Carlyle Group's Profit Jumps

Carlyle Group LP on Wednesday said its second-quarter profit rose 55%, as it continued to sell stakes in the companies it owns. But it saw a decline in another key profitability measure.

The Washington, D.C., firm reported profit of $31 million, or 34 cents a share, compared with $20 million, or 27 cents a share, in the same period last year.

Carlyle's second-quarter economic net income was $180 million, or 55 cents a share, down from $318 million, or 73 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. The results for that profitability measure, which includes unrealized gains as well as cash earnings, narrowly beat Wall Street's expectations. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast 54 cents a share.

Economic net income fell in Carlyle's private-equity unit, its specialty investing and lending and hedge fund segments and its real assets unit.

Carlyle's funds that can earn the firm a slice of profits appreciated by 3% in the quarter, as its buyout and global market strategies funds gained 5% and 2%, respectively. The firm's older energy funds, which are managed by former partner Riverstone Holdings LLC, lost 3% in the period as volatility in energy markets and lower commodity prices continued to take a toll.

The firm's distributable earnings, the portion of profits that can be paid to shareholders, rose to $386 million, from $324 million during last year's second quarter. The firm said it would pay out an 89 cent dividend for the quarter, a multiple of the 16 cents it paid a year ago.

Carlyle raised $4.7 billion in new money during the quarter, down from $7.4 billion a year earlier. Meanwhile, it reaped $5.8 billion selling assets in the second quarter, compared with $6.5 billion during the same period last year. The firm invested $1.6 billion, or 53% less, during the second quarter than it did a year earlier, when it put $3.4 billion to work.

Carlyle said its assets under management at the end of June were $192.8 billion, down from $202.7 billion a year earlier and up slightly on the $192.7 billion it managed at the end of March.

Carlyle's shares, which are down 5.4% this year, closed up 0.1%, or 3 cents, at $26.02 on Tuesday.

Write to Gillian Tan at [e-mail]

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