YMG Capital Management Inc. is reporting a loss for the first quarter ended March 31. YMG realized a net loss of $47,000, compared with net income of $1.7 million in the first quarter of 2000.

Earnings before interest, amortization and income taxes for the quarter were $713,000, compared with $2.6 million one year ago. The company says that much of the difference was due to non-recurring investment income of $3.4 million that YMG realized in the first quarter of 2000 when it liquidated a substantial portion of its portfolio investments.

Assets under management increased 20.5% to $14.1 billion at March 31, compared to $11.7 billion a year ago. Revenue from management fees for the quarter was $4.3 million, an increase of 17.3% over fee revenue during the same quarter in 2000.

YMG says half of this increase is a result of mandates from new clients and expanded mandates from existing clients that were received after March 31, 2000. The remaining half of the increase is a result of the acquisition of AlphaQuest Capital Management Limited in July 2000.

Selling, general and administrative expenses declined by 18.7% to $3.7 million for the first quarter from $4.6 million in 2000. This reduction is largely attributable to the non-repetitive nature of certain expenditures YMG incurred in the first quarter of 2000. These reductions were offset in part by increased salary costs associated with the AlphaQuest acquisition.

YMG also announced that the board of directors has declared a quarterly dividend of 5¢ per common share.