NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Lazard Ltd (NYSE: LAZ) today reported annual operating revenue1 of $2,524 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. Net income, as adjusted2, was $410 million, or $3.60 per share (diluted) for the year. On a U.S. GAAP basis, net income for the year was $402 million, or $3.54 per share (diluted).

For the fourth quarter of 2020, net income, as adjusted, was $192 million, or $1.66 per share (diluted), a quarterly record. On a U.S. GAAP basis, net income for the fourth quarter was $190 million, or $1.64 per share (diluted).

“Our record quarterly results capped a remarkable year for Lazard. Our people overcame one of the most challenging environments in modern history to serve our clients with outstanding financial advice and solutions,” said Kenneth M. Jacobs, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lazard. “We enter 2021 with momentum across our businesses globally and growth opportunities in which we continue to invest.”

OPERATING REVENUE

Operating revenue1 was $2,524 million for 2020, 1% lower than 2019. Fourth-quarter 2020 operating revenue was $849 million, a quarterly record and 20% higher than the fourth quarter of 2019.

Financial Advisory

Our Financial Advisory results include M&A Advisory, Capital Advisory, Capital Raising, Restructuring, Shareholder Advisory, Sovereign Advisory, and other strategic advisory work for clients.

For the full year of 2020, Financial Advisory operating revenue was $1,403 million, 3% higher than 2019.

For the fourth quarter of 2020, Financial Advisory operating revenue was $509 million, a quarterly record and 29% higher than the fourth quarter of 2019.

During and since the fourth quarter of 2020, Lazard has been engaged in significant and complex M&A transactions and other advisory assignments globally, including the following (clients are in italics): Exor in the $28.6 billion merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles with Peugeot; Gilead’s $21 billion acquisition of Immunomedics; Teladoc Health’s $18.5 billion merger with Livongo; Special Committee of the Board of Taubman Centers in Taubman’s $9.4 billion sale to Simon Property Group; Stonepeak’s $8.1 billion acquisition of Astound Broadband from TPG; Telefonica’s partnership with Allianz to deploy fiber in Germany involving expected overall investment of €5 billion; AVEVA’s $5 billion acquisition of OSIsoft; Iliad’s $4.3 billion acquisition of Play; Engie’s €3.4 billion sale of a 29.9% stake in Suez to Veolia; MassMutual’s $3.4 billion sale of its retirement plan business to Empower Retirement; Macquarie Infrastructure Corporation’s $2.7 billion sale of IMTT to Riverstone Holdings; Aimmune’s $2.6 billion sale to Nestlé Health Science; Google’s $2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit; Accor in its taking full ownership of sbe hotel brands; and Gardner-Gibson’s sale to ICP Building Solutions Group.

Lazard has one of the world’s preeminent restructuring practices, with a long track record of successfully advising businesses and governments. During and since the fourth quarter of 2020, we have been engaged in a broad range of highly visible and complex restructuring and debt advisory assignments for debtors or creditors, including roles involving: 24 Hour Fitness; Abengoa; Belk; Bourbon; California Resources Corporation; CorpGroup; Corsair; Diamond Offshore Drilling; Express; FTS International; Gavilan Resources; Hi-Crush; JCPenney; Libbey; NMC Health; Peabody; Premier Oil; Prisa; Seadrill Limited; Transocean; Ursa Piceance; and Valaris. Lazard was the global leader in completed restructurings for 2020 (Source: Refinitiv).

Our Capital and Shareholder Advisory practices remain active globally, advising on a broad range of public and private assignments. Our Sovereign Advisory practice continues to be active advising governments, sovereign and sub-sovereign entities across developed and emerging markets.

For a list of Lazard’s publicly announced Financial Advisory transactions, please visit our website at www.lazard.com/businesses/transactions.

Asset Management

In the text portion of this press release, we present our Asset Management results as 1) Management fees and other revenue, and 2) Incentive fees.

For the full year of 2020, Asset Management operating revenue was $1,111 million, 4% lower than 2019. For the fourth quarter of 2020, Asset Management operating revenue was $336 million, 12% higher than the fourth quarter of 2019.

Management fees and other revenue was $1,053 million for full-year 2020, 7% lower than 2019. For the fourth quarter of 2020, management fees and other revenue was $284 million, 1% lower than the fourth quarter of 2019, and 10% higher than the third quarter of 2020.

