Carlyle earnings climb on strong growth in US, Asia

Carlyle’s third-quarter earnings jumped as the value of investments in some of the firm’s US and Asia buyout funds posted strong appreciation, but the amount of cash that could be distributed to shareholders fell.

The Washington-based firm said net income rose to $295.5m, or 82 cents a share, from $92.2m, or 55 cents a share, a year earlier.

The value of Carlyle’s private equity portfolio climbed by 5% in the period, underperforming a 8.5% gain by the S&P 500. But the firm showed it bounced back from the coronavirus-prompted market turmoil of the first quarter, posting net accrued performance revenues of about $2bn, up from $1.7bn at the end of 2019.

Distributable earnings, or cash that could be given back to shareholders, fell to $151.8m, or 40 cents a share, from $160.7m, or 41 cents a share, a year earlier.

Carlyle’s fee-related earnings came in at $118.7m, up from $108.8m a year earlier. Aiding that has been the growth of the firm’s credit platform, where fee-related earnings have nearly doubled year-to-date over the same period last year.

The firm’s assets under management were about $230bn as of the end of the third quarter, a 4% increase from the prior quarter and a 2% increase year-to-date. Despite the pandemic, Carlyle said it raised about $18bn during the first three quarters of 2020, compared with $16bn in the same period last year. None of the firm’s biggest funds were in the market during that period.

Carlyle invested $3.7bn during the quarter. The firm was particularly active in Asia, closing or unveiling $1.5bn worth of deals in the region. In the US, it focused on fast-growing tech and healthcare companies, some of which could get a boost from the pandemic, including disinfectant-sprayer-maker Victory Innovations, digital healthcare provider Grand Rounds and health-research network TriNetx.

Source: Private Equity News