Our Compensation and Benefits Expense in the third quarter of 2005 was $30.7 million, which reflects a 47% ratio of compensation to revenues. This amount compares to $16.3 million in the third quarter of 2004, which reflected a 45% ratio of compensation to revenues. The increase of $14.4 million or 88% is due to the higher level of revenues in the third quarter of 2005 compared to the third quarter of 2004 and a decision to increase the compensation ratio in the third quarter of 2005 to return the year-to-date compensation ratio to a level consistent with its level in 2004. For the nine months ended September 30, 2005, our Compensation and Benefits Expense was $62.4 million, which reflects a 45% compensation ratio for the year-to-date period. This compares to $45.3 million of pro forma Compensation and Benefits Expense for the nine months ended September 30, 2004. The increase of $17.1 million or 38% is due to the higher level of revenues in the first nine months of 2005 compared to the comparable period in 2004. The pro forma compensation ratio was 45% for the nine months ended September 30, 2004. For the nine months ended September 30, 2004, actual Compensation and Benefits Expense was $39.0 million.
The principal component of our operating expenses is compensation and benefits expense. Because we were a limited liability company prior to our initial public offering in May 2004, payments for services rendered by our managing directors generally were accounted for as distributions of members' capital or minority interest expense attributable to our European operations rather than as compensation expense. As a result, our pre-IPO compensation and benefits expense did not reflect a large portion of payments for services rendered by our managing directors and understated the
operating costs that we expect we would have incurred as a public company. As a corporation, we include all payments for services rendered by our managing directors in compensation and benefits expense.
Non-Compensation Expense
Our non-compensation expense includes the costs for occupancy and rental, communications, information services, professional fees, travel and entertainment, insurance, depreciation and other operating expenses. Reimbursable client expenses are netted against non-compensation expenses.
Our non-compensation expenses were $6.8 million in the third quarter of 2005, which compared to $6.9 million in the third quarter of 2004, representing a decrease of 1%. The decrease is related principally to lower recruiting costs ($0.3 million), the recovery of receivables previously written off ($0.4 million), and lower depreciation costs ($0.3 million), offset in part by an increase in occupancy costs ($0.4 million) for additional office space in New York and Dallas, increased professional fees ($0.3 million), primarily related to Sarbanes Oxley compliance, and increased information services ($0.2 million) as a result of additional personnel and business development activity.
For the first nine months of 2005, our non-compensation expenses were $21.3 million, which compared to $17.7 million in the first nine months of 2004, representing an increase of 20%. The increase is related principally to the net write-off of uncollectible accounts ($0.6 million), a third-party fee related to the fundraising for Greenhill Capital Partners II ($1.0 million), greater travel expenses ($0.6 million) and information services ($0.6 million) as a result of additional personnel and business development activity, increase in occupancy costs ($0.5 million) for additional office space in New York and Dallas, and increases in expenses associated with operating as a public entity ($1.0 million), offset in part by lower depreciation expense ($0.6 million) and recruiting costs ($0.4 million).
Non-compensation expenses as a percentage of revenue in the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2005 were 10% and 15%, respectively. This compares to 19% and 18% for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2004, respectively. The decrease in these expenses as a percentage of revenue is principally related to higher level of revenue offset in part by the higher level of expenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2005.
The Firm's non-compensation expense as a percentage of revenue can vary as a result of a variety of factors including fluctuation in quarterly revenue amounts, the amount of recruiting and business development activity, the amount of reimbursement of engagement-related expenses by clients, currency movements and other factors. Accordingly, the non-compensation expense as a percentage of revenue in any particular quarter may not be indicative of the non-compensation expense as a percentage of revenue in future periods.
Provision for Income Taxes
The Provision for Taxes in the third quarter of 2005 was $10.0 million, which reflects a 36% effective tax rate. This compares to a Provision for Taxes in the third quarter of 2004 of $5.1 million, which reflects a 38% effective tax rate for the period. This represents an increase of $4.9 million, which is primarily attributable to the higher level of pre-tax income partially offset by a lower effective tax rate due to a higher proportion of investment income and foreign business income, which generally benefit from relatively lower tax rates than U.S-based advisory income.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2005, the Provision for Taxes was $20.0 million, which reflects a 37% effective tax rate for the period, compared to a pro forma Provision for Taxes of $15.4 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2004, assuming a blended tax rate of 41% for the period. This represents an increase of $4.6 million, primarily attributable to a higher level of pre-tax income partially offset by the lower effective tax rate as compared to the same period in the prior year. The decrease in the effective rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2005 results from a higher proportion of investment income and foreign business income, which generally benefit from relatively lower tax rates than U.S. based advisory income.
