

"We are pleased to announce our decision to expand our specialist business model into Asia with the formation of a subsidiary based in Hong Kong which is expected to be operational early in 2010 when a core of experienced Asia market professionals will be joining us. Asian financials are an increasingly important part of the global financial services economy. This subsidiary will be fully integrated with our other business units in the U.S. and Europe; enabling us to provide sales, trading and research on Asian financial companies globally. We will also offer Hong Kong based capital markets services to corporate clients in Asia."

Highlights for the quarter include:

Investment banking revenue increased $15.5 million, or 36.6%, to $57.8 million compared to $42.3 million for the second quarter of 2009, primarily due to a record number of equity capital markets transactions that were completed in the third quarter, breaking the previous record set in the second quarter. Compared to the third quarter of 2008, total investment banking revenue increased $11.7 million, or 25.5%.

Principal transactions, net revenue of $23.7 million resulted primarily from improving fixed income revenues and market conditions and was slightly higher than the second quarter's total of $23.6 million.

Commissions revenue increased $0.7 million, or 2.1%, to $36.6 million compared to $35.9 million for the second quarter of 2009, primarily due to higher commissions revenue from European equity securities boosted by higher market valuation of financial services stocks.

Operating compensation and benefits ratio of 58.0% on a non-GAAP basis (GAAP compensation and benefits expense adjusted for the 2006 initial public offering restricted stock awards) resulted in an expense of $71.1 million, an increase of 23.8% compared to $57.5 million for the third quarter of 2008 and an increase of 12.8% compared to $63.1 million for the second quarter of 2009, primarily reflecting higher revenues. GAAP compensation and benefits expense was $73.8 million, an increase of 22.4% compared to $60.3 million for the third quarter of 2008 and an increase of 12.7% compared to $65.5 million for the second quarter of 2009.

Non-compensation expenses decreased $4.2 million, or 13.2%, compared to $31.5 million for the third quarter of 2008, primarily due to decreases in brokerage and clearance and other expenses. Non-compensation expenses were $27.3 million, an increase of $1.3 million, or 5.0%, compared to $26.0 million for the second quarter of 2009, primarily due to increases in brokerage and clearance and business development expenses.

As of September 30, 2009, stockholders' equity, which was all tangible, amounted to $443.0 million and preliminary book value per share was $14.62.

Highlights for the nine months include:

Investment banking revenue was $127.0 million compared to $136.4 million for the first nine months of 2008, a decrease of 6.9%, on lower M&A and advisory revenues offset by a substantial increase in capital markets transaction revenue.

Principal transactions, net resulted in revenue of $51.4 million compared to a loss of $113.0 million for the first nine months of 2008. The return to a net gain in the current period reflects the strong results of our customer fixed income business, the absence of significant negative valuation adjustments on certain financial instruments owned and the improved equity trading environment compared to the same period in 2008.

Commissions revenue was $108.5 million compared to $152.9 million for the first nine months of 2008, a decrease of 29.1%, primarily due to lower commission revenue on European equity securities.

Operating compensation and benefits expense on a non-GAAP basis was $177.6 million compared to $168.9 million for the first nine months of 2008. The non-GAAP operating compensation ratio was 59.2%. GAAP compensation and benefits expense was $185.0 million compared to $177.3 million for the first nine months of 2008.

Non-compensation expenses decreased $10.8 million, or 12.1%, to $78.0 million compared to $88.7 million for the first nine months of 2008.

KBW, Inc. expects to file its quarterly report on Form 10-Q with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on or about November 9, 2009.

About KBW

KBW, Inc. through its subsidiaries Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc., Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Limited and KBW Asset Management, Inc. is a full service investment bank specializing in the financial services industry.

Statements in this press release that are not statements of historical or current fact constitute forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify these statements by words such as "may", "might", "will", "should", "expect", "plan", "intend", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict", "potential", or "continue", the negative of these terms and other comparable terminology. Such forward-looking statements, which are based on various underlying assumptions and expectations and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other unknown factors, may include projections of our future financial performance based on our growth strategies and anticipated trends in our business. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events, and there are or may be important factors that could cause our actual results to be materially different from the historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, those discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in our annual report on Form 10-K , which is available at the Securities and Exchange Commission website at www.sec.gov. Unless required by law, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect circumstances or events after the date of this press release.

 KBW, INC.