Lazard has stepped up its senior recruitment spree and is bullish about long-term prospects, despite slipping to a surprising $29.7m (€22.6m) first-quarter net loss as surging restructuring revenues failed to make up for plunging advisory and corporate finance fees.

The quarterly loss announced today, which does not include a slightly higher-than-expected $62.6m pre-tax charge to cover the costs of cutting staff or redeploying them to growth areas such as restructuring, compares with a $16m net profit in the first quarter last year.