Moelis & Company (MC) Q4 2018 Earnings Conference Call Transcript
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Moelis & Company (NYSE: MC)
Q4 2018 Earnings Conference Call
Feb. 06, 2019, 5:00 p.m. ET

Contents:

  • Prepared Remarks

  • Questions and Answers

  • Call Participants

Prepared Remarks:

Operator

Good day, and welcome to the Moelis & Company Fourth Quarter 2018 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. All participants will be in listen-only mode. (Operator Instructions) After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded.

I would now like to turn the conference over to Ms. Michele Miyakawa. Please go ahead.

Michele Miyakawa -- Managing Director

Great. Thank you and good afternoon everyone. Thank you for joining us for Moelis & Company's fourth quarter and full year 2018 financial results conference call. On the phone today are Ken Moelis, Chairman and CEO; and Joe Simon Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, I'd like to note that the remarks made on this call may contain certain forward-looking statements, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including those identified from time-to-time in the Risk Factors section of Moelis & Company's filings with the SEC.

Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated. The firm undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Our comments today include references to certain adjusted financial measures. We believe these measures, when presented together with comparable GAAP measures are useful to investors to compare our results across several periods and to better understand our operating results. The reconciliation of these adjusted financial measures with the relevant GAAP financial information and other information required by Reg G is provided in the firm's earnings release, which can be found on our Investor Relations website at investors.moelis.com.

I'll now turn the call over to Ken.

Kenneth Moelis -- Chairman of Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer

Thanks, Michele, and good afternoon everyone. 2018 was a tremendous year for the firm. We achieved record fourth quarter revenues of $238 million, up 41% from the prior year period and record full year revenues of $886 million, up 29% from the prior year period. Our full year revenue growth was driven by a greater number of transaction completions with higher average fees across all products and record revenues in M&A, restructuring and private funds advisory.

Our elite M&A franchise provided high quality and discrete advise on complex transactions throughout the world. Having a full suite of expert capabilities including debt capital markets advisory and shareholder defense, allows us to increase our dialogue with clients, creating additional fee opportunities for the firm. Additionally, we earned greater average M&A fees across deals greater than $5 billion with a meaningful increase in fees earned on deals with values over $10 billion.