Distributable Earnings Increased 80% to $2.1 billion for the Quarter asGlobal Transaction Activity Begins to Recover Cash and Liquid Assets Increased to $62 billion Deployable Capital Increased to $150 billion $800 million of Share Buybacks Completed to Date in 2024 BROOKFIELD, NEWS, Aug. 08, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brookfield Corporation (NYSE:BN, TSX:BN) announced strong financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2024. Nick Goodman, President of Brookfield Corporation, said, "We achieved strong financial performance in the second quarter, with cash flows across our asset management, wealth solutions and operating businesses continuing to grow. This momentum is expected to build over the balance of 2024 and beyond. We completed $800 million of share buybacks to date this year and will keep allocating capital to share repurchases when it makes sense, further enhancing the value of each remaining share." He added, "With capital markets improving and a constructive economic backdrop, we expect transaction activity to continue to increase over the coming quarters. This sets us up well to execute on monetizations across the business and, in turn, further bolster our earnings." Operating Results Distributable earnings ("DE") before realizations increased by 11% on a per share basis over the prior year quarter. UnauditedFor the periods ended June 30(US$ millions, except per share amounts) Three Months Ended   Last Twelve Months Ended   2024       2023     2024     2023 Net income attributable to Brookfield shareholders1 $ 43     $ 81   $ 1,074   $ 308 Net income (loss) of consolidated business2   (285 )     1,512     3,403     2,696                 Distributable earnings before realizations1,3,4   1,113       1,013     4,379     4,078 – Per Brookfield share1,3,4   0.71       0.64     2.77     2.56                 Distributable earnings1,3   2,127       1,187     5,805     5,205 – Per Brookfield share1,3   1.35       0.75     3.67     3.26 See endnotes on page 8. Our share of net income was $43 million and $1.1 billion for the quarter and the last twelve months ("LTM"), respectively. Due to certain accounting nuances, mostly related to the treatment of acquisitions in our infrastructure business, total consolidated net income was negative $285 million in the quarter but positive $3.4 billion over the LTM. Distributable earnings before realizations were $1.1 billion ($0.71/share) for the quarter and $4.4 billion ($2.77/share) for the last twelve months. Assets under management within our asset management business grew to approximately $1 trillion and fee-bearing capital increased to $514 billion, as a result of strong fundraising across our diversified fund offerings. Wealth solutions delivered another strong quarter, benefiting from the close of American Equity Life ("AEL") and the strength of our investment performance. Our operating businesses generated resilient and recurring cash flows, underpinned by the high-quality earnings across our renewable power and transition, infrastructure and private equity businesses and 3% growth in same-store net operating income ("NOI") from our core real estate portfolio over the LTM. During the quarter and over the LTM, earnings from realizations were $1.0 billion and $1.4 billion, with total DE for the quarter and the LTM of $2.1 billion ($1.35/share) and $5.8 billion ($3.67/share), respectively. Regular Dividend Declaration The Board declared a quarterly dividend for Brookfield Corporation of $0.08 per share, payable on September 27, 2024 to shareholders of record as at the close of business on September 12, 2024. The Board also declared the regular monthly and quarterly dividends on our preferred shares. Operating Highlights Distributable earnings before realizations were $1.1 billion ($0.71/share) for the quarter and $4.4 billion ($2.77/share) over the last twelve months, representing an increase of 11% on a per share basis over the prior year quarter. Total distributable earnings were $2.1 billion ($1.35/share) for the quarter and $5.8 billion ($3.67/share) for the last twelve months. Asset Management: DE was $636 million ($0.40/share) in the quarter and $2.5 billion ($1.61/share) over the LTM. Assets under management are now approximately $1 trillion and fee-bearing capital was $514 billion as of June 30, 2024, representing an increase of 17% over the LTM. Inflows during the quarter were $68 billion, backed by the scaling of our credit platform. This increase contributed to the 11% and 6% growth in annualized fee-related earnings ("FRE") and FRE, respectively, compared to the prior year quarter. We expect fundraising to ramp up in the back half of 2024, with closes anticipated for our latest flagship funds in the market, which should result in further earnings growth. During the quarter, our ownership in BAM decreased by 2% to 73% as we used approximately $1 billion of BAM shares as part of the consideration for the acquisition of AEL. Wealth Solutions: Distributable operating earnings were $292 million ($0.19/share) in the quarter and $1.0 billion ($0.63/share) over the LTM. Insurance assets grew to over $110 billion, with the close of AEL and the origination of $3.5 billion of new business via our annuity channel