Real Estate Assets Lead Blackstone’s Q2 Sales
On the heels of its 10-year anniversary as a public company, Blackstone Group posted 36% higher earnings in Q2 2017, but it still fell short of industry expectations.
Blackstone’s Q2 report sent its stock down 1.44% to $34.28 per share at closing bell Thursday. Although its quarterly gains were 59 cents per share, analysts were anticipating 62 cents, Bloomberg reports. The company’s $104B real estate business led Q2 sales. The $4.6B in holdings sold off include shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings, one of Blackstone’s largest public assets.
The private equity firm is beefing up its focus on infrastructure. While President Donald Trump, who tapped Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman to head his economic advisory council, has floated a $1 trillion infrastructure plan, little has materialized due to the debate on healthcare reform. Blackstone announced in May it was targeting over $100B in infrastructure investments, and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund agreed to anchor the investment vehicle with a $20B commitment.
Trump issued an executive order Wednesday creating the Presidential Advisory Council on Infrastructure, which is tasked with prioritizing projects, speeding up the approval process and proposing how to grow public-private partnerships. Blackstone President Tony James assured investors Thursday the company’s own infrastructure fund would not be dependent on government spending.
