Morgan Stanley's second-quarter earnings beat expectations

Morgan Stanley posted better-than-expected second-quarter earnings on Monday as revenues rose.

Earnings per share for the quarter ended 30 June came in at $0.85, on revenue of $9.7bn, up from $8.6bn. Excluding a one-off accounting charge, earnings were $0.79, beating expectations of $0.74.

Net income fell to $1.8bn from $1.9bn a year earlier.

Equity sales and trading net revenues came in at $2.3bn from $1.8bn a year ago, reflecting a strong performance across products and regions in higher levels of client activity.

In Fixed Income and Commodities, the bank posted sales and trading revenues of $1.3bn, up from $1bn, reflecting higher revenues primarily in rates and foreign exchange, partly offset by lower results in credit products and commodities.

Chairman and chief executive officer James P Gorman said: “We delivered a strong quarter across each of our businesses, through client-focused execution, expense discipline and prudent risk management. We remain focused on delivering the long-term value of this franchise.”

Nomura said the $0.85 EPS was ahead of its forecast of $0.75. It said the beat was driven by top-line strength in Morgan Stanley's institutional securities group, particularly Equities and the investment banking division.

The Japanese bank said it expects to see positive consensus revisions on the back of the results.

At 14:57, shares were up 0.4% at $40.34.