ADVERTISEMENT

JPMorgan net up 31 per cent in June quarter as trading rebounds

JPMorgan Chase & Co reported a 31 per cent rise in quarterly profit on Friday as trading revenue rebounded and the biggest US bank by assets set aside less money to cover bad loans.

Net income rose to $6.50 billion, or $1.60 per share, in the second quarter ended June 30 from $4.96 billion, or $1.21 per share, a year earlier.

The year-earlier quarter included the vast majority of the losses of more than $6.2 billion on derivatives positions that were so large that hedge funds had referred to the trader handling them as the "London Whale".

Provision for credit losses fell 78 per cent to $47 million.

Analysts on average had expected earnings of $1.44 per share, according to Thomson Reuters. It was not immediately clear if the figures were comparable.

The bank, whose shares were down marginally in premarket trading, said revenue from fixed income and equities rose 18 per cent in the quarter compared with a year earlier.

The corporate and private equity division, which a year ago lost $1.78 billion after-tax because of the London Whale debacle, lost $522 million in the latest quarter.

Mortgage banking income, which comes from making home loans and servicing existing mortgages, fell 14 per cent to $1.1 billion as a refinancing wave subsided and interest rates rose.

JPMorgan is the second largest US mortgage lender after Wells Fargo & Co with an 11 per cent market share. Wells Fargo reports results later on Friday.

JPMorgan shares, which were trading at $54.85 before the bell, had risen 25 per cent this year up to Thursday's close, helped by growing confidence that the US economy is on the road to a solid recovery.

However, the stock has been volatile in recent weeks because of concern that higher interest rates will erode the value of bank assets before they generate new revenue from lending.

The results are the first the bank has released since Chairman and chief executive Jamie Dimon overwhelmingly won a shareholder referendum in May on whether he should hold both posts.

Copyright @ Thomson Reuters 2013