The U.S.’s biggest bank just had its biggest-ever quarter.
JP Morgan Chase & Co (JPM) said its net profit rose 13% on the year to $7.03 billion in the three months to June, blowing away fears that it might have struggled to negotiate markets that have grown skittish as the initial euphoria at Donald Trump’s election wears off.
The bank’s overall revenues totalled $26.4 billion, some 4% above market consensus forecasts.
“The US consumer remains healthy, evidenced in our strong underlying performance in Consumer & Community Banking,” CEO Jamie Dimon said in the bank’s earnings release. “Loans and deposits continue to grow strongly, and card sales and merchant processing volumes were up double digits, reflecting our consistent investment in the business.”
Dimon also pointed out that the bank’s asset and wealth management business ended the quarter rose 11% to a record high $1.9 trillion, and generated a record quarterly profit of $624 million.
The bank’s overall loan book was up by 8% from a year earlier. Helped also by higher interest rate levels after three rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, the core lending business more than offset a weaker quarter for its market division.
The corporate and investment bank division reported revenue down 3% on the year. However, that’s due in part to a high comparative base from the second quarter last year, when the U.K.’s unexpected decision to leave the EU caused a huge surge in trading in the last week of June.
The bank kept its quarterly dividend unchanged at 50c a share, despite getting clearance from the Federal Reserve recently to increase payouts to investors after passing this year’s stress tests comfortably.
JPMorgan’s report is a strong start to the quarterly earnings season. Citigroup (C) and Wells Fargo (WFC) are also scheduled to report Friday.
