JPMorgan's fourth quarter numbers beat expectations

JPMorgan Chase & Co posted a 10.2% rise in fourth quarter profit, surpassing expectations thanks to a drop in expenses and a solid performance in the investment banking division.

In the three months to the end of December, net income grew to $5.43bn from $4.93bn in the same period a year earlier, on revenue of $23.7bn, up 1%.

Meanwhile, earnings per share came in at $1.32, up from $1.19 and better than analysts’ expectations for EPS of $1.25.

In the investment banking division, profit rose to $1.75bn from $972m in the fourth quarter of 2014.

JPMorgan, which was the first of the big banks to report earnings, said expenses for the quarter dropped to $14.3bn from $15.4bn a year earlier.

Chairman and chief executive officer Jamie Dimon said: "We had a good quarter as 2015 came to a close. The businesses generated strong loan growth and credit quality, except for some stress in energy.

“The consumer business continues to gather deposits, outpacing the industry. Markets were somewhat quieter, and we saw the impact reflected in the results of our trading and asset management businesses.”

Societe Generale reiterated its ‘buy’ recommendation on JPM, saying the results were “reassuring” as core trends remain healthy.

“Bottom line, the better-than-expected revenue performance is a positive and along with the EPS beat should come as a relief.”