KKR earnings rise 10 pct, (NYSE: KKR), (NYSE: BX), (NYSE: APO)

KKR & Co LP (KKR.N), parent of private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, said on Wednesday that quarterly earnings rose 10 percent from a year before, and it generated profits from exiting a number of its portfolio companies. Economic net income, a measure used by private equity firms to report earnings, was $742.5 million for the first quarter, compared with $674.8 million a year earlier. ENI after tax per adjusted unit was 96 cents, KKR said. KKR said assets under management totaled $61.0 billion, up from $54.7 billion a year earlier. It will pay a first-quarter distribution of 21 cents per unit. KKR trades at a multiple of about 6.4 percent times its 2010 economic net income. That compares with rival Blackstone Group LP (BX.N), which trades about 14.8 times its 2010 economic net income and Apollo Global Management LLC (APO.N), which trades at about 5.8 times.

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