Asset manager Sprott Inc. Thursday reported an increase in third-quarter net income despite a sharp drop in management fee revenues.

Net income for the quarter ended September 30 was $5.5 million, or 4¢ a share, versus $3.7 million, or 2¢ a share in the year earlier period.

Total revenues decreased by 13.4% to $22 million, from $25.4 million in the third quarter of 2008.

Management fees were $20.7 million, a decrease of $12.2 million, or 37%, from a year ago.

Assets Under Management decreased to $4.3 billion, compared to $4.4 billion at June 30, 2009. The $0.1 billion decrease reflected market value increases of $0.15 billion, offset by net redemptions of $0.25 billion, the company says.

“During the third quarter, many of our mutual funds benefited from the continued momentum in equity markets, as well as superior stock picking by our investment managers, with both the Sprott Small Cap Equity Fund and the Sprott Energy Fund posting returns of more than 17%,” says Eric Sprott, President and CEO of Sprott Inc.

“We continue to believe that gold and other precious metals will be the best store of value for investors over the longer term,” Mr. Sprott adds.

Effective November 2, Sprott expanded the distribution of the Federation of National Specialty Societies of Canada-Multi Manager Fund from FNSSC members only to all eligible investors. The name of the fund was changed to Sprott Multi-Manager Fund.

Sprott declared a third quarter dividend of 2.5¢ a share on November 3.

IE