Jefferies Financial Group (JEF, Financial) handily beat expectations for its fourth-quarter earnings, reporting strong revenue and profit gains across the board in its key segments. The investment bank, for the quarter to 30 November, reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.91, ahead of the consensus estimate of $0.87. Revenue for the period came in at $1.96 billion, handily beating the $1.74 billion forecast.
The exponential growth in Jefferies' investment banking and capital markets divisions powered the results. Record advisory revenues $597 million drove net revenues in investment banking up 73% year over year to $987 million. Capital markets' net revenues were up $166 million to $652 million, and from the year ago, $486 million.
CEO Richard Handler and President Brian Friedman said that net revenues, pre-tax earnings, and EPS for the fourth quarter were significantly higher than the same period in the prior year, up 63%, 249% and 214%, respectively. Jefferies posted net revenues of $7.03 billion for the full fiscal year, up 50% versus 2023 and net earnings of $669 million, or $2.96 per share, versus $263 million, or $1.10 per share, in the prior year.
Further confidence in its financial position, Jefferies also announced that it increased its quarterly dividend by 14.3% to $0.40 per share.
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