AGF Management Ltd said on Wednesday its third-quarter profit fell 44.5 percent from a year ago as it suffered from declines in global markets.

Toronto-based AGF, Canada's third-largest publicly traded fund manager, said net income for the third quarter ended Aug. 31 was C$22.8 million ($21.3 million), or 25 Canadian cents a share on a fully diluted basis.

The results were in line with the average estimates of analysts polled by Reuters, who had predicted earnings per share of 24 Canadian cents.

Net income was down from C$41.1 million in the same period in 2008 as a result of declines in investment management operations revenue, primarily related to declines in global markets and an increase in trust company operations provision for loan losses, AGF said in a statement.

The company said assets under management declined 15.8 percent year-over-year, while revenue was down 20.5 percent. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were down 31.2 percent.

But the third quarter did show signs of improvement over the second quarter, with assets under management up 9.6 percent, revenue up 2.4 percent and EBITDA up 14.5 percent.

While the global economy continues to face strong challenges, economic indicators suggest a recovery may be starting to take shape, AGF said.

Revenue in the third quarter was C$146.9 million, below analysts' forecast for C$153.91 million.

Total assets under management were C$41.0 billion at Aug. 31, versus C$48.7 billion as of Aug. 31 last year.

AGF said that, over the same period, mutual fund assets fell 16.0 percent, primarily as a result of market depreciation, combined with net redemptions.

AGF's lightly traded shares were ahead 0.6 pct at C$16.17 by mid-morning.

($1=$1.07 Canadian) (Reporting by Pav Jordan; editing by Rob Wilson)

Canada