Jefferies Group Moves To 3rd-quarter Profit

NEW YORK (AP) — Investment bank Jefferies Group Inc. said Tuesday it moved to a profit in the third quarter as it benefited from a dramatic improvement in fixed income and commodities revenue.

Jefferies' profit attributable to common shareholders was $86.3 million, or 42 cents per share. That compares with a loss of $31.3 million, or 18 cents per share, in the same period last year.

Revenue more than doubled to $700.4 million from $274.6 million, as fixed income and commodities revenue surged to $312.7 million from $72.9 million.

Revenue after preferred interest in subsidiaries was redeemed and interest expense paid was $676.8 million compared with $298.8 million in the year-ago period.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a profit of 28 cents per share on $535.5 million in revenue.

Jefferies shares fell $1.47, or 4.9 percent, to $28.68 in afternoon trading, but they earlier set a new year high of $30.99. The stock has ranged from $7.97 to $30.75 over the past year.