The Carlyle Group posted big gains for its second quarter on Wednesday, including a sizable jump in payouts to investors. But analysts expected a little more from its results.
The investment giant said on Wednesday that it earned $155.8 million for the quarter ended June 30, up nearly fourfold from the same time last year. But that profit amounted to 39 cents per unit, far short of the average analyst estimate of 56 cents a share, as calculated by Standard & Poor’s Capital IQ.
The profit figure accounts for unrealized investment gains and appreciation in the value of Carlyle’s portfolio, the latter of which came in at 3 percent in the quarter.
The firm itself prefers to focus on distributable earnings, which measure actual payouts to investors in its funds. By that metric, Carlyle performed well, with distributable earnings rising 41 percent to $163 million.
Carlyle, like many of its peers, has been focusing on cashing out of its holdings and returning that money to investors. Private equity firms throughout the industry have been raising to take their portfolio companies public or sell them, taking advantage of the high valuations that come from the booming stock markets.
Carlyle itself has sold off shares in the likes of Hertz and Allison Transmission, moves that it is likely to continue throughout the year.
The firm also emphasized its fund-raising efforts, having collected $6.9 billion in the quarter. It now oversees $180.4 billion, up 16 percent from a year ago.
“We had a solid quarter across the firm and continued to demonstrate our ability to produce cash distributions for unitholders,†David M. Rubenstein, one of Carlyle’s co-chief executives, said in a statement.
Using generally accepted accounting principles, Carlyle lost $3.3 million for the quarter, down from $10.3 million a year ago.
