Bridgepoint Group H1 Earnings Call Highlights

Bridgepoint Group LON: BPT reported a stronger-than-expected first half, with management pointing to fundraising momentum, earlier-than-anticipated performance-related earnings and continued capital returns to investors. Chief Executive Raoul said the private markets firm’s business “continues to fire on all cylinders” shortly after announcing the planned acquisition of Kayne Anderson Real Estate. He said the transaction had been “very well received” by Kayne, Bridgepoint and the firm’s fund investors. On a pro forma basis including Kayne, total group assets under management rose 38% to $120 billion. Excluding Kayne, AUM for the current group increased 12%. Management fees grew 23% including catch-up fees, while fee-related earnings rose 42%. Bridgepoint reported underlying EBITDA of £227 million for the first half, up 78% from the same period a year earlier, with an EBITDA margin of 61%. Group CFO Ruth Prior said the first-half result had “helped de-risk the full year numbers.” Fundraising Progress Accelerates Raoul said Bridgepoint has raised €2.5 billion of additional commitments since the Kayne announcement. The company recently increased its fundraising target to €28 billion and said it has seen further progress toward that goal. Bridgepoint said its BE VIII fund has held a further close and now stands at more than €7 billion, exceeding the size of its predecessor fund. Prior said the final close for BE VIII is expected in the first quarter of 2027 at between €8 billion and €8.5 billion, and that the fund began paying fees sooner than originally expected. In credit, BDL IV held its final close at €5.1 billion of investable capital. ECP VI has raised $7 billion, and Bridgepoint said its hard cap was increased from $7.5 billion to $7.8 billion of external capital following agreement from fund investors, in order to accommodate limited partners who would otherwise have missed out on allocations. Including the GP commitment, Raoul said Bridgepoint is now highly confident of a fund greater than €8 billion. Performance-Related Earnings Lift Results Prior said management fees excluding catch-up fees increased 16%, in line with guidance. The “standout performance,” she said, was in performance-related earnings, where £121 million of carry recognition and co-investment gains delivered about two-thirds of the amount expected for the full year. Bridgepoint recorded £120.7 million of PRE in the first half. Prior said the company remains well positioned to reach guidance for PRE of around 25% of total income for the full year. Because so much of the expected PRE was recorded in the first half, she said the full-year EBITDA margin is likely to be lower than the first-half margin, but still “comfortably within” the guided range of 55% to 60%. Deployment and Exits Remain Active Bridgepoint said it continued a steady pace of capital deployment and exits in the middle market. The firm made seven new platform investments in private equity during the period. In infrastructure, it invested in the largest service provider to the nuclear power industry in North America. Total capital invested over the last six months was €3.6 billion. Prior said BE VII made its final investment, while BE VIII announced its first investment. With additional investments in the pipeline, Bridgepoint expects to deploy about another €2 billion “in the very short term.” Capital returned to fund investors reached a record €16.6 billion, driven in large part by the closing of the Calpine transaction. Excluding Calpine, Bridgepoint said first-half capital returns of about €4 billion still compared favorably with prior periods. Prior said infrastructure returns were “nothing short of extraordinary,” citing Symmetry, Calpine and Cornerstone, which achieved money multiples between 4.4 times.