Asset manager BlackRock Inc said second-quarter profit and revenue fell from a year earlier but improved from the first quarter.

BlackRock, poised to become the world's largest asset manager after it completes a $13.5 billion deal with Barclays Group, on Tuesday reported net income of $218 million, or $1.59 per share, compared with $274 million, or $2.00 per share, a year earlier.

Adjusted earnings were $1.75 per share. On that basis, analysts on average had expected $1.56, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue was $1.029 billion, down from $1.387 billion a year earlier but up from $987 million in the first quarter.

Assets under management were $1.373 trillion as of June 30, up 7 percent from the end of the first quarter. Net new business totaled $15.2 billion during the second quarter.

BlackRock shares rose more than 31 percent in the three months ended Friday, outperforming many competitors such as Legg Mason Inc Inc and Franklin Resources , as investors regarded its big institutional business as solid amid the economic slowdown.

BlackRock was among nine asset managers chosen by the U.S. government to manage troubled assets from sources such as Bear Stearns and American International Group Inc . The company says it plans to raise up to $5 billion to buy assets under the plan.

(Reporting by Ross Kerber; editing by John Wallace)

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