OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (BAM, BAM_A.TO) reported Friday that its third-quarter profit more than doubled from last year, driven by fair value changes as well as strong revenue growth in all of its segments. The Canadian alternative asset manager, focused on property, renewable power and infrastructure assets, said it expects to find opportunities to acquire quality international assets from European companies.
Third-quarter net income, on IFRS basis, jumped to $716 million from $342 million in the prior-year quarter. Net income attributable to Brookfield shareholders grew to $253 million from $112 million a year ago.
Net income per share for the latest quarter amounted to $0.36, significantly higher than $0.16 in the earlier year period.
On average, four analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.36 per share. Such estimates typically exclude special items.
The company attributed the profit growth to the impact of fair value changes, partially offset by lower net operating cash flow.
Total revenues for the three-month period stood at $4.58 billion, higher than $3.55 billion in the 2010 period, while analysts projected revenues of $4.18 billion.
The company noted that its revenues increased in all segments as a result of the strengthening of non-U.S. currencies relative to the U.S. dollar.
Asset management and other services revenues climbed 45.8 percent reflecting higher activity levels in construction business, while renewable power revenues grew 20.7 percent on increased generation levels. Development segment revenues were boosted by a higher amount of projects completed in Brazilian operations.
The company noted that its commercial properties and Infrastructure revenues include the consolidation of the U.S. Office Fund and the consolidation of several business units following the Prime merger in November 2010, respectively.
The strong results were partially offset by the results from its more cyclical businesses and some of its financial assets which were below the company's long-term expectation.
Chief Executive Officer Bruce Flatt said, 'During the quarter, concerns with European sovereign debt and slowing economic growth in the United States continued to undermine business, credit and equity market confidence. Despite this, we made good progress in executing our business plans.'
For the nine months, the company's attributable net income climbed to $1.37 billion or $2.03 per share from last year's $365 million or $0.53 per share. Year-to-date revenues surged to $12.30 billion from $9.96 billion in the previous year.
Further, the board declared a dividend of $0.13 per share, payable on February 29, 2012, to shareholders of record as at the close of business on February 1, 2012. Also, the board declared all of the regular monthly and quarterly dividends on its preferred shares.
Looking ahead, the company said it is moving forward with many growth initiatives across its global operations.
Flatt added, 'Economic uncertainty and market volatility present both opportunities and challenges; however, these conditions favour our style of investing.'
BAM closed Thursday's trading at $28.06, up $0.08 or 0.29 percent.
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