Business Context and Reporting Period
This Form 8-K filing by The Blackstone Group L.P. (Blackstone) reports the issuance of a press release on April 22, 2010, announcing financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010. The filing serves as a current report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Key Financial Metrics
The filing text does not provide specific numerical values for revenue, profit, cash flow, margins, debt, or liquidity. Instead, it defines the non-GAAP financial measures used in the attached press release (Exhibit 99.1) to evaluate performance:
- Economic Net Income (ENI): Segment net income excluding income taxes, IPO/acquisition-related items, equity-based compensation charges, and intangible amortization. Used for resource deployment and compensation decisions.
- Economic Net Income After Taxes: ENI adjusted for an implied income tax provision.
- Net Fee Related Earnings from Operations: Earnings from operations excluding performance fees, allocations, carry plan costs, and investment income/losses (except cash management). Used to assess if recurring revenue covers operating expenses.
- EBITDA-NFRE: Net Fee Related Earnings from Operations before segment interest, depreciation, amortization, and cash taxes.
- Distributable Earnings: A measure of net realized earnings available for distribution to unitholders, derived from segment results excluding the consolidation of Blackstone Funds.
Material Changes
The filing text does not contain specific data regarding material changes in financial metrics compared to the prior comparable period. It references an attached press release for the detailed results and reconciliations to GAAP measures.
Guidance, Outlook, and Management Commentary
Distribution Policy: Blackstone intends to distribute to unitholders all Distributable Earnings on an annual basis, in excess of amounts retained for business conduct, investments, legal compliance, debt obligations, or future distributions.
Management Use of Metrics: Management utilizes ENI for resource deployment and compensation decisions across four segments. Net Fee Related Earnings from Operations is used to assess the sufficiency of recurring revenue to cover operating expenses.
Non-GAAP Disclosure: The filing emphasizes that these non-GAAP measures are supplemental and should not be considered a substitute for GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations are provided in the attached press release.
Investor Verification Checklist
- Review the attached press release (Exhibit 99.1) for specific numerical values of ENI, Net Fee Related Earnings, and Distributable Earnings for Q1 2010.
- Verify the reconciliation of non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures as required by the filing.
- Confirm the specific amounts of realized performance fees and allocations included in Distributable Earnings.
- Check for any updates on the Tax Receivable Agreement payables mentioned in the Distributable Earnings calculation.