JPMorgan first-quarter profits soar 13% to USD16.5b
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The news: JPMorgan’s first-quarter profits beat expectations as traders at the Wall Street giant posted their best-ever quarterly revenue for the first three months of the year.
The numbers: The largest US bank posted net income of USD16.5 billion for the period, or USD5.94 per share, up from 14.6 billion. Analysts had forecast USD5.45 per share.
Revenue climbed 10% to USD49.84 billion, ahead of the expected USD49.13 billion.
The bank reported USD11.6 billion ($16.28 billion) in trading revenue during the first quarter, a 20% increase from the year prior, as stocks traders and fixed income, currencies and commodities traders beat estimates.
Investment banking fees for the quarter lifted to USD2.8 billion, with M&A advisory notching an 82% jump to USD1.28 billion. Equity underwriting also climbed to USD472 million.
The context: Despite the strong performance, JPMorgan lowered its full year net interest income guidance to USD103 billion from the USD104.5 billion projected outlook published in February.
Chair and CEO Jamie Dimon said that while the US economy remained resilient, “there is an increasingly complex set of risks — such as geopolitical tensions and wars, energy price volatility, trade uncertainty, large global fiscal deficits and elevated asset prices.”
The bank also increased its provision for credit losses by USD191 million to USD2.5 billion, less than forecast, despite Dimon’s warning last month that “losses on all leveraged lending in general will be higher than expected, relative to the environment. This is because credit standards have been modestly weakening pretty much across the board.”
The source: JPMorgan earnings
