Jefferies Q1 profit climbs on investment banking, asset management revenue jump

March 27 (Reuters) - Jefferies Financial's first-quarter profit rose 12% as its investment bankers benefited from improving activity and its asset managers almost quadrupled their revenue.

Investment banking giants have been hoping for a recovery after almost two years of dismal activity in mergers and acquisitions, as rising interest rates deterred companies from striking deals.

Jefferies' earnings are closely watched by investors and analysts as a precursor to results from the biggest U.S. banks, which will begin to be released from mid-April.

Jefferies' investment banking revenue in the first quarter jumped 31% from a year earlier to $739.7 million, amid surging activity across its advisory as well as equity and debt underwriting businesses.

Revenue from Jefferies' asset management unit surged to $273.4 million in the first quarter from $68.5 million a year earlier, the bank said, citing strong performance across its investment strategies and funds.

Net earnings attributable to Jeffries' common shareholders rose 12% compared with a year earlier to $149.6 million, or 66 cents per share, in the three months ended Feb. 29.

Capital markets revenue rose 9% to $711.6 million, the third-best quarterly performance for the division.

(Reporting by Lananh Nguyen in New York and Mehnaz Yasmin in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)