JPMorgan income rises 13% as loan payments improve

JPMorgan Chase and Co, the second-largest US bank, said net income rose 13 per cent, higher than analysts estimated, as more borrowers paid on time and the bank reduced credit-card loan-loss reserves by $1 billion (Dh3.67 billion). Second-quarter net income climbed to $5.43 billion, or $1.27 a share, from $4.8 billion, or $1.09, in the same period a year earlier and compared with a record $5.56 billion, or $1.28, in the first quarter, the New York-based company said Wednesday in a statement. The average per-share estimate for earnings was $1.21, projected by 28 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. JPMorgan, led by chief executive officer Jamie Dimon, was the most profitable US bank last year with a record $17.4 billion in earnings. Net income was buoyed by the release of $7 billion in reserves back into income as the US economy improved, a benefit that Dimon said doesn't represent "quality" earnings. "You continue to get reserve releases, which mean that your headline earnings-per-share numbers beat [estimates]," said Paul Miller, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets Corp, in an interview earlier this week. "Investors see that as poor quality and instead look at the underlying fundamentals, pretax pre-provision profits or your underlying revenue numbers." Investors already know that fewer borrowers are defaulting, allowing banks to bolster profit by lowering reserves, said Miller, a former examiner at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Capital One Financial Corp, this year's best-performing major US bank stock, said on Wednesday that net income rose 50 per cent to $911 million as it set aside fewer provisions for loan losses. Citigroup Inc, the third-biggest US lender behind JPMorgan and Bank of America Corp, may report a second-quarter profit of $2.96 billion when it releases results today, the survey of analysts shows. Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America may report a profit of $3.08 billion on July 19, and San Francisco-based Wells Fargo and Co may say it earned $3.75 billion when it announces results, also today. The sovereign debt crisis in Europe and slowing economic growth in the US depressed trading volume and curtailed revenue in the second quarter as investors bought and sold fewer bonds and equities, according to analysts including Chris Kotowski at Oppenheimer and Co in New York. From / Gulf News