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Strategies & Market Trends : The Epic American Credit and Bond Bubble Laboratory -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Vosilla who wrote (24933)	1/19/2005 10:38:53 AM
From: russwinter	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 110194

Here come the big financials layoffs, don't quite know how they spin this one, more cost cutting is good, plus print more money for Bully? Problem now is Bully is among the 12,000. JPMorgan Chase Profit Falls 11 Percent Wednesday January 19, 8:32 AM EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), the No. 2 U.S. bank, said on Wednesday its fourth-quarter earnings fell 11 percent, hurt by charges related to its merger with Bank One last year and falling investment bank results. The New York bank, whose shares fell 1.5 percent before the bell, reported net income of $1.67 billion, or 46 cents a share, compared with $1.86 billion, or 89 cents per share a year earlier. Last year's results do not include Bank One. Excluding $650 million in charges related to the bank's $58 billion merger with Chicago-based rival Bank One, JPMorgan reported a profit of $2.3 billion, or 64 cents a share. Wall Street analysts, whose estimates generally exclude one-time items, had forecast the bank would earn 68 cents a share, according Reuters Estimates. The charges, which cut 18 cents per share from company profit in the quarter, include merger costs of $324 million and a $326 million charge to make the two banks' accounting policies conform. The quarterly report follows the earnings of three other big U.S. banks on Tuesday, led by Bank of America Corp., which reported record quarterly profits as consumers and companies borrowed more and credit quality improved. President and Chief Operating Officer Jamie Dimon, the former head of Bank One, said in the earnings release that the bank's goal of creating $3 billion in annual cost savings from the merger is on track. The company has said it is also cutting 12,000 jobs. "Operating results for the fourth quarter improved from the third quarter, but still reflected mixed performance," said JPMorgan Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William Harrison in the release. Investment banking profits fell 18 percent to $660 million, while retail banking profits more than doubled to $775 million. Rising compensation expenses, combined with slower improvement in the investment bank's loan portfolio, helped pull down investment banking results. Revenue rose 60 percent to $12.95 billion from last year and climbed 4 percent from the third quarter -- the first time the two banks reported earnings as one entity. Total assets rose 50 percent to $1.157 trillion and were 2 percent higher than the previous quarter. JP Morgan shares fell to $37.82 before the bell from their Tuesday close of $38.40.