U.S. bank JPMorgan reports incredible earnings rise of 78 percent

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the No. 3 U.S bank, on Wednesday said quarterly earnings rose 78 percent, helped by strong trading across all markets. Trading for clients and for its own account boosted profit, as did energy trading, a new area of investment for the bank. Energy markets were whipsawed during hurricane season.

The bank also said Chief Operating Officer Jamie Dimon - who analysts have considered the company's de facto leader since his Bank One Corp. merged with JPMorgan last year - will succeed William Harrison as chairman and chief executive on Dec. 31, six months earlier than expected.

JPMorgan reported third-quarter net income of $2.53 billion, or 71 cents a share, compared with $1.42 billion, or 39 cents a share, a year earlier.

Excluding $221 million of charges related to its merger last year with Bank One Corp., operating earnings were 75 cents a share, it said.

Beyond the merger charges, the quarter included a Hurricane Katrina-related after-tax charge of $248 million, or 7 cents per share, for credit losses.

"The big beat came from trading," according to Jeff Harte, an analyst with Sandler O'Neill & Partners. He added that if the 7-cent Katrina charge is excluded, JPMorgan earned 82 cents a share and easily beat estimates, Reuters reports.

Wall Street analysts had expected the bank to earn 72 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Net revenue rose 15 percent to $15.55 billion.

Shares of JPMorgan were up 1.7, to $34.35, percent in pre-market trading on the Inet electronic brokerage network.

T.E.