(RTTNews) - Blackstone Group LP (BX: News ) on Friday reported a narrower loss for the third quarter, helped by net appreciation of the underlying portfolio investments in the corporate private equity and credit and marketable alternatives segments, as well as stabilization in the fair value of the real estate segment's underlying portfolio investments.

The New York-based private equity firm reported a GAAP net loss for the third quarter of $176.2 million or $0.61 per unit, compared to a GAAP net loss of $340.3 million or $1.26 per unit for the year-ago quarter.

The latest quarter GAAP results include net IPO and acquisition-related charges of $201 million, while the year-ago quarter GAAP results included included net IPO and acquisition-related charges of $203 million.

Excluding items, economic net income after taxes for the third quarter was $275.3 million or $0.25 per unit, compared to a loss of $502.5 million or $0.45 per unit in the prior year quarter.

On average, 7 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.15 per unit for the third quarter.

Total revenue for the third quarter was $597.02 million, compared to negative revenue of $160.25 million in the same quarter last year. Total segment revenues for the quarter was $603.8 million, compared to negative $229.2 million in the year-ago quarter. Five analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $450.62 million for the third quarter.

Blackstone noted that access to equity capital markets has improved and volumes of both IPOs and secondary equity markets have increased considerably throughout 2009. The company said it could participate in more number of acquisitions and dispositions if the current trend persists.
Stephen Schwarzman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We believe the worst is behind us though a recovery could be gradual and uneven. We see many opportunities to deploy our substantial available capital across each of our asset management businesses with attractive potential risk-return for our fund investors."

For the nine months, the company reported a GAAP net loss of $572.0 million or $2.05 per unit, compared to a GAAP net loss of $747.9 million or $2.81 per unit for the same period last year.

Economic net income after taxes for the nine month period was $373.8 million or $0.33 per unit, compared to a loss of $403.4 million or $0.36 per unit in the prior year period.

Total revenue for the nine month period increased to $1.05 billion from $261.92 million in the year earlier period. Total segment revenue rose to $1.1 billion from $179.3 million for the same period in 2008.

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