Investment bank Lazard Ltd's (LAZ.N) fourth-quarter profit beat Wall Street expectations, helped by higher revenues from its asset management division. Lazard, which struggled when dealmaking dried up during the financial crisis, has been building out its asset management unit in an effort to offset its more volatile advisory revenues. The firm reported a profit of $104.5 million, or 76 cents a share. That beat analysts' estimates of a profit of 63 cents a share and was up sharply from a year-earlier loss of $54.9 million, or 46 cents a share.
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