Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, explained that Blackstone entered this crisis «in a position of great strength, having recently completed a two-year fundraising cycle of nearly 250 billion dollars (230.915 million euro). With ample capital reserves, long-term fund structures, and over 150 billion dollars (139.838 million euro) of dry powder capital. We are uniquely positioned to invest on behalf of our clients at a time of historic dislocation», he highlighted.
This information was revealed last week in a release which announced the company’s results for the first quarter, which weren’t very encouraging. During the first three months, the American giant lost 1.066 million dollars – 982 million euro – in net income attributable to the Blackstone Group.
According to Stephen A. Schwarzman, «Blackstone’s first-quarter financial results reflect the unprecedented market and global economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the extremely challenging environment, we continued to generate significant cash flow for our shareholders, distributing over 700 million dollars (649,13 million euro) through dividends and share repurchases in the quarter, and 3.2 billion dollars (2,97 billion euro) over the last twelve months».
The company also highlighted that its assets under management reached 538.000 million dollars, around 496.516 million euro, 5% more yoy.
«Throughout our firm’s 35-year history, we have weathered many difficult periods - including the global financial crisis - only to emerge stronger than before. Our experience has shown that although asset values may be temporarily marked down, strong assets ultimately recover», remarked Blackstone’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
