Onex earnings drop 64% as public holdings weigh down returns
BNN Bloomberg
Onex posted a 64 per cent decline in profit in the fourth quarter, hurt by poor performance in some of its publicly-traded holdings.
Canadian investment firm Onex Corp. posted a 64 per cent decline in profit in the fourth quarter, hurt by poor performance in some of its publicly-traded holdings.
Toronto-based Onex earned US$214 million as net gains from its private equity group fell by about half from the same period a year earlier, the company said in a statement Friday. Gains in the credit portfolio also declined.
Share-price declines at Onex companies such as trade show operator Emerald Holding Inc. and education software provider PowerSchool Holdings Inc. contributed to a US$141 million loss on public-company holdings, the firm said in presentation to investors.
But private-company investments continued to rise in value during the quarter. And overall, Onex had a stellar year in 2021 with profit nearly doubling to US$1.4 billion from US$730 million in 2020.
“Onex had a good year. We made progress across all our businesses and delivered solid performance,” Chief Executive Officer Gerry Schwartz said in a statement. “For 2022, we’re focused on continued strong execution and growing fee-generating assets under management.”
The firm oversees US$49 billion, including US$8.2 billion of its own capital, and focuses on industrials, financial services, health care, and business services including software.
