Other income for the year ended December 31, 2012 was $26.7 million compared to $32.6 million in the prior year. The  decline was primarily due to the non-recurring $4.9 million in insurance proceeds received in 2011.  Amortization of deferred sales commissions and fund contracts was $165.4 million in 2012, a decrease from $166.7 million  in 2011. This represents the average amount of deferred sales commissions paid in the last seven years plus a small amount  of accelerated amortization as deferred load units are redeemed ahead of their seven-year scheduled term. The level of  spending on deferred sales commissions has declined from that of the prior year. Interest expense of $24.9 million was recorded for the year ended December 31, 2012 compared with $27.5 million for the  year ended December 31, 2011. The decrease in interest expense reflects lower average debt levels during 2012, as discussed  under “Liquidity and Capital Resources.”  Other expenses for the year ended December 31, 2012 were $5.3 million compared to $6.9 million in the prior year. The  decline from the prior year is primarily a result of the elimination of capital taxes payable by CI mid-way through 2011. As illustrated in Table 7, EBITDA for the year ended December 31, 2012 was $703.6 million ($2.48 per share) compared with  $726.2 million ($2.53 per share) for the year ended December 31, 2011. The 3% decline is consistent with the above discussion  on pre-tax operating earnings. EBITDA as a percentage of total revenues (EBITDA margin) for 2012 was 48.3%, consistent  with that of 2011. Quarter ended  Quarter ended  Quarter ended  Year ended Year ended (in millions, except per share amounts) Dec. 31, 2012  Sept. 30, 2012  Dec. 31, 2011  Dec. 31, 2012  Dec. 31, 2011 Income before income taxes  $129.3  $125.6  $123.0  $503.8  $521.1 Less: Redemption fees 6.1  6.5  6.9  27.4  28.6 Non-recurring item(s) –  –  –  –  4.9 Gain (loss) on marketable securities  0.1  –  (0.1)  0.3  (0.5) Add: Amortization of DSC and fund contracts 40.9  40.9  41.1  165.4  166.7 Pre-tax operating earnings  $164.0  $160.0  $157.3  $641.5  $654.8 per share $0.58 $0.56 $0.55 $2.26 $2.28 29 TABLE 6: PRE-TAX OPERATING EARNINGS CI uses pre-tax operating earnings to assess its underlying profitability. CI defines pre-tax operating earnings as income  before income taxes less redemption fee revenue, non-recurring items, performance fees and investment gains, plus  amortization of deferred sales commissions (DSC) and fund contracts.