Reuters: Private Equity: UPDATE 2-Evercore adj profit falls on fewer closed deals

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UPDATE 2-Evercore adj profit falls on fewer closed deals Apr 26th 2012, 14:00 Thu Apr 26, 2012 10:00am EDT * Q1 adj profit $0.10/shr vs $0.28/shr year ago * Net rev falls 4 percent * Says April advisory rev came in at more than $50 mln * Shares fall 4 percent April 26 (Reuters) - Evercore Partners posted a lower adjusted profit as fewer deals closed in the first quarter, but the boutique investment bank signalled a strong start to the second quarter. Investment banks -- from the behemoths like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to boutiques like Evercore, Greenhill and Lazard -- were hurt last year as turbulent markets led companies to put the brakes on their dealmaking, a slowdown that has continued into 2012. Global merger and acquisition volume is down year-to-date, but is expected to pick up in the second-half of the year. "The second quarter has started very strongly as transactions postponed from the first quarter caused expected advisory revenue to be well in excess of $50 million in April," Chief Executive Ralph Schlosstein said in a statement. Evercore founder and chairman Roger Altman said the company would continue to gain market share and the firm aims to become one of the top independent investment banks in the world. "In the next three to five years, we would like to be mentioned in the same breath as Rothschild and Lazard," CEO Schlosstein said on a post-earnings conference. Altman founded the company in 1996 as an advisory firm "free of the conflicts of interest inherent to large, multi-product financial institutions," according to its website. The deal-making focus and the promise of 'conflict-free' advice of independent investment firms are increasingly attracting clients away from bigger banks. For the first quarter, the company posted a net income of $4.3 million, or 10 cents a share, on an adjusted pro-forma basis, compared with $11.4 million, or 28 cents a share, a year ago. Adjusted pro-forma revenue was flat at $105.5 million. Net revenue fell 4 percent to $102.8 million. Shares of the company were down about 4 percent at $24.13 in morning trade on Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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