PE stocks hit all-time low(3)

Shares in both The Blackstone Group and Fortress Investment Group hit all-time lows in Thursday morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange, as world markets continued to record losses fueled by credit market concerns and the US subprime mortgage crisis.

Blackstone units hit an all-time low of $22.04 (€16.33) during mid-morning trading on Thursday – nearly 29 percent less than its $31 issue price. Since listing a portion of its management company in June, the stock has steadily declined.

Fortress shares have also progressively lost value since June, which is when US lawmakers intensified their interest in private equity, specifically the taxation of publicly traded alternative asset managers and carried interest. During Thursday morning trading, Fortress hit an all-time low of $16.06 – more than 13 percent off from its February issue price.

This week, both Fortress and Blackstone reported second quarter earnings. Blackstone’s earnings of $975.3 million were triple that of the same quarter last year, while Fortress suffered losses of $55 million, or 66 cents per share, a nearly 31 percent increase from its losses of $42 million reported during the same period last year. Fortress’ assets under management, however, grew by 70 percent to $43.3 billion.