during the quarter. The average investment portfolio yield on our existing insurance assets was 5.8%, approximately 2% higher than our average cost of capital. Inclusive of AEL, the spread was 1.7% in the quarter. As we reposition the AEL investment portfolio, we expect the investment spread to increase back closer to 2%, and as a result, annualized earnings should grow from $1.4 billion currently to $2 billion. Through our combined wealth solutions platforms, we are raising close to $2 billion of retail capital per month. Operating Businesses: DE was $371 million ($0.24/share) in the quarter and $1.5 billion ($0.93/share) over the LTM. Operating Funds from Operations ("Operating FFO") in our renewable power, transition and infrastructure businesses increased by 7% over the prior year quarter, and same-store Operating FFO in our private equity business grew by 17% versus the prior year quarter. In addition, our core real estate portfolio delivered 3% growth in same-store NOI over the LTM. In our real estate business, we signed nearly 5 million square feet of office and retail leases during the quarter, and rents on newly signed leases in our office assets grew by 23% compared to those leases expiring. We are past the bottom of the market, liquidity is coming back and quality assets are achieving their highest rents ever in most markets. Earnings from the monetization of mature assets were $1.0 billion ($0.64/share) for the quarter and $1.4 billion ($0.90/share) for the LTM. With transaction activity picking up, we expect an increased level of monetizations going forward. During the quarter, we advanced or completed several sales at strong investment returns including on a luxury hotel in South Korea, an office asset in Washington, DC, a road fuels operation in Europe, several renewable assets, and the sale of 2% of our BAM shares to assist with increased float in the shares. Total accumulated unrealized carried interest was $10.7 billion at quarter end, representing an increase of 13% over the LTM, net of carried interest realized into income. Year to date, we recognized $234 million of net realized carried interest into income, with $15 billion of asset sales completed globally. We ended the quarter with approximately $150 billion of capital available to deploy into new investments. During the quarter, we returned $408 million to shareholders through regular dividends and share repurchases. To date this year, we repurchased over $800 million of shares, and we expect to continue to further allocate capital to share buybacks over the remainder of 2024. We have approximately $150 billion of deployable capital, which includes $62 billion of cash, financial assets and undrawn credit lines at the Corporation, our affiliates and our wealth solutions business. Our balance sheet remains conservatively capitalized. Our corporate debt at the Corporation has a weighted-average term of 13 years and modest maturities through to the end of 2025. We have best-in-class, strong access to most capital markets globally. This enabled us to execute on approximately $75 billion of financings across the business to date this year, supporting growth and ongoing operations. This includes the issuance of $650 million of 10-year and 30-year bonds at the Corporation. In this deal, we tightened credit spreads by 55 bps and 10 bps, respectively, relative to the most recent comparable issuances. CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS Unaudited (US$ millions)   June 30   December 31     2024     2023 Assets         Cash and cash equivalents   $ 11,249   $ 11,222 Other financial assets     30,614     28,324 Accounts receivable and other     33,094     31,001 Inventory     11,841     11,412 Equity accounted investments     62,285     59,124 Investment properties     127,235     124,152 Property, plant and equipment     146,128     147,617 Intangible assets     37,172     38,994 Goodwill     34,270     34,911 Deferred income tax assets     3,426     3,338 Total Assets   $ 497,314   $ 490,095           Liabilities and Equity         Corporate borrowings   $ 14,823   $ 12,160 Accounts payable and other     57,793     59,011 Non-recourse borrowings     227,693     221,550 Subsidiary equity obligations     5,021     4,145 Deferred income tax liabilities     24,420     24,987           Equity         Non-controlling interests in net assets     122,229     122,465 Preferred equity     4,103     4,103 Common equity     41,232     41,674 Total Equity     167,564     168,242 Total Liabilities and Equity   $ 497,314   $ 490,095 CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS UnauditedFor the periods ended June 30(US$ millions, except per share amounts) Three Months Ended   Six Months Ended   2024       2023       2024       2023   Revenues $ 23,050     $ 23,668     $ 45,957     $ 46,965   Direct costs1   (16,717 )     (17,692 )     (33,288 )     (35,324 ) Other income and gains   244       1,483       484       1,864   Equity accounted income   825       401       1,511       830   Interest expense               – Corporate borrowings   (181 )     (154 )     (354 )     (290 ) – Non-recourse borrowings               Same-store   (3,885 )     (3,610 )     (7,678 )     (7,087 ) Dispositions, net of acquisitions2   21       —