JPMorgan trading results stabilise in March

New York - JPMorgan said its stock- and bond-trading businesses stabilised in March and early April after tumbling in the first two months of 2016, helping the bank post first-quarter revenue that beat analysts’ estimates.

“The stability that has characterised March more than the first two months has so far carried forward into April, but the markets are still illiquid in parts and prone to some rapid corrections,” chief financial officer Marianne Lake said on Wednesday on a conference call with journalists. “We’re cautious about the second quarter, but so far April is reasonably stable.”

While the bank warned analysts in late February that markets revenue was down 20%, first-quarter fixed-income trading revenue fell just 13% to $3.6bn, topping the $3.23bn estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. JPMorgan cited strong rates trading, “which was more than offset by lower performance across other asset classes,” according to a statement.

Equity-trading revenue was down 5% to $1.58bn, exceeding the $1.35bn average estimate of the seven analysts. Earnings at the corporate and investment bank, run by Daniel Pinto, dropped 22% to $2bn as revenue declined 15% from a year earlier to $8.1bn.

JPMorgan said first-quarter net income fell 6.7% to $5.52bn from $5.91bn a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, per-share earnings were $1.41, beating the $1.25 average estimate of 29 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Revenue slipped 3% to $24.1bn, compared with the $23.8bn average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.