JPMorgan's Profit Falls 10% But Beats ExpectationsBy Matthias Rieker
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), bracing itself for more loan losses driven by the recession, delivered surprisingly strong first quarter results on Thursday.
Carried mainly by a recovery in securities trading that lifted JPMorgan Chase's investment banking revenue to a record, the bank said it's strong enough to pay back the U.S. Treasury Department even as it had to
set more money aside for rising delinquencies and loan losses. Bond trading took away much of the pain from the recession.
JPMorgan Chase's profit for the quarter fell 10% from a year earlier, to $2.1 billion,
but revenue jumped 48%, to $25.03 billion. The bank's shares rose about 1% in recent trading, to just almost $33.
{Jamie} Dimon {Chairman & CEO, JPMorgan Chase & Company} said TARP was good for the banking system, but the money has become "a scarlet letter." And unlike investment bank Goldman, Dimon said JPMorgan Chase doesn't plan to raise capital. Unless forced to do so by the government, "I don't see why we need to raise money," he said. The bank awaits guidance about TARP repayment from the government.