Average assets under management (AUM) for full-year 2020 was $225 billion, 4% lower than 2019. Average AUM for the fourth quarter of 2020 was $246 billion, 3% higher than the fourth quarter of 2019, and 9% higher than the third quarter of 2020.

AUM as of December 31, 2020 was a year-end record of $259 billion, up 4% from December 31, 2019, and up 14% from September 30, 2020. The sequential increase from September 30, 2020 was driven by market appreciation of $25.4 billion and foreign exchange appreciation of $5.8 billion, partially offset by net outflows of $286 million.

For the full year of 2020, incentive fees were $58 million, compared to $21 million for 2019. For the fourth quarter of 2020, incentive fees were $52 million, compared to $14 million for the fourth quarter of 2019.

OPERATING EXPENSES

Compensation and Benefits

In managing compensation and benefits expense, we focus on annual awarded compensation (cash compensation and benefits plus deferred incentive compensation with respect to the applicable year, net of estimated future forfeitures and excluding charges). We believe annual awarded compensation reflects the actual annual compensation cost more accurately than the GAAP measure of compensation cost, which includes applicable-year cash compensation and the amortization of deferred incentive compensation principally attributable to previous years’ deferred compensation. We believe that by managing our business using awarded compensation with a consistent deferral policy, we can better manage our compensation costs, increase our flexibility in the future and build shareholder value over time.

Adjusted compensation and benefits expense1 for 2020 was $1,502 million, 3% higher than 2019, with a consistent deferral policy. The corresponding adjusted compensation ratio1 was 59.5% for 2020, compared to 57.5% for 2019.

Awarded compensation expense1 for 2020 was $1,510 million, 3% higher than 2019. The corresponding awarded compensation ratio1 was 59.8% for 2020, compared to 57.7% for 2019.

We take a disciplined approach to compensation, and our goal is to maintain a compensation-to-operating revenue ratio over the cycle in the mid- to high-50s percentage range on both an awarded and adjusted basis, with consistent deferral policies.

Non-Compensation Expense

Adjusted non-compensation expense1 for 2020 was $432 million, 13% lower than 2019. The ratio of non-compensation expense to operating revenue1 was 17.1% for 2020, compared to 19.6% for 2019.

Adjusted non-compensation expense1 for the fourth quarter of 2020 was $117 million, 10% lower than the fourth quarter of 2019. The ratio of non-compensation expense to operating revenue1 was 13.7% for the fourth quarter of 2020, compared to 18.3% for the fourth quarter of 2019.

Our goal remains to achieve an adjusted non-compensation expense-to-operating revenue ratio over the cycle of 16% to 20%.

TAXES

The provision for taxes, on an adjusted basis1, was $104 million for full-year 2020 and $24 million for the fourth quarter of 2020. The effective tax rate on the same basis was 20.2% for full-year 2020, compared to 24.1% for full-year 2019.

CAPITAL MANAGEMENT AND BALANCE SHEET

Our primary capital management goals include managing debt and returning capital to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.

In 2020, Lazard returned $365 million to shareholders, which included: $197 million in dividends; $95 million in share repurchases of our Class A common stock; and $73 million in satisfaction of employee tax obligations in lieu of share issuances upon vesting of equity grants.

During 2020, we repurchased 2.9 million shares of our Class A common stock for an average price of $32.70 per share. As of January 1, 2021, our remaining share repurchase authorization was $300 million.

On February 4, 2021, Lazard declared a quarterly dividend of $0.47 per share on its outstanding common stock. The dividend is payable on March 2, 2021, to stockholders of record on February 19, 2021.

Lazard’s financial position remains strong. As of December 31, 2020, our cash and cash equivalents were $1,390 million, and stockholders’ equity related to Lazard’s interests was $912 million.

ABOUT LAZARD

Lazard, one of the world's preeminent financial advisory and asset management firms, operates from more than 40 cities and 25 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Central and South America. With origins dating to 1848, the firm provides advice on mergers and acquisitions, strategic matters, restructuring and capital structure, capital raising and corporate finance, as well as asset management services to corporations, partnerships, institutions, governments and individuals. For more information on Lazard, please visit www.lazard.com. Follow Lazard at @Lazard.