NEW YORK, April 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT), a leading provider of financial services and products that leverages cutting edge technology to deliver innovative, transparent trading solutions to its clients and liquidity to the global markets, today reported results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024. First Quarter 2024: Net income of $111.3 million; Normalized Adjusted Net Income¹ of $124.3 million Basic and diluted earnings per share of $0.59; Normalized Adjusted EPS¹ of $0.76 Total revenues of $642.8 million; Trading income, net, of $408.1 million; Net income Margin of 17.3%² Adjusted Net Trading Income¹ of $366.9 million Adjusted EBITDA¹ of $202.8 million; Adjusted EBITDA Margin¹ of 55.3% Share buybacks of $35.8 million, or 2.0 million shares, under the Share Repurchase Program³ Board authorizes additional $500 million share repurchase over the next two years The Virtu Financial, Inc. Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.24 per share. This dividend is payable on June 15, 2024 to shareholders of record as of June 1, 2024. Note 1: Non-GAAP financial measures. Please see "Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Other Items" for more information.Note 2: Calculated by dividing Net income by Total revenueNote 3: Shares repurchased calculated on a settlement date basis. Financial Results First Quarter 2024: Total revenues increased 3.6% to $642.8 million for this quarter, compared to $620.4 million for the same period in 2023. Trading income, net, decreased 1.1% to $408.1 million for the quarter compared to $412.5 million for the same period in 2023. Net income totaled $111.3 million for this quarter, compared to net income of $110.1 million in the prior year quarter. Basic and diluted earnings per share for this quarter were $0.59, compared to basic and diluted earnings per share of $0.56, for the same period in 2023. Adjusted Net Trading Income decreased 1.7% to $366.9 million for this quarter, compared to $373.1 million for the same period in 2023. Adjusted EBITDA decreased 2.2% to $202.8 million for this quarter, compared to $207.5 million for the same period in 2023. Normalized Adjusted Net Income, removing one-time and non-cash items, decreased 2.6% to $124.3 million for this quarter, compared to $127.6 million for the same period in 2023. Assuming all non-controlling interests had been exchanged for common stock, and the Company's Normalized Adjusted Net Income before income taxes was subject to corporation taxes, Normalized Adjusted EPS was $0.76 for this quarter, compared to $0.74 for the same period in 2023. Operating Segment Information The Company has two operating segments: Market Making and Execution Services; and one non-operating segment: Corporate. Market Making principally consists of market making in the cash, futures and options markets across global equities, fixed income, currencies and commodities. As a market maker, the Company commits capital on a principal basis by offering to buy securities from, or sell securities to, broker dealers, banks and institutions. Execution Services comprises agency-based trading and trading venues, offering execution services in global equities, options, futures and fixed income on behalf of institutions, banks and broker dealers. The Company also provides proprietary technology and infrastructure, workflow technology, and trading analytics services to select third parties. The segment also includes the results of the Company's capital markets business, in which the Company acts as an agent for issuers in connection with at-the-market offerings and buyback programs. Corporate contains the Company's investments, principally in strategic trading-related opportunities, and maintains corporate overhead expenses. The following tables show the trading income, net, total revenues and Adjusted Net Trading Income by segment for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023. Total revenues by segment(in thousands, unaudited)     Three Months Ended March 31, 2024   Three Months Ended March 31, 2023     MarketMaking   ExecutionServices   Corporate   Total   MarketMaking   ExecutionServices   Corporate   Total Trading income, net   $ 403,698     $ 4,397     $ —     $ 408,095     $ 408,343     $ 4,168     $ —     $ 412,511   Commissions, net and technology services     7,202       111,409       —       118,611       9,701       111,743       —       121,444   Interest and dividends income     103,802       2,190       —       105,992       79,687       2,557       —       82,244   Other, net     6,306       (208 )     4,043       10,141       1,190       10       2,981       