Fourth quarter profits for New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) member firms dipped, but still managed to far outpace the previous year’s results.

The NYSE reported Thursday that firms that deal with the public reported collective fourth quarter after-tax profits of slightly more than USUS$4 billion, down from US$4.6 billion in the previous quarter. Nonetheless, this was a notable improvement over the same quarter in 2011, when firms lost US$1.3 billion.

For the full year, dealer profits topped US$15.5 billion in aggregate, compared with less than US$5 billion in 2011.

Revenues were down slightly in the fourth quarter, coming in just shy of US$41 billion, while expenses ticked up a bit from the previous quarter. Reported revenues include firms that trade primarily for their own account, but excludes designated market makers.

Of the 165 firms reporting results, almost half, 74 were unprofitable during the fourth quarter, representing an aggregate pre-tax loss of US$1.25 billion. And, for the full year, 71 unprofitable firms lost a combined US$2.7 billion, pre-tax. In the third quarter, just 59 firms lost money (US$670 million).

The profitable firms in 2012 generated an aggregate US$26.6 billion in pre-tax earnings, compared with just under US$17 billion in 2011.