GLOBAL - Private equity company The Blackstone Group has seen second-quarter income rise nearly 250% on the back of strong real estate investments.
It reported record net income of $703m (€434.8m) for the second quarter, up 243% from the same period last year on strong performance of real estate investments.
Blackstone reported a net income of $86m in the second quarter, compared with a net loss of $193m in the second quarter last year.
Net income for real estate was $453m for the second quarter, up from $121.4m in the same period last year, due largely to performance fees.
Its second-quarter real estate revenues stood at $684.5m in 2011, compared with revenues of $208.5m for the second quarter of 2010.
Fee-earning assets under management in the real estate segment was $27.9bn, compared with $23.8bn for the second quarter 2010.
The company's assets under management reached a record $159bn, up 43% from $111bn during the same period last year due to strong inflows from long-term partners.
Company founder and chief executive Steve Schwarzman said: "We experienced inflows across all of our businesses as we captured share and deepened relationships with our limited partner investors."
The investment manager's acquisition of the US assets of debt-laden Centro Properties, a leading shopping centre owner, in March this year, as well as the taking over of the management of Bank of America Merill Lych's Asian assets last year, has added $1.1bn and $2.1bn to its total fee-earning assets, respectively.
