By Chibuike Oguh
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Private equity firm Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) Inc reported on Tuesday a smaller-than-expected 43% year-on-year drop in third-quarter distributable earnings, amid a slump in assets, mostly from its private equity portfolio.
Distributable earnings - which represents the cash used to pay dividends to shareholders - fell to $367.4 million, down from $644.4 million a year earlier. That translated to after-tax-distributable earnings of 87 cents, which was higher than the average analyst estimate of 72 cents, according to LSEG data.
Firms like Carlyle have struggled to cash out on their assets amid volatility caused by geopolitical tensions, rising inflation and higher interest rates.
Washington-based Carlyle said its realized performance revenues, mostly driven by asset sales from its private equity unit, plummeted by 76% to $180.4 million.
Last month, Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Inc reported a steeper-than-expected 12% drop in distributable earnings owing to muted asset sales. Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) Inc said its asset sales fell by 92% although its adjusted net income jumped by 23% buoyed partly by its retirement services business.
Carlyle said its corporate private funds appreciated by 1% during the quarter, real estate funds gained 1%, while global credit funds added 2%. By contract, Blackstone's private equity portfolio rose 2.4%, while Apollo's gained 2.7%.
Under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), Carlyle's net income slumped 71% to $81.3 million weighed down by an investment loss of $17.7 million.
Carlyle raised $6.3 billion from investors during the quarter, spent $4.1 billion on new acquisitions, and retained $71 billion of unspent capital, and generated $204.7 million of fee-related earnings.
Total assets under management stood at $382 billion, down 1% from the prior quarter. It declared a quarterly dividend of 35 cents.