Brookfield Quarterly Profit Rises, Beating Expectations

By Robb M. Stewart

Brookfield's first-quarter earnings rose with strong fundraising and capital deployment in its asset-management business and a strong investment performance at its wealth-0solutions arm.

Distributable earnings, a measure of cash that can be returned to shareholders, rose to $1.22 billion in the first quarter from $1.16 billion a year earlier. On a per-share basis, distributable earnings rose to 77 cents from 72 cents, beating the 70 cents analysts polled by FactSet were expecting.

Net income climbed to $519 million, or 4 cents a share, from $424 million, or 5 cents a share, although revenue slipped 1.7% to $22.91 billion for the quarter

Toronto-based Brookfield, which in late 2022 spun off a 25% stake in its asset-management business, ended March with a record $150 billion of deployable capital, including roughly $65 billion of cash, financial assets and undrawn credit lines. Brookfield said it arranged about $40 billion of financing across its business over the past few months, including issuing $750 million in 30-year bonds to bolster balance-sheet liquidity.

On Tuesday, Brookfield Asset Management reported $547 million in distributable earnings for the recent quarter, with a 16% fall in revenue to $884 million.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 09, 2024 07:56 ET (11:56 GMT)

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