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Blackstone Keeps Its Dividend and Its Stock Rises After Earnings Take a Hit -- Barrons.com Blackstone Keeps Its Dividend and Its Stock Rises After Earnings Take a Hit -- Barrons.com Dow Jones By Luisa Beltran Covid-19 slammed the Blackstone Group with the investment firm reporting a first-quarter net loss of $1.07 billion, or $1.58 a share. This compares with a profit of $481.3 million, or 71 cents share, a year earlier. "Blackstone's first-quarter financial results reflect the unprecedented market and global economic conditions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic," Chairman and CEO Stephen Schwarzman said in a statement. Because of the market and economic impacts of the pandemic and the drop in oil prices, Blackstone's corporate private-equity portfolio slid 21.6% in the quarter. Excluding energy, the portfolio fell 11.1%. Blackstone's loss comes as Covid-19 continues to ravage the U.S. economy. Businesses across the U.S. have closed while the virus has pushed more than 22 million people out of work over the past month. The firm has $151.5 billion in undrawn capital, including $75.9 billion in private equity, which is available to invest. Blackstone's total assets under management rose 5% year over year to $538 billion, while fee-earning assets rose 20% to $423.1 billion. Blackstone reported a dividend of 37 cents payable on May 11. The New York firm said more than $700 million would be distributed to shareholders through first-quarter dividends and share repurchases. Blackstone's shares were up 2% to $47.26 early Thursday. The S&P 500 was up 0.9%. |
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