J.P. Morgan Chase & Co posted lower third-quarter earnings on Wednesday, missing analyst expectations, as costs from its July merger with Bank One Corp and anemic fixed-income trading revenue hurt profits.
New York-based J.P. Morgan, the No 2 US bank, reported quarterly net income of $1.42 billion, or 39 cents a share, compared with $1.63 billion, or 78 cents per share a year ago.
Excluding $741 million in merger-related costs, J.P. Morgan posted operating earnings of $2.2 billion, or 60 cents per share. Wall Street analysts had expected the bank to earn 74 cents, according to Reuters Estimates.
J.P. Morgan reported merger costs of $462 million and an additional $279 million charge during the quarter related to aligning its accounting policies with Bank One's.
"Current operating results were below expectations primarily due to weak trading results in the investment bank," William Harrison, J.P. Morgan's chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.
Volatile fixed-income markets this summer were a main drag on profits. Fixed-income market revenues fell 23 percent to $1.1 billion, helping to push investment bank earnings down 10 percent to $627 million.
Other areas of the investment bank fared better, with investment banking fees climbing 43 percent on continued strength in the company's debt underwriting.