Fortress Investment Group reports narrower 4th-quarter loss on increase in assets
Associated Press
02/25/10 3:42 PM PST
NEW YORK — - Alternative asset manager Fortress Investment Group LLC's fourth-quarter loss narrowed as assets under management rose from a year earlier and redemptions slightly declined.
The company posted a loss of $84 million, or 58 cents per share, for the latest quarter, compared with a loss of $140 million, or $1.50 a share, a year earlier. Shares outstanding increased 11 percent in the 2009 quarter.
Pretax distributable earnings increased to $1 million, or less than a penny a share, against a loss of $258 million, or 56 cents a share, a year earlier.
Distributable earnings exclude certain charges such as compensation for principals of the firm, equity-based compensation and special gains and losses on options and other investments.
Assets under management in the private-equity and hedge funds rose 7.8 percent to $31.8 billion from $29.5 billion in the year-earlier quarter, reflecting turmoil in the financial markets in 2008.
Redemptions in the 2009 quarter fell to $1.1 billion from $1.2 billion a year earlier, and another $1.5 billion in redemptions have been requested. The redemptions are paid out over time as the underlying investments are liquidated.
For the year, the asset manager reported a loss of $255 million, or $2.08 a share, narrower than the 2008 loss of $322 million, or $3.50 a share. Revenue fell 20 percent in 2009 to $584.1 million from $731.8 million.