Prior to our initial public offering, Greenhill was a limited liability company and was not subject to U.S. federal or state income taxes and its U.K. controlled affiliate Greenhill & Co. International
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LLP, as a limited liability partnership, was generally not subject to U.K. income taxes. As of completion of our initial public offering in May 2004, we are subject to federal, foreign and state corporate income taxes.
Actual taxes for the nine months ended September 30, 2004 were $11.2 million.
The effective tax rate can fluctuate as a result of variations in the relative amounts of advisory and merchant banking income earned in the tax jurisdictions in which the Firm operates and invests. Accordingly, the effective tax rate in any particular quarter may not be indicative of the effective tax rate in future periods.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our liquidity position is monitored by our Management Committee, which generally meets monthly. The Management Committee monitors cash, other significant working capital assets and liabilities, debt, principal investment commitments and other matters relating to liquidity requirements.
As of September 30, 2005, we had total commitments (not reflected on our balance sheet) relating to future principal investments in merchant banking funds (including Barrow Street III) of $95.7 million. These commitments are expected to be drawn on from time to time over a period of up to five years from the date of the respective commitments.
During the nine months ended September 30, 2005, the Firm repurchased in open market transactions 270,556 shares of its common stock at an average price of $37.76. In August 2005, the Firm purchased 800,000 shares at a price of $26.22 per share from a former employee pursuant to a previously announced agreement. The Firm is authorized to repurchase an additional $18.0 million of common stock in open market transactions. Additionally, the Firm is deemed to have repurchased 39,376 shares of its common stock at $35.75 per share in conjunction with the payment of tax liabilities in respect of stock delivered to our employees in settlement of restricted stock units.
Cash Flows
In the first nine months of 2005, our cash and cash equivalents increased by $27.7 million from December 31, 2004. We generated $45.9 million from investing activities, including $52.4 million from the net sale of securities and $8.7 million from distributions from our investments, partially offset by $14.1 million in new investments in merchant banking funds. We generated $26.3 million from operating activities, including $5.2 million from net income after giving effect to the non-cash items and by a net increase in working capital of $21.1 million (principally from the collection of accounts receivable and accrual of taxes payable in the third quarter of 2005). We used $41.9 million for financing activities, including $10.1 million for the payment of dividends and $32.6 million for the repurchase of stock.
In the nine months ended September 30, 2004, our cash and cash equivalents increased by $55.4 million from December 31, 2003. We received approximately $89 million in net proceeds from our initial public offering, partially offset by distributions to members of earnings prior to the initial public offering of $31.2 million and net repayments of borrowings of $1.5 million. We generated $13.9 million from operating activities. We used $12.4 million in investing activities, including $4.4 million in purchases of property and equipment, primarily for the build-out of additional office space in New York, $11.0 million in new investments in Greenhill Capital Partners, partially offset by distributions from our investments of $2.9 million.
Contractual Obligations
On February 16, 2005, GCP I transferred all of the shares of common stock of Global Signal, Inc. owned by it to a new, wholly-owned subsidiary, GCP SPV1, LLC (the "Borrower"). The Borrower entered into a credit agreement, dated February 16, 2005, with Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital, Inc., as administrative agent, and certain other lenders named therein. Under the terms of the credit
25
agreement the Borrower borrowed $70 million, secured by 8,383,234 of the 8,422,194 shares of Global Signal Inc. common stock owned by it. Under the terms of a separate recourse agreement, the lenders will have recourse to Greenhill Capital Partners, LLC in the event of fraud or intentional or grossly negligent misrepresentations by the Borrower or the institution of insolvency proceedings by or against the Borrower, Greenhill Capital Partners LLC or GCP I. Proceeds from the loan were used to fund distributions to GCP I's limited partners, which include executive officers of Greenhill. The credit agreement matures in August 2006 and bears a floating rate of interest based upon Libor or, at our option, a prime rate.
