Chase reports $11.7 billion profit in 2009
16 Jan 2010
Wall Street banking giant JP Morgan Chase beat analysts expectations as its profits more than doubled to $11.7 billion in 2009, just a year after the Lehman Brothers collapse that shook the global economy.
The company also reported better-than-expected quarterly profits of $3.3 billion.
The New York City-based bank also revealed that compensation expenses climbed 18 per cent during the year to $26.9 billion, much of which is expected to be doled out in the form of bonuses.
"Though these results showed improvement, we acknowledge that they fell short of both an adequate return on capital and the firm's earnings potential," JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said in a statement.
One of the biggest drivers of its results in the quarter was the company's investment banking business, which earned $1.9 billion, largely helped by robust debt and stock underwriting fees.
Mike Cavanagh, JPMorgan Chase's chief financial officer, noted that there were still areas of weakness within the company's mortgage portfolio.