Lazard revenues ride dealmaking wave

Lazard hit new highs in the first quarter of this year, as the independent investment bank profited from its advisory role on a series of multibillion-dollar deals in a booming market for acquisitions.

The New York listed company said that its financial advisory and asset management business reported record revenues in the first three months of 2015 on the back of a more stable economic environment.

Lazard, which advised Heinz owners 3G Capital and Warren Buffett in their acquisition of Kraft, is on track to beat last year's record performance when its M&A advisory revenues topped $1bn for the first time in its history.

The investment bank has worked on some of the largest deals of this year so far but will only be paid later in the year once the deals are completed. This is likely to boost Lazard's results in the coming quarters judging from the list of transactions it advised on.

Among the biggest deals that the bank has yet to be paid for are Heinz's Kraft deal, which will create a $115bn consumer products giant, RockTenn's $21bn packaging merger with MeadWestvaco and Pfizer's $17bn acquisition of Hospira, a biosimilars pharmaceutical company.

Other outstanding deals that are expected to generate large fees for the bank but are still waiting for regulators' approval include AT&T's $67.1bn acquisition of DirecTV, Reynolds American's $27.4bn acquisition of Lorillard.

"Lazard's increased market share of large, complex and cross-border transactions reflects the unrivalled scale and depth of our advisory expertise," said chief executive officer Ken Jacobs.

"Asset management's growth in volatile market conditions underscores the quality of our investment platforms, people and pattern of long-term performance," he added.

Adjusted net income of $103m, or 77 cents per share, was up 26 per cent from the same quarter a year ago. Including a one-off debt refinancing charge, net income was down 31 per cent to $56m.

Lazard's financial advisory revenue was 9 per cent higher than the first quarter of 2014 to a record of $302m. Meanwhile, asset management revenues rose 3 per cent to $271m, with average assets under management up 7 per cent to $198bn.

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