After
Blackstone
and
Apollo Global Management
both reported 4Q losses Thursday,how to string a husqvarna 525l weed eater rival
KKR
followed suit Friday morning, announcing a net loss attributable to the firm of $384.6 million as a volatile stock market hurt its public holdings.
But some of the New York-based firm's other fundamental metrics remained strong. KKR's distributable earnings, the amount of profits available to pay shareholders, increased 23% YoY during 4Q to $460.1 million, or 55 cents per share, driven in part by KKR's sale of stakes in publicly traded machine parts manufacturer
Gardner Denver
and eye retailer
National Vision
. Compare that to a 20% YoY drop in distributable earnings for Apollo during 4Q and a 42% dip for Blackstone.
Public private equity firms have in recent months emphasized distributable earnings as their most important metric instead of economic net income, a vague calculation that supposedly indicated the mark-to-market valuation of a firm's holdings. The goal: Make private equity earnings a bit easier to understand. KKR ceased reporting its ENI during 3Q, its first quarter after converting itself from a partnership into a corporation.
One of the main reasons for that flip was to provide a hoped-for boost to KKR's stock price. But it's tough to say the change has yielded much in the way of results. KKR closed its final day of trading before flipping to a corporation last June 29 with its stock price at $24.85. That figure climbed above $28 per share in September before plunging back below $20 per share in December. The firm's shares (NYSE: KKR) closed up almost 5% after Friday's earnings report, ending the week at $23.48.
KKR's Class A shareholders sustained a loss of 74 cents per share in 4Q, compared to a profit of 32 cents per share in the same period the year prior. The firm closed 2018 with $195 billion in AUM, a 16% YoY increase but flat compared to 3Q.
With the overall market stumbling about 14% in 4Q, it probably could have been worse for KKR's private equity portfolio. From the firm's earnings report, here's a look at how its various divisions performed compared to global indices:
At the very least, KKR was able to find a few blockbusters on the dealmaking front in 4Q. The firm finalized two mega-deals in October, purchasing
BMC Software
for $8.3 billion and taking
Envision Healthcare
private for some $5.6 billion.
Related read:
Earnings plummet but stock prices rise for Blackstone, Apollo
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