JPMorgan Chase said today first-quarter profit fell, as the deepening recession and rising unemployment forced it to set aside more money against losses in its consumer banking business.
Net income fell to $2.14 billion, or 40 cents a share, from $2.37 billion, or 68 cents a share a year earlier, for the three months ended March 31, for the same period a year ago.
Revenue increased 45 per cent to $25 billion from $16.9 billion.
Analysts on average see the second-largest US bank earning 30 cents a share, with forecasts ranging from 11 cents to 45 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.
It could not immediately be determined whether the 40 cents a share figure compared to analysts' estimates.
While the bank has largely avoided the losses and writedowns on complex debt securities and subprime mortgages that hurt other banks in 2008, it is heavily exposed to consumer credit and Chief Executive Jamie Dimon has warned that rising unemployment will hurt the bank's consumer businesses in 2009.
JPMorgan shares have outperformed the broader sector since the start of the year, up about 3 per cent at $32.56 compared to a 20 per cent decline in the KBW Bank Index.