Publicly traded hedge fund firm Och-Ziff Capital Management said its 2009 third quarter earnings were $34.2 million, or $0.08 per distributable share, down from $0.13 per distributable share in the third quarter of 2008.

However, Wall Street analysts had forecast $0.04 earnings per share for this year’s third quarter, according to reports.

Och-Ziff’s net loss for the third quarter of 2009 was $80 million compared to a net loss of $69.4 million the same time the year before due to a decline in management fees because of lower assets under management and higher compensation expenses, the firm said in a statement.

Assets under management were $22.3 billion as of Sept. 30, down 29% from $31.2 billion the same time the year before, but up 2% from the June 30 figure of $21.9 billion.

Och-Ziff’s funds have been in the black this year, with its master fund up 20.49% year-to-date.