Jan 13 (Reuters) - BlackRock Inc reported an 18% drop in fourth-quarter profit on Friday, hit by a global market rout that squeezed fee income.
The world's largest asset manager posted adjusted earnings of $1.36 billion, or $8.93 per share, in the three months to Dec. 31, down from $1.65 billion, or $10.68 per share, a year earlier.
Analysts on average had expected a profit of $8.11 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Assets under management (AUM) stood at $8.59 trillion at the end of the quarter, down from a little more than $10 trillion a year earlier but up from $7.96 trillion in the third quarter.
Financial markets were slammed last year by a swift rise in interest rates and growing fears of global recession, hurting businesses such as BlackRock, which makes most of its money from fees on investment advisory and administration services.
Full-year revenue declined by 8% last year, "primarily driven by the impact of significantly lower markets and dollar appreciation on average AUM and lower performance fees", a BlackRock statement said.
The company registered $146 billion in long-term net inflows in the fourth quarter. For the whole of 2022 BlackRock inflows reached more than $300 billion.
Reporting by Mehnaz Yasmin in Bengaluru and Davide Barbuscia in New York Editing by David Goodman
Source: Reuters