Apollo Global Management LLC became the latest private equity group on Friday to report lower fourth-quarter earnings due to mark-to-market valuations of its assets, even as the cash flow from its share of investment profits more than tripled.

Apollo, whose investments include casino operator Caesars Entertainment Corp , chemicals firm LyondellBasell Industries NV and real estate investor Realogy Corp, reported lower economic net income (ENI), a measure of its profitability.

ENI fell to $357 million in the fourth quarter from $926 million a year earlier. After-tax ENI per share was 80 cents, down from $2.52 a year ago.

Total realized gains from carried interest -- Apollo's share of the investment profits of its funds -- were up 238 percent to $278 million for the quarter.

A fourth-quarter distribution of 46 cents per Class A share brought Apollo's 2011 dividend to $1.12.

Assets under management were $75 billion at the end of 2011, 15 percent up year-on-year.

(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

Investment Fall