US private equity group Carlyle is planning to use its fast-growing earnings and assets under management to expand and diversify through acquisitions.
In results published on Thursday, the group reported a record $903mn of distributable earnings in the quarter to the end of the December — the metric favoured by analysts as a proxy for cash flow. Distributable earnings totalled $2.2bn for the year, or $5.01 a share, beating analyst estimates and 143 per cent up on the previous year. Its annual dividend will increase 30 per cent to $1.30 a share.
Competitors including Blackstone Group, KKR, Apollo Global, and Ares Management have all made large acquisitions in recent years to expand in markets such as insurance and debt-focused investments.
Lee’s tenure has also coincided with rising fund performance and early success in reaching a milestone of raising $130bn in new assets by 2024. Seventy-five per cent of Carlyle’s assets eligible to earn performance fees were doing so at year end, a 30 percentage point increase from the year before.
Read more: Times New UK
