Greenhill 3Q Boosted By Gain On Iridium Buyout

NEW YORK (AP) — Investment bank Greenhill & Co. on Thursday posted a third-quarter profit, helped by a gain on an acquisition by a subsidiary.

However, discounting that gain, some observers were disappointed with the results, and shares fell in midday trading.

The company earned $30.1 million, or $1.01 per share, for the July-September period in contrast to a loss of $12.2 million, or 42 cents a share, a year ago.

Revenue came to $116.3 million. The firm posted negative revenue figure of $14.9 million for the third quarter of 2008 after reversing previously-recorded merchant banking gains on publicly traded energy investments because of a sharp decline in energy prices.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, expected earnings of $1 per share on $103.4 million revenue.

Financial advisory revenue rose 15 percent to $42.4 million, as clients completed a number of deals. Merchant banking revenue amounted to $73.9 million, boosted by an unrealized investment gain of $66 million from the acquisition of Iridium Holdings by its subsidiary GHL Acquisition Corp.