Shares of Jefferies Group Inc. (NYSE: JEF) are down in premarket trading this mornings solid earnings report.

Jeffries reported third-quarter 2012 earnings per share (EPS) of $0.31 on revenue of $739 million. In the same period a year ago, the New York-based investment bank reported EPS of $0.30 on revenue of $509 million. Results compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for EPS of $0.28 and $703 million in revenue.

The company also reported that Advisory net revenues were up 24% year-over-year to $133 million, while Fixed Income net revenues increased eight-fold to $266 million.

Jefferies chairman and CEO said:

Despite a turbulent and often treacherous environment, we have just finished the best nine-month period in our firm’s history. Our equity base of $3.7 billion has never been more robust, and our balance sheet and liquidity have never been stronger. The Jefferies brand and our competitive position versus our competitors have also never been better.

In addition, the board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.075 per share of common stock.

Jefferies helped arrange a $400 million bailout for Knight Capital Group Inc. (NYSE: KCG) earlier this year following trading losses spurred by a software failure.

Jefferies shares are down about 1% in premarket trading this morning, at $15.50 in a 52-week range of $9.50 to $19.82.

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