Blackstone third-quarter earnings drop less than expected

(Reuters) - Blackstone Group Inc , the world's largest manager of alternative assets such as private equity and real estate, said on Wednesday its distributable earnings in the third quarter fell 8% year-on-year, but still beat analyst estimates.Blackstone reported a drop in proceeds from asset sales in its private equity business, offset partly by a rise in distributable earnings in its real estate, corporate credit and hedge funds divisions.Distributable earnings per share came in at 58 cents,..