Brookfield Asset says 2013 was its best year in more than a century

TORONTO - Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (TSX:BAM.A), which has a history reaching back more than a century, says 2013 was its best financial year ever.

The Toronto-based company, which manages investments in the real estate, power generation, infrastructure and forestry sectors through subsidiaries and partnerships, had US$3.8 billion in net income.

That's about a billion dollars more than in 2012.

Brookfield's assets under management increased to US$187 billion at the end of 2013, with fee-bearing capital rising 32 per cent to US$80 billion.

In the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, Brookfield's net income was US$850 million, or $1.08 per diluted share — up from $779 million or 72 cents per share in the final three months of 2012.

Brookfield said its net income, which was up nine per cent year over year, was affected by a smaller increase in property values compared with the especially big gain a year earlier.

Meanwhile, Brookfield's funds from operations during the quarter more than doubled to US$1.03 billion, or $1.59 per share, from US$459 million or 67 cents per share a year earlier.

"We continue to believe that real assets will generate excellent risk-adjusted returns for our clients," Bruce Flatt, Brookfield's chief executive, told analysts Friday during a conference call.

"As these investments gain in popularity, we believe that investors will continue to increase their portfolio allocations to real assets."