Lazard Ltd Reports Third-Quarter and Nine-Month 2021 Results

Record operating revenue for the third quarter and first nine months of 2021

Record Financial Advisory third-quarter revenue; high levels of activity globally

Record average assets under management of $278 billion in third quarter

Lazard Ltd (NYSE: LAZ) today reported operating revenue¹ of $702 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2021. Net income, as adjusted², was $111 million, or $0.98 per share (diluted) for the quarter. On a U.S. GAAP basis, third-quarter 2021 net income was $107 million, or $0.94 per share (diluted).

For the first nine months of 2021, net income, as adjusted, was $358 million, or $3.13 per share (diluted). On a U.S. GAAP basis, net income for the first nine months was $318 million, or $2.78 per share (diluted).

“Record third-quarter and year-to-date operating revenue reflect continued strong performance across the firm globally,” said Kenneth M. Jacobs, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lazard. “We are well positioned with unprecedented advisory activity and a record level of average assets under management, and we continue to invest for growth across our businesses.”

Note: Endnotes are on page 6 of this release. A reconciliation of U.S. GAAP to adjusted GAAP is on pages 13-14.

OPERATING REVENUE

Operating revenue¹ was $702 million for the third quarter of 2021, and $2,171 million for the first nine months of 2021, both record levels, up 23% and 30% from the respective 2020 periods.

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 third quarter of 2021, Financial Advisory operating revenue was a record $381 million, 24% higher than the third quarter of 2020.

For the first nine months of 2021, Financial Advisory operating revenue was a record $1,170 million, 31% higher than the first nine months of 2020.

During and since the third quarter of 2021, Lazard has been engaged in significant and complex M&A transactions and other advisory assignments globally, including the following (clients are in italics): Faurecia in its €6.7 billion combination with Hella GmbH & Co. KGaA; Macquarie Infrastructure Corporation’s $4.5 billion sale of Atlantic Aviation to KKR; Brown Brothers Harriman's $3.5 billion sale of its Investor Services business to State Street; Quanta Services’ $2.7 billion acquisition of Blattner Energy; Sitel’s $2.2 billion acquisition of Sykes Enterprises; Rolls-Royce's €1.8 billion sale of ITP Aero to a consortium led by Bain Capital; Southwest Gas’ $2.0 billion acquisition of Questar Pipeline from Dominion Energy; Vitrolife's €1.25 billion acquisition of Igenomix; Daily Mail and General Trust’s £1.4 billion sale of RMS to Moody's Corporation; St. Modwen Properties on its £1.56 billion recommended cash acquisition by Blackstone; DistroKid’s investment from Insight Partners, valuing the company at $1.3 billion; Saint-Gobain’s €1.0 billion acquisition of Chryso; Lincoln Financial’s reinsurance transaction with Resolution Life; Environmental Resources Management on OMERS and AIMCo’s sale of a majority stake in the company to KKR; APEX Clean Energy on the sale of a majority stake in the company to Ares; and Swinerton's sale of its Renewable Energy Division & SOLV, Inc. to American Securities.

Lazard has one of the world’s preeminent restructuring practices. During and since the third quarter of 2021, 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: Andrade Gutierrez; Assured Guaranty in connection with Puerto Rico’s restructuring; Basic Energy Services; Brazos Electric Power Cooperative; Cinepolis; Corp Grupo Banking S.A.; Grupo GICSA; Intelsat S.A.; NMC Health; Nordic Aviation Capital; Seadrill Limited; and Stoneway Capital.

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 third quarter of 2021, Asset Management operating revenue was $311 million, 19% higher than the third quarter of 2020. For the first nine months of 2021, Asset Management operating revenue was a record $982 million, 27% higher than the first nine months of 2020.

For the third quarter of 2021, management fees and other revenue was $303 million, 18% higher than the third quarter of 2020, and 2% lower than the second quarter of 2021. For the first nine months of 2021, management fees and other revenue was $907 million, 18% higher than the first nine months of 2020.

Average assets under management (AUM) for the third quarter of 2021 was a record $278 billion, 23% higher than the third quarter of 2020, and 1% higher than the second quarter of 2021. Average AUM for the first nine months of 2021 was a record $272 billion, 24% higher than the first nine months of 2020.

AUM as of September 30, 2021, was $273 billion, up 20% from September 30, 2020, and down 2% from June 30, 2021. The sequential decrease was driven primarily by foreign exchange depreciation of $3.3 billion and net outflows of $2.3 billion, partially offset by market appreciation of $838 million.

For the third quarter of 2021, incentive fees were $7 million, compared to $3 million for the third quarter of 2020. For the first nine months of 2021, incentive fees were $75 million, compared to $6 million for the first nine months of 2020.

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.

For the third quarter of 2021, we accrued adjusted compensation and benefits expense¹ at an adjusted compensation¹ ratio of 59.5%, compared to the third-quarter 2020 ratio of 60%. This resulted in $417 million of adjusted compensation and benefits expense, compared to $341 million for the third quarter of 2020.

For the first nine months of 2021, adjusted compensation and benefits expense was $1,292 million, compared to $1,005 million for the first nine months of 2020.

We manage our compensation and benefits expense based on awarded compensation with a consistent deferral policy. 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 the third quarter of 2021 was $117 million, 13% higher than the third quarter of 2020. The ratio of adjusted non-compensation expense to operating revenue¹ for the third quarter of 2021 was 16.6%, compared to 18.1% for the third quarter of 2020.