4,181   Total Revenues   $ 521,008     $ 117,788     $ 4,043     $ 642,839     $ 498,921     $ 118,478     $ 2,981     $ 620,380   Reconciliation of trading income, net to Adjusted Net Trading Income by operating segment(in thousands, unaudited)     Three Months Ended March 31, 2024   Three Months Ended March 31, 2023     MarketMaking   ExecutionServices   Corporate   Total   MarketMaking   ExecutionServices   Corporate   Total Trading income, net   $ 403,698     $ 4,397     $ —     $ 408,095     $ 408,343     $ 4,168     $ —     $ 412,511   Commissions, net and technology services     7,202       111,409       —       118,611       9,701       111,743       —       121,444   Interest and dividends income     103,802       2,190       —       105,992       79,687       2,557       —       82,244   Brokerage, exchange, clearance fees and payments for order flow, net     (115,866 )     (23,933 )     —       (139,799 )     (122,950 )     (22,573 )     —       (145,523 ) Interest and dividends expense     (125,158 )     (870 )     —       (126,028 )     (96,924 )     (677 )     —       (97,601 ) Adjusted Net Trading Income   $ 273,678     $ 93,193     $ —     $ 366,871     $ 277,857     $ 95,218     $ —     $ 373,075   Financial Condition As of March 31, 2024, Virtu had $429.4 million in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, and total long-term debt outstanding in an aggregate principal amount of $1,750.1 million. Share Repurchase Program Since inception of the program in November 2020 through settlement date April 19, 2024, the Company repurchased approximately 45.9 million shares of Class A Common Stock and Virtu Financial Units for approximately $1,151.4 million. Including the additional $500 million authorization by its Board, the Company has approximately $568.6 million remaining capacity for future purchases of shares of Class A Common Stock and Virtu Financial Units under the program. Virtu Financial Announces Planned CFO Transition On August 1, 2024, Cindy Lee, currently Deputy Chief Financial Officer, will become CFO of Virtu Financial. Sean Galvin, currently CFO of Virtu since 2020, will remain with Virtu in a senior capacity and will work with Cindy to ensure a seamless leadership transition. This transition is the result of the Company's long-term succession planning with respect to the CFO role. A seasoned professional in the financial services sector, Cindy Lee joined Virtu in 2011 where she has held various roles in global finance and most recently as Deputy CFO has overseen global finance and corporate treasury functions. As a leader, Cindy spearheaded the automation of financial processes across Virtu's global offices and helped grow the finance team. Cindy's contributions were integral to the successful completion of Virtu's IPO in 2015 and the integration of Virtu's multiple acquisitions including KCG in 2017 and ITG in 2019. Prior to joining Virtu in 2011, Cindy worked at The Royal Bank of Scotland and was an auditor at Deloitte & Touche. Cindy graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Master's and Bachelor's degrees in Accounting. Douglas A. Cifu, Virtu's CEO stated, "Cindy has been with Virtu for 13 years and has become a true leader. She has worked incredibly hard and mastered our finance operations which we are very proud of. Her deep institutional knowledge of Virtu and experience will benefit us in all aspects of financial reporting and finance. Cindy's dedication to Virtu and her performance sets the standard across our firm." Mr. Cifu continued, "I want to express my gratitude to Sean Galvin both for his 22 years of service to Virtu and KCG. I'm thrilled Sean has agreed to remain with Virtu in a senior capacity and I will continue to work closely with him in the future. Sean's professionalism and experience will continue to be a great benefit to Virtu." Earnings Conference Call Information Virtu Financial will host a conference call to review its first quarter 2024 financial performance today, April 24th, at 7:30 a.m. ET. Members of the public may listen to the conference call through an audio webcast through the Investor Relations section of the firm's website ir.virtu.com/investor-relations. Website Information We routinely post important information for investors on the Investor Relations section of our website, ir.virtu.com/investor-relations and also from time to time may use social media channels, including our Twitter account (twitter.com/virtufinancial) and our LinkedIn account (linkedin.com/company/virtu-financial), as an additional means of disclosing public information to investors, the media and others interested in us. It ...