Carlyle’s distributable earnings climb, natural resource holdings flourish in Q1

The Carlyle Group reported a rise in distributable earnings—the allocation of cash that can be returned to investors—and a dip in net income, compared to the same period last year, according to its first-quarter earnings release.

The results were driven by a number of factors, including overall market volatility and higher expenses taken on by the firm. The climb in distributable earnings was spurred in part by strong realization activity in the firm’s Japanese and US buyout sectors.

Carlyle brought in $572 million in net income in the first quarter of this year, a 34% decrease compared to Q1 2021; distributable earnings were $303 million, up from $215 million.

The firm spent $10.9 billion for new acquisitions across its portfolio in the first quarter, and generated $6.4 billion from asset sales, a figure identical to its Q1 2021 report.

Carlyle reported that its natural resources and infrastructure funds appreciated 19% in the quarter, with its private equity funds climbing 3% and its real estate funds rising 10%.

Some of the firm’s biggest deals over the quarter included the $3 billion acquisition of a portfolio of net real estate lease assets from iStar, $2.1 billion in equity capital raised for portfolio insurance company Fortitude Re and the closing of a €1.75 billion buyout deal for industrial software provider AutoForm Engineering.

The firm also inked a deal in March to acquire investment firm CBAM Partners, valued at about $787 million, Bloomberg reported. The agreement is set to increase Carlyle’s collateralized loan obligation AUM to about $48 billion and its global credit AUM to $88 billion.

Carlyle’s fee-related earnings jumped to $183 million, up nearly 42%. The firm announced a quarterly dividend of $0.325 per share, up from $0.25 a share. The firm’s total AUM figure reached $325 billion, increasing 25% year-over-year.

Carlyle is the second publicly traded PE firm to report its Q1 earnings this year. Last week, Blackstone reported its opportunistic real estate portfolio, which grew more than 10%, had outperformed its other businesses.

Blackstone saw a rise in distributable earnings compared to the same period last year. It reported $1.9 billion for the quarter—up from $1.2 billion, but down from $2.3 billion in Q4 2021.

Related read: Blackstone’s real estate holdings shine, distributable earnings climb in Q1

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