By Ross Kerber Fri Jan 27, 2012 12:26pm EST (Reuters) - Legg Mason Inc's quarterly profit fell by more than half as asset management fees declined and it took a restructuring charge, driving down its shares. Although overall outflows from its funds slowed significantly, money still left its high-profile bond and equity operations and showed the Baltimore-based money manager still has work to do to turn around its results amid volatile markets.Legg Mason previously told analysts to expect it would earn between 42 to 52 cents per share in first three months of 2012, its fiscal fourth quarter. On a conference call on Friday, Chief Financial Officer Pete Nachtwey said the company expects the "mid-to-lower end of that range."Friday's results marked the last full quarter of a restructuring program put in place by Chief Executive Mark Fetting in 2010, and backed by Nelson Peltz, the investor who is now one of Legg Mason's largest shareholders and a board member.Legg Mason shares were down 5.7 percent to $25.76 in noon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.For the fiscal third quarter ended December 31, net income fell to $28.1 million, or 20 cents per share, from $61.6 million, or 41 cents a share, a year earlier.Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S on average expected earnings of 25 cents per share. The results included $42.3 million in transition costs as part of a reorganization begun in 2010, up from $24 million in the year-ago quarter.Legg Mason has been among a number of asset managers to report a long string of outflows, driven by a mix of performance problems and investors leaving the equity funds that traditionally were among the industry's most profitable products.Legg Mason said its third-quarter net outflows from its funds were just $1.3 billion, down from $17.6 billion in the previous quarter and $16.7 billion in the year-earlier third quarter.EQUITY AND FIXED-INCOME OUTFLOWSStifel Nicolaus analyst Jeff Hopson said the quarter was still disappointing, in part because the outflows included big moves out of fixed income and equity funds, $7.1 billion and $4.9 billion, respectively. This was offset by an inflow of $10.7 billion to liquidity funds, which are not as profitable."The equity category is really what's important from here, and until that changes I really don't think you have momentum" at Legg Mason, Hopson said.While equity flows depend on the direction of stock markets and are not in Legg Mason's control, "the good news is that equity markets are up" in recent months, which could help drive more assets to the company, he said.Assets under management were $627 billion at the end of the December quarter, up from $611.8 billion at the end of the prior quarter but down from $671.8 billion a year earlier.Revenue fell 13 percent from a year earlier to $627 million. Performance fees tumbled to $6.1 million from $34.6 million.RESTRUCTURING OVERLegg Mason's restructuring has met its target of saving the company $140 million a year, executives said, partly by reducing costs at the company's headquarters and shifting responsibilities to its operating units like its Western Asset Management bond division. In all about 500 jobs at the parent organization were eliminated, about a third of its staff.In an interview and on the conference call with analysts, Fetting called the quarter a challenging one because of volatile markets, but said the outflows in fixed income and equity were less than the outflows from each in the previous quarter.Flows in recent months also were better than in November and October, the CEO said. "One month does not a trend make, but based on what we had in December, and in January, we're encouraged," he said.BILL MILLER STEPS DOWNIn November Legg Mason said its famed stockpicker Bill Miller would step down from running his flagship fund in April. Miller gained fame at the helm of the Value Trust fund, beating the Standard & Poor's 500 Index for 15 straight years. But that streak ended in 2006 and his results since then have disappointed investors.As of Thursday, Legg Mason shares had fallen 22 percent over the past year, compared with an 18 percent drop in the Dow Jones index of U.S. asset managers.(Reporting By Ross Kerber; Editing by Derek Caney, John Wallace and Tim Dobbyn) Бесплатные советники на форекс.