ALSO IN EARNINGS
- The Secret Lives of Traders—Seeking the Next Hot Thing
- China January Trade Surplus Soars as Imports Crumble
- Strip Greenspan of His Knighthood: SocGen Strategist
- Markets Finally Get Greek Deal —So Where's the Rally?
- Warren Buffett: Stocks Will Outperform Gold and Bonds
- Alibaba Plans to Buy Back Yahoo Stake, Go Private
- Greece Deal Fails to Convince, EU Demands More
- 'Mortgage Deal from Hell' Hurts Sound Borrowers: Bove
- Clint Eastwood: Super Bowl Ad Endorses No One
MOST SHARED
- Tesla Unveils First SUV: Model X
- China January Trade Surplus Soars as Imports Crumble
- Sony's Hirai to Extend PlayStation Strategy, Cut Costs
- China City Raises Cash Subsidies for Home Buyers
- India's Tata Steel Posts First Quarterly Loss in 2 Years
- Lightning Round: Yahoo!, CEC Entertainment, Standard Pacific and More
- Jobs You Can Do Forever
- Steelers' Antonio Brown Spends Super Bowl Week with Twitter Fan Turned BFF
- Alibaba Group Plans to Take Hong Kong Unit Private: Report
- How to Date a Wall Street Man
MOST POPULAR
HOT ON FACEBOOK
JPMorgan Profit Rises, Despite Writedowns
Text Size 
 |
JPMorgan Chase reported slightly higher quarterly profit Wednesday as gains from private-equity deals helped offset $1.64 billion in write-downs on leveraged loans and collateralized debt obligations.
JPMorgan's performance is a vindication for Chairman and Chief Executive Jamie Dimon, who joined the bank after his career path was blocked at Citigroup [C
Loading...
()
], where profit plunged 57 percent in the third quarter amid calls for the ouster of CEO Chuck Prince.
"We're just trying to make this as good a company as we can make it," Dimon told reporters on a conference call.
JPMorgan [JPM
Loading...
()
], the third-largest U.S. bank, said net income was $3.4 billion, or 97 cents a share, up from $3.3 billion, or 92 cents a share, a year earlier.
JPMorgan, whose stock rose 3.9 percent to $46.50 in pre-market trading, recorded gains of $766 million from private-equity investments, up from $226 million a year earlier. The bank's write-down on leveraged loans, used for corporate takeovers, was less than what some analysts had expected.
Private equity gains, along with profit growth in asset management and treasury services, helped beat analysts' average earnings forecast of 90 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.
"Jamie Dimon is a smart cookie," said Meg McMullen, chief of New England Research & Management, which oversees about $200 million but does not own JPMorgan shares. "He's ahead of the pack here."
JPMorgan's performance stands in sharp contrast to that of most other Wall Street firms, which saw profits plunge in the third quarter. Merrill Lynch [MER
Loading...
()
] expects to lose money in the quarter on $5.5 billion in write-downs.
JPMorgan's investment banking profit fell 70 percent in the quarter to $296 million, primarily because of markdowns of $1.3 billion, after fees, on leveraged lending commitments, and markdowns of $339 million on collateralized debt obligations.
The bank recently cut about 100 jobs in the investment banking division, and Dimon told the conference call there will be more trimming in hard-hit areas. But he said the bank will add jobs in growth areas.
Before Wednesday, JPMorgan shares were down 7 percent this year.
- Many have called to abolish the Federal Reserve. But what would happen if it was dissolved for good?
- Entrepreneurs have increasingly been buying back their companies over the last three years.
- Where are the best city locations for singles to take the online dating plunge?
- A Steelers fan spent a week with wide receiver Antonio Brown- and it was all due to tweeting.
- Here’s a look at the woman behind the newest collectible toy that kids love.
- Grab a brew—or not—and click ahead to experience the world’s most highly rated beers.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
