DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Invesco Ltd.'s (IVZ) first-quarter earnings more than tripled as the money manager saw assets under management and fees improve and investment gains instead of losses. The result exceeded analysts' views. The industry continues to report a rebound from the prior-year period. Invesco also is poised for further growth amid Wall Street's consolidation from its planned $1.7 billion acquisition of Morgan Stanley's (MS) retail asset-management business, which includes the Van Kampen fund unit. Invesco reported a profit of $95 million, or 21 cents a share, up from $30.7 million, or 8 cents, a year earlier. The latest period included $103.1 million in investment gains. Excluding items such as investment gains and losses, earnings jumped to 27 cents from 11 cents as operating revenue climbed 31% to $719.1 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters most recently forecast earnings of 26 cents on revenue of $743 million. Operating margin climbed to 19% from 11.3%. Assets under management rose to $419.6 billion as of March 31 from $348.2 billion a year earlier, but declined from $423.1 billion at the end of 2009. Long-term net inflows were $3.7 billion, compared with $2.6 billion in the fourth quarter. Institutional money-market net outflows were $10.6 billion for the first quarter and $7.7 billion for the fourth quarter. Shares closed Tuesday at $20.73 and were inactive premarket. The stock is down 12% this year. -By Tess Stynes, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2481; Tess.Stynes@dowjones.com;
