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Blackstone's Private-Equity Portfolio Falls in Value Amid Market TurbulenceBlackstone's Private-Equity Portfolio Falls in Value Amid Market Turbulence Barron's (Online); New York Blackstone, the largest alternative-asset manager, delivered far lower net income than a year ago as the volatile economy hampered deal making and made it harder for private-equity firms to cash out of their investments. The company (ticker: BX) reported net income of $2.3 million, or near zero cents a share, for the quarter that ended in September, versus $1.4 billion, or $1.94 a share, in the year-earlier quarter. Distributable earnings—the cash available to pay dividends—was $1.06 per share, higher than the 98 cents Wall Street expected but lower than the $1.28 per share reported a year ago. Blackstone declared a dividend of 90 cents per share. The stock (ticker: BX) slipped nearly 1% to $87.20 in premarket trading after the results were disclosed. Markets globally have been affected by rising interest rates, the energy crisis stemming from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and other macroeconomic challenges. As a result, bank financing for private-equity deals has become more expensive and harder to find. The value of Blackstone's corporate private-equity and opportunistic real estate funds fell by 0.3% and 0.6%, respectively. The firm's private credit portfolio, though, grew by 3%, the best performance among all its funds. Blackstone's so-called dry powder, or undrawn capital, increased to a record $182 billion from the $170 billion available for investment the company reported last quarter. |
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