JPMorgan Chase & Co, the second largest U.S. bank by assets, said its quarterly profit jumped 22 percent, helped by lower loan losses in its retail and credit card units. New York-based JPMorgan, the first of the banks to report third-quarter earnings, has like its peers struggled to make new loans this year, even as losses on bad mortgages and credit cards have eased.
JPMorgan shares climbed slightly in early trading after the bank reported third-quarter net income rose to $4.4 billion, or $1.01 a share, from $3.6 billion, or 82 cents a share in the year earlier period.
Analysts on average expected a profit of 90 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It could not immediately be determined if that figure compared with the $1.01 the bank reported.
JPMorgan’s card services unit reported a profit of $735 million compared to a year-earlier loss of $700 million and its retail unit reported a profit of $907 million, compared to just $7 million a year earlier.
Profit in its mortgage banking and other consumer lending business slipped to $207 million, down 50 percent on the previous year, even as the bank set aside less money against loan losses in the unit.
Chief Executive Jamie Dimon expects mortgage losses to remain high for the next several quarters. “If economic conditions worsen, mortgage credit losses could trend higher,” he said in a statement.
REFORM
Like its peers, JPMorgan is facing changes to its business after the U.S. financial reform measures passed by President Obama in the summer.
Worries that regulatory changes will trim some of the bank’s most profitable business have weighed on JPMorgan shares.
JPMorgan shares are down 3 percent year-to-date, through Tuesday, while the broader KBW Bank Index is up 12.5 percent.
The bank is working with regulators and devoting substantial resources to implementing reforms, Dimon said in a statement.
As a result of financial reform, the bank said last month it is moving about 45 traders that previously traded for its own account into a new unit within its asset management business.
JPMorgan shares were up 1.2 percent at $40.90 in pre-market trading on Wednesday.
