Virtu Announces Preliminary Results Year To Date through Feb 2020

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: VIRT) (“Virtu” or the “Company”), 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, ahead of investor meetings, today announced preliminary estimates of its top line results for year to date through February 29, 2020. 

Results for the first quarter 2020 are scheduled to be reported on May 7, 2020.

On a preliminary estimated basis, Virtu expects its results of operations for the two months ended February 29, 2020 to reflect:

• Trading Income, net between $226 and $234 million; Adjusted Net Trading Income* between $230 and $240 million
• Average Daily Adjusted Net Trading Income* between $5.75 and $6.00 million per day

* Non-GAAP financial measures.  Please see “Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Other Items” for more information.

The preliminary financial and other data set forth above has been prepared by, and is the responsibility of our management. The foregoing information and estimates have not been compiled or examined by our independent registered public accounting firm nor have our independent registered public accounting firm performed any procedures with respect to this information or expressed any opinion or any form of assurance of such information. In addition, the foregoing information and estimates are subject to revision as we prepare our consolidated financial statements and other disclosures as of and for the three months ended March 31, 2020, including all disclosures required by U.S. GAAP. Because we have not completed our normal quarterly closing and review procedures for the two months ended February 29, 2020, and subsequent events may occur that require material adjustments to these results, the final results and other disclosures for this period may differ materially from these estimates. These estimates should not be viewed as a substitute for full financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP or as a measure of performance. In addition, these estimated results of operations for the two months ended February 29, 2020 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be achieved for any future period. See "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements." These estimated results of operations should be read together with subsequent filings and announcements, including any subsequent press release announcing the Company’s earnings for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 and our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes to be filed on Form 10-Q on or before May 11, 2020.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Other Items

To supplement our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"), we use the following non-GAAP measures of financial performance:

• "Adjusted Net Trading Income", which is the amount of revenue we generate from our market making activities, or trading income, net, plus commissions, net and technology services, plus interest and dividends income and expense, net, less direct costs associated with those revenues, including brokerage, exchange and clearance fees, net and payments for order flow. Management believes that this measurement is useful for comparing general operating performance from period to period. Although we use Adjusted Net Trading Income as a financial measure to assess the performance of our business, the use of Adjusted Net Trading Income is limited because it does not include certain material costs that are necessary to operate our business. Our presentation of Adjusted Net Trading Income should not be construed as an indication that our future results will be unaffected by revenues or expenses that are not directly associated with our market making activities.

Adjusted Net Trading Income is a non-GAAP financial measure used by management in evaluating operating performance and in making strategic decisions. Management believes that the presentation of Adjusted Net Trading Income provides useful information to investors regarding our results of operations because they assist both investors and management in analyzing and benchmarking the performance and value of our business.  Adjusted Net Trading Income provides indicators of general economic performance that are not affected by fluctuations in certain costs or other items. Accordingly, management believes that this measurement is useful for comparing general operating performance from period to period. Other companies may define Adjusted Net Trading Income differently, and as a result our measures of Adjusted Net Trading Income may not be directly comparable to those of other companies. Although we use this non-GAAP financial measure as a financial measure to assess the performance of our business, such use is limited because it does not include certain material costs necessary to operate our business.
             
Adjusted Net Trading Income should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for, Net Income in accordance with U.S. GAAP as a measure of performance. Our presentation of Adjusted Net Trading Income should not be construed as an indication that our future results will be unaffected by unusual or nonrecurring items. Adjusted Net Trading Income has limitations as analytical tools, and you should not consider them in isolation or as substitutes for analysis of our results as reported under U.S. GAAP. Some of these limitations are:

• they do not reflect every cash expenditure, future requirements for capital expenditures or contractual commitments;
• they are not adjusted for all non-cash income or expense items that are reflected in our statements of cash flows;
• they do not reflect the impact of earnings or charges resulting from matters we consider not to be indicative of our ongoing operations; and
• they do not reflect limitations on our costs related to transferring earnings from our subsidiaries to us.

Because of these limitations, Adjusted Net Trading Income is not intended as alternatives to Net Income as indicators of our operating performance and should not be considered as measures of discretionary cash available to us to invest in the growth of our business or as measures of cash that will be available to us to meet our obligations. We compensate for these limitations by using Adjusted Net Trading Income along with other comparative tools, together with U.S. GAAP measurements, to assist in the evaluation of operating performance. These U.S. GAAP measurements include Net Income, cash flows from operations and cash flow data. See below a reconciliation of each non-GAAP measure to the most directly comparable GAAP measure.

Virtu Financial, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Reconciliation to Non-GAAP Operating Data (Unaudited)

The following table reconciles estimated Trading Income, net and Adjusted Net Trading Income for the two months ended February 29, 2020.