Investment brokerage house Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. said Tuesday that second-quarter earnings rose 12 percent year-over-year, as strong performance in the company's Asia and Europe operations propelled revenue up 12 percent as well.
Net income grew to $683 million, or $2.26 per share, from $609 million, or $2.01 per share, a year ago. Net revenue — total revenue less interest expense — also was up 12 percent to $3.28 billion from $2.93 billion last year.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were looking for profit of $2.22 per share on sales of $3.21 billion in the latest quarter.
Lehman said investment banking revenue increased 6 percent to $579 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2005, from $546 million a year ago, reflecting the second-highest debt underwriting revenue level ever and the second-highest quarterly equity underwriting revenue in almost five years.
The firm's capital markets revenue rose 14 percent to $2.2 billion from $2 billion a year ago.
Non-U.S. net revenue totaled $1.3 billion or 40 percent of Lehman's total net revenue during the quarter _ up 45 percent from the prior-year period. The company said Asia reported record results for the second consecutive quarter, reflecting continued strength in fixed income and investment banking. European net revenue increased 58 percent, driven by strong performances in interest rate products, mortgage securitizations and equity derivatives.