(Reuters) – Investment bank Lazard’s profit surged in the third quarter, driven by an industry-wide recovery in dealmaking.
After a dry spell lasting more than two years due to elevated interest rates and market volatility, corporate clients are now once again looking to pursue large multi-billion dollar deals and raise funds through equity or debt offerings.
Lazard’s financial advisory revenue climbed 39% in the third quarter to $371 million.
Net revenue surged 50% to $785 million.
Lazard earned the ninth highest fees from global mergers and activity among banks in the first nine months of the year, according to data from Dealogic.
Its gains mirror trends seen at larger Wall Street rivals, where investment banking units helped all six top U.S. banks exceed analysts’ profit expectations for the third quarter.
Larger rivals Goldman Sachs’ investment banking fees increased 20%, while JPMorgan Chase, the largest U.S. bank by assets, posted a jump of 31%.
Morgan Stanley’s investment banking revenue surged 56%.
New York-based Lazard reported an adjusted profit of $40 million, or 38 cents per share, on Thursday, compared with $10 million or 10 cents per share, a year earlier.
(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru and Tatiana Bautzer in New York; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
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