Real-estate investments propelled Blackstone Group LP (BX.N) to strong profits in the second quarter, but the giant private equity firm warned that deals in general were becoming expensive. Private equity firms have seen the value of their portfolios recover as stock markets have risen, and Blackstone said the improvement in valuation and increased fee income boosted earnings. "The star performer in the quarter was real estate," Blackstone's President Tony James told reporters on a conference call. "Purchasing assets from distressed sellers has been the dominant focus of our real estate activities over the last year." Blackstone has $7.4 billion of "dry powder" -- capital available to invest -- in real estate and $17 billion in private equity. It has also started raising a new real estate fund that it previously said would be around $10 billion.
The Blackstone Group L.P. (Blackstone) is a manager of private capital and provider of financial advisory services. Shares of BX traded higher by 3.78% or $0.615/share to $16.88. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $9.89 and as high as $19.63. On average, 3345310 shares of BX exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 1775038.
