JP Morgan second-quarter profit tops forecasts

CHARLOTTE (AP) — JPMorgan Chase & Co. posted a 36 percent jump in second-quarter profit Thursday, easily surpassing analysts’ expectations, as strength in investment banking offset higher credit losses.

JPMorgan, the second big bank to report stronger earnings this week after Goldman Sachs Group Inc., earned $2.72 billion, up from $2 billion a year earlier. Revenues soared 39 percent to $25.62 billion.

Results were driven by record investment banking fees and revenue in its bond business, much like Goldman Sachs.

“Both JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs were well positioned going into the crisis, and they are going to continue to pull ahead and dominate the sector,” said Len Blum, managing partner at investment bank Westwood Capital.

At JPMorgan’s investment bank, revenue jumped 33 percent to $7.3 billion and profits more than tripled to $1.5 billion.

Those gains were partly offset by higher losses in consumer lending and credit cards. The bank said it set aside $9.7 billion for credit losses in the quarter, up from $4.29 billion a year earlier but down from the first quarter’s $10 billion.

CEO Jamie Dimon said in a statement that the company expects credit costs to remain high “for the foreseeable future.”

The profit came despite a $1.1 billion charge, or 27 cents a share, as JPMorgan repaid $25 billion in loans it received from the government as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The bank was also hit by a 10-cents-a-share FDIC special assessment penalty.

Earnings per share fell to 28 cents from 53 cents as the company had more stock outstanding than a year ago.