JPMorgan’s second-quarter net income falls on lower investment banking and mortgage revenues

NEW YORK, N.Y. – JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s largest bank by assets, said Tuesday its second-quarter earnings fell 9 per cent as revenue at its investment banking and mortgage businesses dropped.

The bank’s net income totalled $5.6 billion in the quarter after payments to preferred shareholders. That was down from net income of $6.1 billion in the same period last year.

Earnings amounted to $1.46 per share, compared with $1.60 a year earlier. They beat the forecasts of analysts polled by FactSet, who predicted earnings of $1.29 a share.

Revenue in the quarter fell 3 per cent to $24.5 billion. Analysts had forecast $23.7 billion for the period.

The earnings are the first since JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon disclosed at the start of this month that he was battling throat cancer. Dimon, 58, said he plans to remain on the job and be actively involved in key decisions while undergoing radiation and chemotherapy treatment.

Dimon told reporters on a conference call that JPMorgan’s board would be continually briefed on his condition and would make any announcements if there were any material changes.

“I’m hoping the next time I talk about this at all, it will be in about eight weeks and I’ll tell you (the treatment) is complete and the prognosis is still very good,” Dimon said.

The bank’s fixed income and stock trading revenue fell 14 per cent to $4.65 billion from $5.37 billion in the same period a year ago. While that was a big drop, the bank said in a regulatory statement May 2 that it was expecting trading revenue to decline by about 20 per cent in the period.

Dimon said that the bank saw “encouraging signs” of a pickup in business across some of its units, including the markets division of investment banking.

“While it is too early to assume that this momentum will continue, we have confidence in the long-term growth of the economy,” Dimon said in a statement that accompanied the earnings.

Mortgage applications fell 54 per cent to $30.1 billion compared with a year earlier, however that was an increase of 15 per cent from the first quarter. An increase in bond yields since last summer has caused mortgage rates to rise, which in turn has slowed refinancing of home loans.

JPMorgan’s stock rose $2.09, or 3.7 per cent, to $58.40.