Blackstone’s profits drop 62% in Q2

Blackstone Group’s second quarter profit fell 62 percent in part due to turmoil caused by the Greek crisis and the fall of the Chinese stock market, the private equity firm announced Thursday.

The company’s economic net income — which represents both realized and unrealized investment gains — dropped to $508.4 million from $1.33 billion (to $.43 a share from $1.15 a share) compared to the same period last year, according to Bloomberg.

The largest private equity firm in the world, Blackstone oversees roughly $333 billion in private equity, real estate, hedge funds and credit assets. The Greek crisis and the collapse of the Chinese stock market both played an active role in the depreciation of several companies in which Blackstone invested, according to Bloomberg

The firm raised $8.7 billion in the second quarter by selling real estate and private equity assets, such as holdings in Hilton Worldwide, Pinnacle Foods and Catalent Inc, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Earlier this year, Blackstone raised $14.5 billion from institutions for a forthcoming real estate investment fund and plans to raise another $1.3 billion from individuals.

Jefferies Group analyst Dan Fannon wrote to clients that second quarter results “largely reflect weakness in the public portfolio.” [Bloomberg] and [WSJ] — Claire Moses