CG Carlyle Group Inc

Carlyle Group LP swung to a third-quarter profit as rising markets buoyed its portfolio and offered a continued opening to sell out of investments of years past.

The Washington, D.C. private-equity firm reported a profit of $800,000 for the period ended Sept. 30. On a per-share basis, Carlyle lost 2 cents, because of the accounting treatment of certain ownership units held by Carlyle's founders, which didn't receive a tax benefit. In the same period a year earlier, Carlyle lost $83.9 million, or $1.11 a share.

Economic net income—a closely watched performance metric that includes cash earnings and changes in the value of unrealized investments—was $69.7 million, or 21 cents a share, versus a loss of $140.3 million, or 43 cents a share, a year earlier. The latest result fell short of analysts' 34-cent average estimate, according to a FactSet poll.

The firm set aside a $100 million "reserve for ongoing litigation and contingencies," which reduced its earnings and economic profit, largely accounting for how it missed Wall Street's forecasts.

Carlyle's private-equity firms returned 3% during the period. Credit, hedge funds and other products in its global market strategies segments were flat.

Distributable earnings, the portion of profits that can be paid to shareholders, fell to $228 million, or 66 cents a share after taxes, from $244 million, or 74 cents a share, a year earlier.

Carlyle said it will pay a dividend of 50 cents for the quarter, down from 56 cents for the year-earlier period.

As of Sept. 30, the firm's assets under management stood at $54.6 billion, down from $63.1 billion a year earlier and $57.6 billion at the end of the prior quarter.

Carlyle's shares closed Tuesday at $15.75, up 1.6% for the day and 0.8% so far in 2016.

Write to Matt Jarzemsky at matthew.jarzemsky@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 26, 2016 07:45 ET (11:45 GMT)

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