Lazard suffered an unexpected hit from the credit crunch in the first quarter of the year as losses on the value of bonds and equities held on its balance sheet dented the independent investment bank’s profits.

Lazard, which makes most of its money from advisory work, said it had been forced to write down the value of corporate bonds held by its French subsidiary, while also suffering losses on a portfolio of equities it uses to seed asset management products. As a result, its corporate division reported an outflow of $39.7m in the first quarter, compared with income of $18.7m in the same period of last year.