BlackRock Profit Slips In Second Quarter In Challenging Environment

The world's largest asset manager BlackRock Inc. on Thursday reported a drop in second-quarter revenue and profit, with clients facing "unprecedented challenges". Profit for the quarter fell 4% to $789 million, or $4.73 a share, down from $819 million, or $4.84 a share, in the year-ago period. On an adjusted basis, earnings per share fell to $4.78 from $4.96. Revenue dropped to $2.80 billion from $2.91 billion last year. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected earnings of $4.77 a share on revenue of $2.79 billion. Meanwhile, assets under management grew 4% to $4.9 trillion. "Our clients are facing unprecedented challenges as they attempt to navigate the current investment environment," Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink said in the earnings release. "Political and macroeconomic uncertainty, historically low yields and elevated market volatility are leading clients to pause, as evidenced by more than $55 trillion in bank deposits in the U.S., China and Japan alone," he added.