J.P. Morgan Chase's fourth quarter profits drop
January 17, 2001 07:33:00 AM ET
NEW YORK, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Newly merged U.S. bank holding company J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Inc. (JPM) said on Wednesday its operating profits dropped 65 percent in the fourth quarter, hurt by losses on investments, merger charges, and a slump in fees from trading and advising on stock and bond offerings.
The bank, formed after Chase Manhattan bought J.P. Morgan & Co. Inc. in a deal that closed Dec. 31, earned operating profits of $763 million, or 37 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with pro forma $2.18 billion, or $1.09 a share in the year-ago quarter.
Wall Street expected the bank to earn 45 cents a share in the quarter, according to First Call/Thomson Financial, which tracks analysts' consensus estimates.
J.P. Morgan Chase, which ranks among the top U.S. banks with more than $705 billion in assets, warned last month its fourth-quarter profits would be substantially below Wall Street estimates because of weak trading revenues, higher costs and losses on investments.
A string of interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve last year hurt demand for new bond offerings in the quarter and contributed to a stock market slump that ate into revenues at banks' investment and trading operations.
© 2001 Reuters |