Market Risk
We limit our investments to (1) short-term cash investments, which we believe do not face any material interest rate risk, equity price risk or other market risk and (2) principal investments in Greenhill Capital Partners and other merchant banking funds.
We have invested our cash in short duration, highly rates fixed income investments including highly rated short-term debt securities and money market funds. Changes in interest rates and other economic and market conditions could affect these investments adversely; however, we do not believe that any such changes will have a material effect on our results of operations. Our short-term cash investments are primarily denominated in US dollars, UK sterling and Euros, and we face modest foreign currency risk in our cash balances held in non-US dollar denominated accounts.
With regard to our principal investments (including our portion of any profit overrides earned on such investments), we face exposure to changes in the estimated fair value of the companies in which GCP I and GCP II invest, which historically has been volatile. Significant changes in the public equity markets may have a material effect on our results of operations. We have analyzed our potential exposure to general equity market risk by performing sensitivity analyses on our principal investments. Significant volatility in the general equity markets would impact our operations primarily because of changes in the fair market value of our investments in GCP I and GCP II that are publicly traded securities or are privately held securities owned for more than one year. Our analysis showed that if we assume that at September 30, 2005, the market prices of all public securities, and therefore, the general equity market, were 10% lower, the impact on our operations would be a decrease in revenues of $7.7 million. We do not believe there would be other material impact. The Investment Committee of GCP meets on a quarterly basis to determine the fair value of the investments held in our merchant banking portfolio and to discuss the risks associated with those investments. The Investment Committee manages the risks associated with the merchant banking portfolio by closely monitoring and managing the types of investments made as well as the monetization and realization of existing investments.
In addition, the reported amounts of our revenues may be affected by movements in the rate of exchange between the euro and pound sterling (in which 32% of our revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2005 were denominated) and the dollar, in which our financial statements are denominated. We do not currently hedge against movements in these exchange rates. We analyzed our potential exposure to a decline in exchange rates by performing a sensitivity analysis on our net income. We do not believe we face any material risk in this respect.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
The condensed consolidated financial statements included in this report are prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, which require management to make estimates and assumptions regarding investment valuations, compensation accruals and other matters that affect the condensed consolidated financial statements and related footnote disclosures. Management believes that the estimates used in preparing its consolidated financial statements are reasonable and prudent. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates. We believe that the following discussion addresses Greenhill's most critical accounting policies, which are those that are most important to the presentation of our financial condition and results of operations and require management's most difficult, subjective and complex judgments.
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Revenue Recognition
Financial Advisory Fees
We recognize advisory fee revenue when the services related to the underlying transactions are completed in accordance with the terms of the respective engagement letters. Retainer fees are generally recognized as advisory fee income over the period the services are rendered.
Our clients reimburse certain out-of-pocket expenses incurred by us in the conduct of advisory engagements. Expenses are reported net of such client reimbursements.
Merchant Banking =Fund Management Revenues
Merchant Banking Fund Management revenue consists of (i) management fees on our merchant banking activities, (ii) gains (or losses) on investments in our merchant banking funds and other principal investment activities and (iii) merchant banking profit overrides.
Fund management fees are recognized over the period of related service.
We recognize revenue on investments in merchant banking funds based on our allocable share of realized and unrealized gains (or losses) reported by such funds on a quarterly basis. Investments held by Greenhill Capital Partners are recorded at estimated fair value. Privately held investments are initially carried at cost as an approximation of fair value. The carrying value of such investments is reevaluated, and if necessary, adjusted at each period end. Public investments are valued using quoted market prices discounted for any restrictions on sale. Privately held investments are carried at estimated fair value as determined by the general partner (our affiliate) after giving consideration to the cost of the security, the pricing of other private placements of the portfolio company, the price of securities of other companies comparable to the portfolio company, purchase multiples paid in other comparable third-party transactions, the original purchase price multiple, market conditions, liquidity, operating results and other financial data.
We recognize merchant banking profit overrides when certain financial returns are achieved over the life of the fund. Overrides are calculated as a percentage of the profits over a specified threshold earned by such funds on investments managed on behalf of outside investors. Future losses in the value of the fund's investments may require amounts previously recognized as profit overrides to be reversed to the fund in future periods. Accordingly, merchant banking overrides are recognized as revenue only after material contingencies have been resolved.
