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NEW YORK, NY - Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Inc. (NYSE: DLJ) today
announced that DLJdirect (NYSE: DIR), its online brokerage service,
reported a 102% increase in net revenues to a record $238.1 million
for the year ended December 31, 1999, versus $117.9 million for
the year ended December 31, 1998. Net income for the year ended
December 31, 1999 grew fivefold to $6.9 million or $0.07 per share
(pro forma diluted), from $1.5 million or $0.01 per share (pro forma
diluted), for the same period in 1998.
Blake Darcy, Chief Executive Officer of DLJdirect, noted that 1999
established new records in every aspect of its business. “DLJdirect
more than doubled its revenues, client assets, total trades, and
average trades per day,” he said. He emphasized that DLJdirect
significantly enhanced its product offerings, launched its international
business, dramatically increased brand awareness and, from a net
earnings perspective, produced its second-best year ever. “We
accomplished so much while still maintaining our Number One ratings
for service and reliability,” he said. “The momentum continues
into the new millennium. We will be adding another 17,000 accounts
with $2.0 billion of assets in February 2000 when DLJdirect assumes
broker-dealer responsibility for Scudder Investments’ brokerage
clients as a result of the strategic alliance that we announced
in December.”
DLJdirect set new records for the fourth quarter of 1999. Quarterly
net revenues more than doubled to a record $76.3 million, compared
to $35.4 million reported for the comparable period one year ago,
and $54.9 million reported for the third quarter of 1999.
DLJdirect reported a net loss of $2.0 million, or $0.02 per share
(diluted), for the quarter ended December 31, 1999. This compared
with net income of $1.8 million, or $0.02 per share (pro forma diluted),
for the fourth quarter of 1998, and a net loss of $3.3 million,
or $0.03 per share (diluted), for the third quarter of 1999. Pre-marketing
income before taxes and equity in net loss of joint venture reached
a quarterly record of $24.7 million versus $8.2 million for the
fourth quarter of 1998 and $14.4 million for the third quarter of
1999, highlighting the growth of the business and magnitude of increased
marketing initiatives.
International Expansion
“There is also great news on the international scene, where we commenced operations in
Japan in June and in the UK in September,” said Mr. Darcy, indicating that DLJdirect a
dded 29,000 new accounts in Japan and 14,000 in the UK during 1999. DLJdirect already
ranks among the top online brokers in both markets and was rated the best online broker
in Japan by Kabuko, a Japanese Web site that ranks online brokerages and other service
providers. “We’ve only just begun. Plans for 2000 include operations in Hong Kong, Germany,
and the Middle East,” added Mr. Darcy.
Record Growth In Global Customers, Assets And Trading Activity
As of December 31, 1999, DLJdirect had 795,000 global customer accounts,
50 percent more than at the end of 1998. Active customer accounts
at the end of 1999 numbered 347,000, a 65 percent increase versus
the end of 1998. Assets in customer accounts on December 31, 1999
totaled $21.7 billion, up 144 percent over the $8.9 billion as of
December 31, 1998.
The fourth quarter set new global records for average daily trading
volume, new active customer accounts, and growth in customer assets.
Average daily trades totaled 30,500 for the quarter, 115 percent
higher than the fourth quarter of 1998 and 57 percent over the third
quarter of 1999. In addition, 40,000 net new active accounts were
added compared to 13,000 for the fourth quarter of 1998, and 30,000
for the third quarter of 1999. Customer assets grew by a record
$7.4 billion in the fourth quarter to $21.7 billion or 52 percent
higher than the third quarter of 1999. This compares to an average
quarterly increase of $1.8 billion for the first three quarters
of 1999.
DLJdirect experienced record global trading volumes in 1999, executing
a total of 1.9 million trades during the fourth quarter and 5.8
million trades for the year. On average, DLJdirect executed 23,800
trades per day during 1999, more than double the number of daily
trades executed in 1998. December was a particularly strong month
with average daily trades reaching 38,000. “Investors continue
to embrace online investing,” Mr. Darcy said, “and DLJdirect
continues to attract the sophisticated, high-net-worth self-directed
investor. Evidence of this can be seen in the continued rise in
average customer assets per active account, which increased to $63,000,
up from $42,000 at the end of 1998.”
Enhanced Product Offerings
DLJdirect served as i-distributor or co-managing underwriter
for 57 online underwritings valued at $7.2 billion for the year
ended December 31, 1999. An expanded Fixed-Income Center was launched
providing customers access to a broader array of fixed-income securities
– including Treasurys, agency bonds, corporate bonds, and municipal
bonds – as well as relevant market information. DLJdirect
also introduced a family of actively managed, no-load mutual funds
with the DLJdirect Strategic Growth Fund and the DLJdirect
Choice Technology Fund. All of these products leverage the research
strength, asset management expertise, and investment banking prowess
of parent DLJ for the benefit of DLJdirect customers.
Recognition And Awards
DLJdirect continued to receive performance accolades during the
fourth quarter including a Five-Star rating from the Lafferty Group,
which provides quarterly ratings of approximately 500 Web sites
in all sectors of the global financial services industry. DLJdirect
regularly earned the top ranking in the Keynote Web Broker Trading
Index throughout the quarter. The Keynote Index shows the average
Web site response time in seconds and the success rate for creating
a standard stock-order transaction on selected brokerage sites.
As a result of this strong performance, DLJdirect was ranked the
#1 online brokerage for customer confidence by Gomez.com. Gomez.com
is a recognized online leader in providing consumer and business-based
e-commerce research, tools, and analysis to empower consumers to
make informed online purchasing decisions.
The New Jersey Technology Council (NJTC) honored DLJdirect as the
“Internet/E-Commerce Company of the Year.” The NJTC awards
recognize New Jersey’s top technical companies that have achieved
business success, and the Internet/E-Commerce Company of the Year
is the organization’s highest accolade.
About DLJdirect
DLJdirect is one of America’s premier online brokerage firms.
Established in 1988, DLJdirect offers a diversified range of investment
products and services to sophisticated, self-directed investors.
DLJdirect has more than 795,000 customer accounts representing over
$21.7 billion in assets. Headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey,
with offices in Parsippany, Charlotte, London, and Tokyo, DLJdirect
employs approximately 900 people. DLJdirect common stock trades
on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “DIR.”
For more information on DLJdirect, refer to the company’s Web
site at http://www.DLJdirect.com.
About Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette
Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette is a leading integrated investment
and merchant bank serving institutional, corporate, government and
individual clients. DLJ’s businesses include securities underwriting;
sales and trading; investment and merchant banking; financial advisory
services; investment research; venture capital; correspondent brokerage
services; online, interactive brokerage services; and asset management.
Founded in 1959 and headquartered in New York City, DLJ employs
approximately 10,200 people worldwide and maintains offices in 13
cities in the United States and 16 cities in Europe, Latin America
and Asia. The company has two classes of common stock trading on
the New York Stock Exchange. Shares trading under the ticker symbol
“DLJ” represent Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Inc.
Shares trading under the ticker symbol “DIR” track the
performance of DLJdirect, its online brokerage business. For more
information on Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, refer to the company’s
worldwide web site at http://www.DLJ.com. The firm’s world headquarters
are located at 277 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10172; telephone number
212-892-3000.
4Q 1999 Report(PDF format)
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