BLK BlackRock Inc

By Allison Prang and Dawn Lim 

Investors increased the flood of cash flowing into money-management giant BlackRock Inc. in the last quarter. But the firm saw profits fall 6.5% from the comparable quarter a year earlier to $1 billion.

BlackRock reported earnings of $6.41 a share, down from $6.62 a share. Its earnings missed estimates from analysts polled by FactSet.

Total net flows, which is the difference between investor money going into BlackRock and money leaving, rose to $150.99 billion, up from $20 billion a year earlier. The company's assets under management rose 8.6%, topping $6.8 trillion.

BlackRock's results show how in the hypercompetitive industry, an influx of assets doesn't necessarily translate to higher profits.

The world's biggest money manager helped steer a revolution in financial markets with exchange-traded funds that trade rapidly and index funds that track markets cheaply. Chief Executive Larry Fink is pushing to make BlackRock less exposed to how investors direct their money and the ebb and flow of markets.

Revenue fell 2.2% to $3.52 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected revenue of $3.58 billion.

Investment advisory, administration fees, and securities lending revenue fell by 1.4%.

Technology-services revenue rose 20%, but still makes up a small part of the company's revenue. The firm offers a suite of tools called Aladdin that financial institutions use to measure risk. BlackRock struck a deal this year to acquire French software firm eFront in a bid to add to its technology offerings.

Write to Allison Prang at allison.prang@wsj.com and Dawn Lim at dawn.lim@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 19, 2019 07:02 ET (11:02 GMT)

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