Things are a little lumpy at Lazard, the swish bank run by Bruce Wasserstein. The firm, which is known for its super-polished M&A business and recently handled the acquisition of Bear Stearns by JPMorgan, posted a 71 percent decline in profits in the first-quarter, according to the Wall Street Journal. This news comes three months after Wasserstein dismissed concerns that Lazard would fall victim to the credit crunch, saying that the company was “not in the subprime business.” Maybe so. But the bank still reported significant write-downs, due in part to faltering commercial bonds, and the declining stock value of asset management funds Lazard supports. Regardless, Lazard’s vice chairman, Steven Golub, remains positive. “We don’t think our first-quarter results are representative of what we’ll see for the rest of the year,” he said in an interview with the New York Times. Lazard continues to be the M&A bank of choice for many blue-chip companies. Fox Business reports that, during the first-quarter, Lazard advised I.B.M., American Express, Tata Chemical, the Kuwait Investment Authority, and other companies hungry for growth.