JPMorgan Chase surprised Wall Street on Thursday with a sharp increase in investment banking income at a time when other banks are warning of layoffs because of a slowdown in trading.
Investors had been expecting investment banking results at major Wall Street firms to decline on fears of a slowdown after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said it plans to eliminate 230 jobs beginning in September. Citigroup analyst Keith Horowitz has warned that overall bank revenue from fixed income trading would likely drop 30 percent in the second quarter, stock trading by 15 percent. The explanation: investors cutting back on trading because of market volatility caused by the European debt crisis.
As expected, JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s revenue from trading did decline - 18 percent in fixed income and 14 percent in equities from the previous quarter. However the bank was able to more than make up the difference with higher fees from underwriting stocks and bonds. That lifted JPMorgan's earnings 13 percent in the three-month period ending in June.
The New York bank earned $5.4 billion ($1.27 per share) in the three months ending in June. That was above the $1.22 per share that analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast. JPMorgan earned $4.8 billion ($1.09 per share) in the same period a year ago.
VIDEO GAMES
Sales down 10 percent from '10
A market research firm says U.S. retail sales of video game hardware, software and accessories dropped 10 percent in June to $995 million compared with the same month a year ago.
The NPD Group said in its monthly report Thursday that sales of video game hardware fell 9 percent to $366.6 million. That includes handheld game systems and gaming consoles like the Wii.
Sales of software, the games themselves, dropped 12 percent to $469.5 million. Sales of game accessories declined 11 percent to $158.9 million.
COUPONS
Connecticut official questions Groupon
Groupon Inc.'s practice of selling group-discount coupons with expiration dates is being reviewed by Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen for possible state law violations.
"It appears that what Groupon Inc. sells or offers may fall within the definition of a gift certificate under Connecticut law," Jepsen said in a press statement issued Thursday. "Connecticut law prohibits gift certificates from being sold or issued subject to an expiration date."
Jepsen, in a July 12 letter, asked Groupon Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mason how his company's certificates are bought and redeemed, how many have been sold in the state, which retailers have accepted them and the typical terms of those agreements.
The attorney general also asked about expiration dates. The Chicago-based company has until Aug. 5 to reply.
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