Blackstone’s earnings soar to record levels after lucrative asset sales
The world’s largest alternative asset manager Blackstone has capitalised on the pandemic recovery capital markets frenzy and low interest rates to more than double its earnings in the third quarter to an all-time high.
Distributable earnings shot up 112 per cent from this time last year to hit $1.6bn, or $1.28 per share, outsprinting the average Wall Street analyst estimate of 91 cents per share.
These were driven by record management fee revenues and substantial performance fees, as the New York-based firm cashed out on $21.8bn worth of assets during the quarter. This included the $6.5bn sale of its stake in US supply chain software firm Blue Yonder to Japanese electronics giant Panasonic.
But Blackstone also said it had ramped up its new investments, spending more than $37bn in the quarter, which sends the total new investments for the year to another record at more than $100bn.
Meanwhile its private equity fund appreciated by 9.9 per cent during the quarter, compared with a 0.23 per cent rise in the S&P 500 index over the same period.
Total assets under management climbed to more than $730bn, up from $649bn at the end of the first half.
Blackstone walked away from the quarter with $127.2bn of unspent capital, and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.09 a share – double that of this time last year.
“Today, Blackstone reported the best results in our 36-year history,” chief executive Stephen Schwarzman said in a statement.
“All of our key financial and capital metrics reached record or near-record levels.”
More to follow.