Greenhill & Co., the New York-based advisory firm founded by Robert Greenhill, reported first-quarter profit that beat analysts’ expectations as advisory fees climbed.

Net income was $16.1 million, or 53 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $1.58 million, or 5 cents, a year earlier, the firm said Wednesday in a statement after the close of trading in New York. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was 38 cents.

Greenhill, run by Chief Executive Officer Scott Bok, advised $12.4 billion in announced and completed deals in the first quarter, an 11-fold surge from $1.11 billion a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Bok has said global mergers and acquisitions are in a cyclical upswing.

“While the breadth and scale of our current assignment list supports a positive outlook, the low level of M&A announcements in recent months suggests that our revenue opportunity for the year is weighted toward the second half,” Bok said in the statement.