Restricted Stock Units
In accordance with the fair value method prescribed by FASB Statement No, 123(R), "Share-Based Payment", which is a revison of FASB Statement No. 123, "Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation", restricted stock units with future service requirements are recorded as compensation expense generally over a five-year service period following the date of grant. As the Firm expenses the awards, the restricted stock units recognized are recorded within stockholders' equity. The Firm records dividend equivalents in stockholders' equity on outstanding restricted stock units that are expected to vest. The Firm adopted Statement 123(R) as of January 1, 2005, and it did not have a material effect on our accounting for restricted stock units in its financial statements.
Provision for Taxes
After the initial public offering, the firm accounts for taxes in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") Statement No. 109, "Accounting for Income Taxes", which requires the recognition of tax benefits or expenses on the temporary differences between the financial reporting and tax bases of its assets and liabilities.
Prior to the initial public offering, the firm was primarily subject to local unincorporated business tax on business conducted in New York City, and income tax on current income realized by certain foreign subsidiaries. After the initial public offering, the company is subject to U.S. federal, foreign, state and local taxes as a C corporation at the applicable tax rates.
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Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
We do not believe we face any material interest rate risk, foreign currency exchange risk, equity price risk or other market risk. See Item 2 -- "Market Risk" above for a discussion of market risks.
Item 4. Controls and Procedures
As required by Rule 13a-15(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act"), the Company's management, including the Company's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of its disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this quarterly report. Based on that evaluation, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that the Company's disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act) were effective as of the end of the period covered by this quarterly report. As required by Rule 13a-15(d) under the Exchange Act, the Company's management, including the Company's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the Company's internal control over financial reporting to determine whether any changes occurred during the quarter covered by this quarterly report that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting. Based on that evaluation, there has been no such change during the quarter covered by this quarterly report.
Part II — Other Information
Item 1. Legal Proceedings
None.
Item 2: Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds
Share Repurchases in the Third Quarter of 2005:
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 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Period |  | Total Number of Shares Repurchased(3) |  | Average Price Paid Per Share |  | Total Number of Shares Purchase as Part of Publicly Announced Plan or Programs |  | Approximate Dollar Value of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased under the Plans or Programs(4) |
July 1 – July 31 |  | | — | |  | $ | — | |  | | — | |  | $ | — | |
August 1 – August 31 |  | | 850,040 | |  | | 26.98 | |  | | 50,040 | |  | | 23,039,156 | |
September 1 – September 30 |  | | 121,148 | |  | | 41.43 | |  | | 121,148 | |  | | 18,020,218 | |
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Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities
None.
Item 4. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
None
Item 5. Other Information
None.
 |  |
(3) | Excludes 4,354 shares the Company is deemed to have repurchased at $39.00 from employees in conjunction with the payment of tax liabilities in respect of stock delivered to employees in settlement of restricted stock units. |
 |  |
(4) | These shares were purchased pursuant to the authorization granted by our Board of Directors to purchase up to $25,000,000 in shares of our common stock, as announced on July 21, 2005. |
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Item 6. Exhibits
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 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Exhibits: |  | |  | Page |
| 10.28 | |  | Form of Greenhill 7 Co. Equity Incentive Plan Restricted Stock Award Notification — Five Year Ratable Vesting |  | | 31 | |
| 10.29 | |  | Form of Senior Advisor Employment and Non-Competition Agreement |  | | 33 | |
| 31.1 | |  | Certification of Chief Executive Officer Pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) or 15d-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 |  | | 38 | |
| 31.2 | |  | Certification of Chief Financial Officer Pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) or 15d-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 |  | | 39 | |
| 32.1 | |  | Certification of Chief Executive Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 |  | | 40 | |
| 32.2 | |  | Certification of Chief Financial Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 |  | | 41 | |
 |
29
Signatures
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
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 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Date: November 10, 2005 |  | |  | |
|  | GREENHILL & CO., INC. |
|  | By: |  | /s/ ROBERT F. GREENHILL |
|  | |  | Name: Robert F. Greenhill Title: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer |
|  | By: |  | /s/ JOHN D. LIU |
|  | |  | Name: John D. Liu Title: Chief Financial Officer |
 |
30