KKR (KKR) Q4 2023 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Record Q4 Fee Related Earnings (FRE) and the most active fundraising and deployment quarter of 2023; full-year capital raised was $69B and invested was $44B.

• Q4 FRE was $675M, up 21% YoY, and after-tax Distributable Earnings (DE) were $888M, up 4%; FY FRE rose 10% to $2.4B while DE fell 13% to $3.0B.

• AUM reached $553B, up 10% YoY, and Fee Paying AUM (FPAUM) reached $446B, up 8%.

Financial highlights

• Q4 GAAP revenue was $4.43B vs. $2.52B YoY; FY revenue was $14.50B vs. $5.70B.

• Q4 GAAP net income attributable to common stockholders was $1.04B vs. $121M; FY net income was $3.68B vs. a $591M loss in 2022.

• Q4 GAAP diluted EPS was $1.14 vs. $0.14; FY diluted EPS was $4.09 vs. a $0.79 loss.

• Adjusted EBITDA was $1.21B in Q4 vs. $1.19B and $4.23B for FY vs. $4.74B in 2022.

Outlook and guidance

• From the dividend announced with Q1 2024 results, intended regular annualized dividend increase from $0.66 to $0.70 per share; Q4 2023 dividend declared at $0.165 per share.

• Pending Manulife block reinsurance transaction expected to close in H1 2024, subject to closing conditions including regulatory approvals, and estimated to add $10B to AUM.

• Q1 2024 reporting planned to reflect revised compensation ratios, a new Strategic Holdings segment and Total Operating Earnings metric.