By Gillian Tan
KKR & Co. on Thursday said its first-quarter profit rose
29%, as the private-equity firm continued selling stakes in the
companies it owns.
The New York firm reported a first-quarter profit of $270.5
million, or 57 cents a share, up from $210 million, or 65 cents a
share, in the same period last year.
KKR's first-quarter economic net income was $599.4 million, or
62 cents a share, down from $630.3 million, or 77 cents a share, a
year ago. The result topped Wall Street's estimates for the
profitability measure, which includes unrealized gains as well as
cash earnings. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters anticipated
economic net income of 53 cents a share.
Economic net income at the firm's private-equity segment rose
17.1% from a year earlier, buoyed by the sale of stakes in pharmacy
company Alliance Boots GmbH to Walgreen Co., Big Heart Pet Brands
to J.M. Smucker Co., and Fotolia to Adobe Systems Inc. KKR also
booked gains on the sale of stock in Nielsen NV and German forklift
truck maker Kion Group AG.
The firm also further marked up the value of its stake in
Atlanta-based First Data Corp., which KKR only began to value above
its cost at the end of 2014. At its lowest point, KKR had valued
First Data, which it took private in 2007 for about $26 billion, at
60 cents on the dollar. It is now valued at $1.18 on the
dollar.
KKR reported assets under management of $99.1 billion, down from
$102.3 billion a year ago but up from $98.6 billion at the end of
2014.
Meanwhile, its distributable earnings--the portion of profits in
which shareholders can get a slice--were $516.5 million in the
first quarter, up 15.6% from the prior year's $446.8 million.
KKR said it would pay a dividend of 46 cents for the quarter, an
increase from 43 cents a year ago.
KKR shares closed up 0.9% at $23.37 on Wednesday. The stock has
gained 0.7% so far this year, underperforming rivals Blackstone
Group LP and Carlyle Group LP but beating Apollo Global Management
LLC. Blackstone last week reported its biggest ever quarterly
profit, while Carlyle and Apollo are due to report quarterly
results over the next two weeks.
Write to Gillian Tan at gillian.tan@wsj.com
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