Blackstone reports EPS in-line, misses on revs
Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.56 per share, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate consensus of $0.56; revenues rose 0.5% year/year to $1.23 bln vs the $1.32 bln consensus.
Economic Net Income was $640 million, or $0.56 per unit, for the quarter and $2.0 billion, or $1.72 per unit, year-to-date, up 49% compared to the same period last year, reflecting strong growth in Fee Revenues in our investing and advisory businesses and favorable year-to-date Performance Fees across all investing businesses.
Total AUM reached a record $248 billion, up 21% year-over-year with double-digit increases across all investing businesses, through a combination of strong inflows and appreciation. •Gross inflows totaled $21 billion in the third quarter and $53 billion over the last twelve months, including $9.1 billion for the Strategic Partners acquisition. Blackstone declared a third quarter distribution of $0.23 per common unit payable on November 4, 2013, bringing the year-to-date distribution to $0.76 per common unit. Private Equity •Total Revenues were up 44% to $732 million year-to-date on continued strong fund performance. •Realized Performance Fees totaled $85 million in the third quarter, although declines in the value of certain publicly traded investments in funds above their carry threshold led to a reduction in Unrealized Performance Fees. Real Estate •Total Revenues were up 49% to $1.8 billion year-to-date as Performance Fees and Investment Income rose sharply. •Higher revenues translated into strong Economic Income for the third quarter, up 43% to $414 million, and up 51% to $1.1 billion year-to-date compared to the same periods last year. •Overall carrying value of BREP investments(a) appreciated 5.8% for the quarter and 17.9% year-to-date, driven by strong operating fundamentals across all sectors of the portfolio. Hedge Fund Solutions •Total Revenues were up 40% to $451 million year-to-date driven by a combination of strong Fee Revenues up 18% and Performance Fees up 148% as a record level of assets were generating Performance Fees. •$26.5 billion, or 97%, of Incentive Fee-Earning AUM, were above their High Water Mark and/or Hurdle, up from $18.5 billion, or 77% a year ago, generating $139 million of Performance Fees year-to-date, generally payable at year end. Credit •Total Revenues were up 16% to $624 million year-to-date driven by solid growth of 19% in Fee Revenues. •Total AUM grew 16% year-over-year to $63.3 billion driven by continued strong net inflows within the long-only platform and new fund launches across several strategies. Financial Advisory •Total Revenues were up 40% for the quarter and 17% year-to-date compared to the same periods last year, primarily due to an increase in activity in our Restructuring and Park Hill fund placement businesses. Assets Under Mgmt •Fee-Earning AUM: up 12% year-over-year to a record $189 billion, as $41 billion of gross inflows more than offset $26 billion of realizations and outflows. Balance Sheet •At September 30, 2013, Blackstone had $2.2 billion in total cash, corporate treasury and liquid investments and $7.4 billion of total net value, or $6.51 per DE unit, up 15% from $5.66 a year ago. •Blackstone's Net Performance Fees reached a record $2.8 billion at the end of the quarter, up 35% year-over-year and over two times the amount from two years ago.