BX Blackstone Inc

Apollo Global Management LLC swung to a first-quarter loss as public holdings in its private equity business weighed on results.

The New York investment firm reported a loss of $32.8 million, or 19 cents a share, versus a profit of $30.9 million, or 9 cents a share, the same period a year earlier.

Apollo's economic net loss was $73 million, or 18 cents a share, versus a year-earlier economic profit of $93.5 million, or 23 cents a share. The latest result missed Wall Street's average forecast for a 3-cent economic profit, according to a Thomson Reuters poll of analysts.

Economic profit, a key performance metric for the industry, reflects changes in the value of private equity firms' portfolios as well as cash earnings.

The results follow Apollo peers Blackstone Group LP, KKR & Co. and Carlyle Group LP reporting similar slowdowns in their businesses for the same period. Stocks' selloff at the start of the year dented many private-equity portfolio companies and choppy credit markets limited their ability to do big deals, either as a buyer or seller.

Apollo, founded by veterans of junk-bond pioneer Drexel Burnham Lambert, eked out a $112,000 economic profit in its $124 billion credit business, its largest unit by assets under management. Apollo's credit investments posted net returns of 0.9% during a volatile period for the asset class.

But Apollo's private-equity business posted a $79.7 million economic loss as public holdings weighed on the value of its book. Apollo slashed its valuation of insurer Athene Holdings Ltd. due to a selloff in publicly traded insurers during the quarter, reducing the firm's economic bottom line by $124.8 million.

Apollo has stood out among rivals for its big purchases this year, agreeing to a trio of billion-dollar-plus buyouts during the period. The largest of those, its $7 billion combination of home-security company ADT Corp. with the buyout firm's own Protection 1 business, closed this week. Apollo's private-equity unit committed $5.6 billion to deals during the period.

The firm's distributable earnings, the portion of profits available to shareholders, fell to $102.5 million from $143.9 million a year earlier.

Apollo said it will pay a dividend of 25 cents, down from 33 cents a year earlier.

Write to Matt Jarzemsky at matthew.jarzemsky@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 05, 2016 08:15 ET (12:15 GMT)

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