Blackstone Profit Drops on `Challenging, Volatile` Markets
January 28 2016 - 8:20AM
Dow Jones News
Blackstone Group LP said on Thursday its fourth-quarter profit
tumbled as whipsawing markets took a toll across its business.
The New York private-equity firm reported a fourth-quarter
profit of $201 million, or 23 cents a share, down from $551
million, or 89 cents a share, in the same period a year
earlier.
Blackstone's fourth-quarter economic net income fell to $436
million, or 37 cents a share, from $1.45 billion, or $1.25 a share,
a year earlier. The result missed Wall Street's 46-cent forecast
for the profitability measure, according to a Thomson Reuters
survey.
Economic net income includes unrealized gains as well as cash
earnings.
Results slumped across all of Blackstone's businesses, paced by
an 87% drop in the economic net income of its credit division.
Stocks, high-yield bonds and commodities declined in 2015 after
years of strong gains for many assets, in part due to China's
slowdown and investors' worries about central banks' ability to
continue bolstering global economies.
Chairman and Chief Executive Stephen Schwarzman acknowledged
markets were "challenging and volatile" during the period but said
the firm put a record $32 billion into new investments last year as
the tumult created new buying opportunities.
Blackstone reported assets under management of $336.4 billion,
up from $290.4 billion a year ago and $333.9 billion at the end of
September.
Its distributable earnings, the portion of profits in which
shareholders would get a slice, were $878 million in the fourth
quarter, compared with the prior-year period's $1.13 billion.
Blackstone said it would pay a dividend of 61 cents for the
quarter, versus 78 cents for the prior year.
Blackstone shares closed down 2.6%, or 69 cents, at $25.60
Wednesday. The stock is down along with those of peers of late,
falling 41% from its record-high close in May.
Write to Matt Jarzemsky at matthew.jarzemsky@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 28, 2016 08:05 ET (13:05 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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