By Chibuike Oguh
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Private equity firm Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) Inc on Wednesday reported a 23% year-on-year jump in third-quarter adjusted net income, as high interest rates boosted its large credit business.
Apollo CEO Marc Rowan told analysts on a conference call that thanks to high rates, the firm could lend to companies more expensively or acquire them at cheaper valuations, with less competition from rivals that cannot write big equity checks and need to borrow.
"Almost everything in our business works better with higher rates," Rowan said.
Apollo's adjusted net income rose to $1.05 billion from $850 million a year earlier. That resulted in adjusted net income per share of $1.71, which missed the average analyst estimate of $1.77, according to LSEG data.
Many analysts were expecting Apollo to have cashed out on more of its assets. Principal investing income, which relies on asset sales, fell 92% to $4 million.
Nevertheless, Apollo's shares rose 7.7% to $83.38 in afternoon trading.
Fee-related earnings rose 29% to a quarterly record of $472 million. Spread-related earnings, encompassing Apollo's income from investing the capital of annuities provider Athene, jumped nearly 36% to reach a quarterly record of $873 million. That growth was driven partly by strong demand for Athene's annuities and investment gains buoyed by higher interest rates.
Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Inc, which has a smaller credit business than Apollo, last month reported a steeper-than-expected 12% drop in earnings owing to muted asset sales.
During the quarter, Apollo said its private equity funds appreciated by 2.7%, corporate credit funds rose 2.6% and its debt and equity funds gained 3.8%. By contrast, Blackstone's private equity portfolio rose 2.4%, while liquid credit funds added 3.3%.
Apollo reported a net income of $660 million under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), compared with a net loss of $563 million a year earlier, owing to a sharp decline in future policy expenses at Athene.
It raised $33 billion of new capital and had unspent capital of $59 billion. Total assets under management were up nearly 21% to $631 billion.
Apollo also said it would switch most compensation of its senior leaders from cash to stock, to more closely align them with shareholders.
It disclosed it had authorized a $550 million stock issue, equivalent to 1% of its share count, for these leaders, which include Matt Nord, David Sambur, John Zito and Grant Kvalheim.