Blackstone Group LP, the buyout firm that went public at the peak of the takeover boom last year, posted an unexpected loss of $66.5 million as fees fell across the board in every one of its business sectors, reports Bloomberg News.

Revenue plummeted 94% to $68.5 million in the first quarter as Blackstone's share of profits from its investment funds turned negative, the New York-based company said today in a statement. The firm, run by Stephen Schwarzman, announced one leveraged buyout, valued at $1.2 billion, in the period, compared with $42 billion in deals a year earlier.

Blackstone was hurt by the evaporation of credit in the second half of last year that brought the LBO market to standstill, and by turbulent stock and bond markets that cut hedge-fund profits. Revenue from real estate funds plunged to $47.9 million from $766.8 million a year earlier, when property values were higher and results were pumped up by its purchase of

''Blackstone has been taking steps to put itself in position to take advantage of market dislocation, but this doesn't look impressive at all,'' Jackson Turner, an analyst with Argus Research Corp. in New York told Bloomberg. ''Real estate was the biggest disappointment. I expected this segment to be the one saving grace this quarter.''