NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — Bermuda-based Lazard Ltd., the biggest non-bank merger adviser, reported earnings that beat analysts' estimates on rising revenue from handling takeovers.

Second-quarter profit rose to $53 million, or 39 cents a share, from $43.1 million, or 34 cents, in the same period a year earlier, the company said last week in a statement. Profit compared with the 36-cent average estimate of 11 analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

Lazard's revenue from advising on mergers and acquisitions climbed from a year earlier as companies completed a higher value of deals in the quarter. Banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley also reported an increase in second-quarter advisory revenue from a year earlier.

"We continue to experience a gradual but uneven upturn in the cycle," chief executive officer Kenneth Jacobs said in the statement. "We continue to show growth and gain market share in M&A and Strategic Advisory, and our asset-management professionals continue to attract net inflows against a backdrop of a volatile economic climate."

Lazard president Charles Ward, a protégé of former CEO Bruce Wasserstein, retired in June after more than eight years. Ashish Bhutani, chief executive officer of Lazard Asset Management, is taking over some of Ward's duties as chairman of the asset-management group.

Companies worldwide completed $330.1 billion of deals in the second quarter, up 20 percent from the same period in 2009 while down 19 percent from the first quarter, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Lazard was the ninth-ranked financial adviser on announced deals and 10th-ranked on completed takeovers in the first half of the year. The firm is advising Quest Communications International Inc. on its $10.4 billion sale to CenturyLink Inc., which was announced in April.

The US Treasury Department said in May that it had selected Lazard for advice on selling its majority investment in General Motors Co. The assignment includes a $500,000 monthly fee in the first year, according to the agreement. Lazard also said in May that it was hired to assist the Greek government as the country faced uncertainty over its debt.

Kenneth Jacobs was named CEO in November after the death of Wasserstein, the preeminent Wall Street dealmaker who took Lazard public in 2005. Jacobs, who has worked at the firm for 22 years, had served as deputy chairman and CEO of North American businesses since 2002, shortly after Wasserstein arrived.

Lazard employees own more than a quarter of the firm, excluding the estate of Wasserstein. Because the stakes owned by employees can be converted into common stock, the company reports earnings as though the stakes were fully exchanged instead of treating them as minority interest.