Merrill Lynch & Co. today reported a 50 per cent rise in third-quarter profit, notching its second-best quarterly earnings ever, powered by strength in key areas such as bond trading and sales of securities to investors.
New York-based Merrill, the biggest US brokerage, reported third-quarter net income of $1.04 billion, or $1.04 per share. That compared with earnings of $693 million, or 73 cents per share, in the same period last year.
The results blew past Wall Street estimates. Net revenue rose 16 per cent to $5.1 billion, Merrill said.
Merrill said revenue from principal transactions, which include trades for its own account, shot up 87 per cent to $705 million. Revenue from underwriting, meanwhile, rose 66 per cent to $545 million.
The results mark Merrill's third straight quarter of profit growth. "Investment banking net revenues rose strongly from the year-ago quarter, primarily due to increased equity and debt origination activity," Merrill said in its earnings release.
Other business lines, including brokerage services, also delivered solid results. Pre-tax earnings in the Global Private Client unit jumped 47 per cent to $466 million.