JP Morgan traders lift its earnings
JP MORGAN Chase will today report third quarter earnings significantly above last year, as strong trading in its investment banking operations offsets rising loan losses.
Analysts are expecting the bank to report quarterly earnings of $0.49 per share, well above the $0.11 per share seen in the same period of last year, due to a 68.3 per cent increase in revenues to $24.8bn (£15.6bn).
The group will be buoyed by another strong performance from its investment bank, which recorded revenues of $7.3bn in the second quarter, up from $5.5bn in the previous year’s third quarter.
However, the company is likely to warn that loan losses are still rising, after chief executive Jamie Dimon said during the summer that the company’s credit card business was unlikely to make money in 2010.
Credit card losses could rise from 10 per cent to 11.5 per cent in the third quarter, according to Deutsche Bank analyst Matt O’Connor, pushing credit losses to $8bn, matching the second quarter.
Dimon has visited London in recent days to reassure staff that the unit is still key to the bank’s operations, following the surprise departure of the co-head of investment banking, London-based Bill Winters.