The Carlyle Group (CG) Q1 2025 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Achieved record Fee Related Earnings (FRE) of $311 million, up 17% year-over-year, and record FRE margin of 48%.

• Distributable Earnings reached $455 million ($1.14 per share post-tax), and net income attributable to common stockholders was $130 million, or $0.35 per diluted share, with a 17.6% pre-tax margin.

• Assets under management (AUM) hit a record $453 billion, up 6% year-over-year, with $84 billion in available capital.

• Revenue rose 41% year-over-year to $973.1 million, driven by higher management fees and a rebound in performance allocations.

• Declared a $0.35/share quarterly dividend and repurchased $176.5 million in shares, with $675.6 million remaining under the buyback program.

Financial highlights

• Fund management fees increased 12% year-over-year, driven by capital markets fees and fundraising in AlpInvest and Private Equity products.

• Distributable Earnings (DE) rose to $455.4 million, and Fee Related Earnings (FRE) increased to $310.6 million, reflecting higher fee revenues and improved operating leverage.

• Inflows totaled $14.2 billion in Q1, with $50 billion in inflows over the last 12 months; deployment was $11.1 billion for the quarter.

• Transaction and portfolio advisory fees more than tripled year-over-year, with $150 million generated over the past two quarters.

• Realized proceeds from carry funds were $8.6 billion, with 2% carry fund appreciation in Q1 2025.

Outlook and guidance

• Management remains confident in meeting 2025 financial targets and navigating market cycles, citing $84 billion in dry powder and a scalable global platform.

• Management fees in global private equity expected to increase in Q2 as new real estate fund fees are activated.

• Fundraising target for 2025 is $40 billion in inflows, including insurance flows.

• Dividend policy maintained at $1.40 per share annualized, subject to Board discretion.

• Anticipates opportunities in private credit and secondaries as traditional lending channels retreat and liquidity needs rise.