let's see if MER sells off on this good news.....
Merrill Lynch 3rd-Qtr Operating Net Rises to $1.34-Share, Beats Forecasts
By Lisa Kassenaar
Merrill Lynch 3rd-Qtr Profit More Than Triples to $572 Mln
New York, Oct. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Merrill Lynch & Co., the
biggest U.S. brokerage, said third-quarter profit more than
tripled, boosted by record asset management revenue and a
recovery in trading from last year's global bond rout.
Profit from operations rose to $572 million, or $1.34 a
share, compared with $125 million, or 28 cents, a year ago. That
beat the average $1.29-a-share forecast by nine analysts in a
First Call Corp. poll.
The figures exclude a year-ago charge for layoffs. With the
charge last year, Merrill posted its first quarterly loss since
1989 after Russia's debt default in August triggered losses in
emerging market and corporate bonds around the world.
Net revenue in this year's third quarter, which includes
interest income minus interest expense, rose 39 percent to $5.3
billion. Return on shareholders' equity, a key measure of
profitability, was 20.2 percent versus 4.8 percent a year ago.
Revenue from asset management rose 20 percent to a record
$1.2 billion. Investment banking revenue rose 4.4 percent to a
record $948 million. Trading revenue rose to $1.1 billion from
$279 million. Commission revenue was unchanged at $1.4 billion.
''It was a pretty good quarter,'' Dean Eberling, an analyst
at Putnam Lovell deGuardiola & Thornton, said before the report.
The results are ''down from the second quarter, but that (period)
was hyperactive.'' Merrill earned a record $673 million, or $1.57
a share, in the second quarter as commissions and trading revenue
grew.
Paine Webber Group, the fourth-biggest securities firm by
number of brokers, this morning said third-quarter profit rose 67
percent to 86 cents a share, beating expectations.
Merrill shares yesterday fell 13/16 to 67 3/4 as the Dow
Jones Industrial Average was little changed. Merrill stock has
fallen 15 percent since the end of the second quarter as
financial shares were beaten down by concern U.S. interest rates
would keep rising.
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