Greenhill Co Reports Second Quarter Earnings per Share of 104

Greenhill & Co., Inc. (NYSE: GHL) today reported revenues of $108.7 million and net income of $28.9 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2008. Diluted earnings per share were $1.04 per share for the quarter.

The Firm’s second quarter revenues compare with revenues of $140.6 million for the second quarter of 2007, which represents a decrease of $31.9 million or 23%. On a year-to-date basis, revenues through June 30, 2008 were $184.0 million, compared to $184.1 million for the comparable period in 2007, representing a decrease of $0.1 million or 0.1%.

The Firm’s second quarter net income and diluted earnings per share in 2008 compare with net income of $42.7 million and diluted earnings per share of $1.47 in the second quarter of 2007, which represents decreases of 32% and 29%, respectively. On a year-to-date basis, net income was $48.1 million through June 30, 2008, compared to net income of $51.4 million for the comparable period in 2007, which represents a decrease of 6%. Diluted earnings per share for the six months ended June 30, 2008 were $1.72, which compares to $1.75 for the same period in 2007, representing a decrease of $0.03 per share or 2%.

The Firm’s quarterly revenues and net income can fluctuate materially depending on the number and size of completed transactions on which it advised, the number and size of merchant banking gains (or losses) and other factors. Accordingly, the revenues and net income in any particular quarter may not be indicative of future results.

"In the twelve months since credit availability was sharply reduced and global transaction activity began to decline, Greenhill’s revenue has remained strong, its pretax profit margin has consistently remained above 40%, its balance sheet has remained transparent and unleveraged, and its return on equity has remained consistent with historic high levels. Our outstanding results in this challenging period, which echo the success we had in the difficult 2001-2003 period, are evidence of the strength and diversity of our business model," Robert F. Greenhill, Chairman, said.

"Our Merchant Banking business has continued to generate excellent performance. While investors sometimes focus almost exclusively on our Advisory business, Merchant Banking has generated 24% of our total revenue in the period since January 2005, when our first fund began to mature. Today we have three funds actively investing, which together manage more than three times the assets we managed in our highly successful first fund. And GHL Acquisition Corp., our special purpose acquisition company, provides another potential significant source of Merchant Banking revenue," Scott L. Bok, Co- Chief Executive Officer, added.

"In our Advisory business, our corporate clients continue to generate significant M&A activity, our status as a leading independent advisor continues to attract new clients, and we continue to benefit from significant advisory revenue that is unconnected to completion of publicly announced transactions. Equally important, we have attracted substantial additional talent while our competitors have been distracted by internal problems. We continue to see opportunities to attract new talent to expand our industry sector and geographic coverage, and our strong financial results give us the flexibility to continue to take advantage of those expansion opportunities," Simon A. Borrows, Co-Chief Executive Officer, said.

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Business Financial Services

Greenhill Co Reports Second Quarter Earnings per Share of 104