KKR earnings leap 39pc
PRIVATE equity firm KKR posted a 39 per cent rise in quarterly earnings last night to $714.6m (£440.7m), helping the company to almost double its three-month dividend to 29 cents.
US-based KKR, which owns stakes in Alliance Boots, music rights firm BMG and retailer Toys R Us, said its assets under management rose 16.8 per cent on twelve months ago to $61bn in the last three months of 2010, beating analyst estimates.
“We continue to show great progress in the two areas that drive our business: investment performance and capital raising,” said co-founders Henry R Kravis and George R Roberts
“Our private equity funds returned 33 per cent for the year, significantly outperforming the S&P 500 return of 15 per cent, while each of our credit strategies also beat benchmark indices.”
KKR’s New York-listed stock closed down 1.5 per cent at $9.58.