Hey value fools... Keep buyin these pieces paper if you like bendin over, they are worthless. Don't be a sucker, trade them like the trash they are. Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Lazard Ltd., the biggest non-bank merger adviser, reported an unexpected loss on higher compensation costs in the first earnings report since Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Jacobs took over. The fourth-quarter loss was $54.9 million, or 46 cents a share, compared with a profit of $61.2 million, or 50 cents, in the same period a year earlier, the Hamilton, Bermuda-based company said today in a statement. Lazard was expected to report profit of 50 cents a share, based on the average estimate of 10 analysts in a Bloomberg survey. Fourth-quarter compensation costs were almost triple that of a year earlier as the firm increased the current cash and deferred equity components in this yearâs pay packages. That pushed the compensation ratio to 71.8 percent of revenue, excluding one-time charges, compared with 56 percent in 2007 and 2008. Lazard is also implementing âselectiveâ staff cuts. âWe took special charges during the fourth quarter relating to compensation, and have made changes to our compensation policies, which result in our substantially exceeding the previous yearâs ratio of compensation to revenues,â Jacobs, 51, said in the statement.