Adjusted non-compensation expense for the first nine months of 2021 was $338 million, 7% higher than the first nine months of 2020. The ratio of adjusted non-compensation expense to operating revenue for the first nine months of 2021 was 15.6%, compared to 18.8% for the first nine months of 2020.

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 $37 million for the third quarter of 2021 and $127 million for the first nine months of 2021. The effective tax rate on the same basis was 25.1% for the third quarter and 26.2% for the first nine months of 2021, compared to 27.9% and 26.9% for the respective 2020 periods.

CAPITAL MANAGEMENT AND BALANCE SHEET

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

For the third quarter of 2021, Lazard returned $103 million to shareholders, which included: $49 million in dividends; $52 million in share repurchases of our Class A common stock; and $1.9 million in satisfaction of employee tax obligations in lieu of share issuances upon vesting of equity grants.

For the first nine months of 2021, Lazard returned $501 million to shareholders, which included: $148 million in dividends; $286 million in share repurchases of our Class A common stock; and $68 million in satisfaction of employee tax obligations in lieu of share issuances upon vesting of equity grants.

During the first nine months of 2021, we repurchased 6.5 million shares at an average price of $44.24 per share, which included 1.1 million shares repurchased in the third quarter at an average price of $46.01 per share. As of September 30, 2021, our remaining share repurchase authorization was $314 million.

On October 28, 2021, Lazard declared a quarterly dividend of $0.47 per share on its outstanding common stock. The dividend is payable on November 19, 2021, to stockholders of record on November 8, 2021.

Lazard’s financial position remains strong. As of September 30, 2021, our cash and cash equivalents were $1,185 million. Stockholders’ equity related to Lazard’s interests was $878 million.

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CONFERENCE CALL

Lazard will host a conference call at 8:00 a.m. EDT on October 29, 2021, to discuss the company’s financial results for the third quarter and first nine months of 2021. The conference call can be accessed via a live audio webcast available through Lazard’s Investor Relations website at www.lazard.com, or by dialing 1 (800) 367-2403 (toll-free, U.S. and Canada) or +1 (334) 777-6978 (outside of the U.S. and Canada), 15 minutes prior to the start of the call.

A replay of the conference call will be available by 10:00 a.m. EDT on October 29, 2021, via the Lazard Investor Relations website, www.lazard.com, or by dialing 1 (888) 203-1112 (toll-free, U.S. and Canada) or +1 (719) 457-0820 (outside of the U.S. and Canada). The replay access code is: 2407222.

ABOUT LAZARD

Lazard, one of the world's preeminent financial advisory and asset management firms, operates from 41 cities across 26 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and 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.

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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

This press release contains forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as “may”, “might”, “will”, “should”, “could”, “would”, “expect”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “predict”, “potential”, “target,” “goal”, or “continue”, and the negative of these terms and other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements, which are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions about us, may include projections of our future financial performance based on our growth strategies, business plans and initiatives and anticipated trends in our business. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. There are important factors that could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results, level of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

These factors include, but are not limited to, those discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K under Item 1A “Risk Factors,” and also discussed from time to time in our reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K, including the following:

• A decline in general economic conditions or the global or regional financial markets;
• A decline in our revenues, for example due to a decline in overall mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity, our share of the M&A market or our assets under management (AUM);
• Losses caused by financial or other problems experienced by third parties;
• Losses due to unidentified or unanticipated risks;
• A lack of liquidity, i.e., ready access to funds, for use in our businesses; and
• Competitive pressure on our businesses and on our ability to retain and attract employees at current compensation levels.

Although we believe the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance or achievements. Neither we nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. We are under no duty to update any of these forward-looking statements after the date of this release to conform our prior statements to actual results or revised expectations and we do not intend to do so.

Lazard Ltd is committed to providing timely and accurate information to the investing public, consistent with our legal and regulatory obligations. To that end, Lazard and its operating companies use their websites, Lazard’s Twitter account (twitter.com/Lazard) and other social media sites to convey information about their businesses, including the anticipated release of quarterly financial results, quarterly financial, statistical and business-related information, and the posting of updates of assets under management in various mutual funds, hedge funds and other investment products managed by Lazard Asset Management LLC and Lazard Frères Gestion SAS. Investors can link to Lazard and its operating company websites through www.lazard.com.

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ENDNOTES

¹ A non-U.S. GAAP measure. See attached financial schedules and related notes for a detailed explanation of adjustments to corresponding U.S. GAAP results. We believe that presenting our results on an adjusted basis, in addition to U.S. GAAP results, is the most meaningful and useful way to compare our operating results across periods.

² Third-quarter and first-nine-months 2021 adjusted results¹ exclude losses of $0.1 million and $23.6 million, respectively, associated with restructuring and closing of certain offices; pre-tax charges of $1.0 million and $3.6 million, respectively, relating to office space reorganization; and $1.1 million and $16.3 million, respectively, relating to expenses associated with restructuring and closing of certain offices. On a U.S. GAAP basis, these resulted in a net charge of $4.2 million, or $0.04 (diluted) per share, for the third quarter, and a net charge of $40.7 million, or $0.36 (diluted) per share, for the first nine months of 2021.

LAZ-EPE

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