BlackRock, the world's largest money manager, reported an 8.7 per cent rise in first-quarter profit, boosted by positive flows into its exchange-traded funds.

The company’s net income rose to $822 million, or $4.84 per share, in the quarter ended March 31st from $756 million, or $4.40 per share, a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, BlackRock earned $4.89 per share, handily beating analysts’ average estimate of $4.52, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net inflows totaled $68.7 billion as investors poured $35.48 billion into BlackRock’s ETFs, with the lion’s share going into fixed-income funds.

BlackRock’s assets under management rose to $4.8 trillion at the end of the quarter from $4.4 trillion a year earlier.

Up to Wednesday's close of $376.66 on the New York Stock Exchange, BlackRock's shares had risen 5.3 per cent since the start of the year.

Reuters