US securities firm Morgan Stanley on Tuesday said fourth-quarter profit rose sharply on higher investment banking activity, offset in part by lower fixed-income sales and trading results. New York-based Morgan Stanley, the largest US securities firm by market value, said net income rose 18 percent to $1.20 billion, or $1.09 per fully diluted share, in the quarter ended November 30, from net income of $1.01 billion, or 92 cents, in the year-earlier period.
The results exceeded the average analyst of $1.01 a share in the quarter compiled by Reuters Estimates.
The firm also said it would boost its quarterly dividend by 8 percent to 27 cents a share, payable on January 31 to shareholders of record on January 14.
Shares rose 1.1 percent to $54.25 before the opening of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Morgan Stanley, a diverse financial giant that does everything from underwriting IPOs and advising on mergers to issuing Discover credit cards, in the previous quarter disappointed Wall Street by reporting a 30 percent drop in earnings. Fixed income results for the third quarter were hurt when its trading desk was caught on the wrong end of interest rate and currency market moves.