lazard

Lazard, one of the world's preeminent financial advisory and asset management firms, operates from 39 cities across 24 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Central and South America. With origins dating back to 1848, the firm provides advice on mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and capital raising, as well as asset management services to corporations, partnerships, institutions, governments, and individuals.

http://www.lazard.com/


Lazard Posts $43 Million Profit on Advisory Growth
July 29, 2009, 8:35 am
Lazard, the investment bank run by Bruce Wasserstein, reported a $43 million profit for the second quarter as it showed growth in its core mergers and restructuring advisory businesses.

The firm also showed improvement in its other main operation, asset management, as its executives see a slow but continued recovery in the overall markets.

While Lazard’s profit, which amounts to 34 cents a share, was down 33 percent from the same time last year, it is still a marked improvement from the nearly $30 million loss it recorded for the first quarter this year, one arising from restructuring costs.

“We have performed well in these turbulent markets,” Mr. Wasserstein, Lazard’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “Although the markets may continue to be erratic and the general economy may lag, we feel ‘it is the end of the beginning’ of the stabilization of the financial sector.”

With Wall Street giants like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley having converted into bank holding companies, Lazard is one of the few remaining independent investment banks. Because its business model is built largely on advising companies on mergers or on reorganizations — a mix meant to weather the cyclical nature of the markets — the firm is often seen as a bellwether of the deal economy.

The firm’s strongest gains were in its restructuring advisory business, which reported $93.2 million in revenues for the quarter, nearly three times what it pulled in for the same time period last year and 53 percent more than in the first quarter.

Lazard said in its statement that it has advised on nine of the 10 largest bankruptcies filed this year, and it has taken mandates for parties in cases like General Motors, Charter Communications and Masonite. And its vice chairman, Steven J. Golub, told DealBook that the business is likely to continue humming along.

“As default rates continue to increase, that’s directly correlated to our restructuring business,” he said.

Its M.&A. and strategic advisory business showed a 40 percent gain in revenues over the first quarter, to $134.9 million, as it closed on assignments like Rohm & Haas’s sale to Dow Chemical and the Treasury Department’s $7.5 billion investment in GMAC, the former financing arm of General Motors.

Among the potential or pending deals Lazard advised on are Xstrata’s unsolicited offer for fellow mining conglomerate Anglo-American and Barclays‘ sale of its Barclays Global Investors unit to BlackRock.

Lazard’s asset-management business also showed signs of improvement: it reported $353 million of net inflows for the quarter, building its assets under management to $98 billion as of June 30, and a 15 percent rise in fees over last quarter. Like other investment banks, Lazard’s operation is meant to provide a steady source of fees to balance the advisory business’ lumpier stream of assignments.

The firm also raised its dividend 25 percent to 12.5 cents a share.


TG