JPMorgan Chase reported Wednesday a profit for the first quarter that soared five-fold from last year, driven by primarily by credit reserve releases compared to last year's credit reserve builds.
Both earnings per share and revenues for the quarter topped analysts' expectations.
"JPMorgan Chase earned $14.3 billion in net income reflecting strong underlying performance across our businesses, partially driven by a rapidly improving economy," said Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO.
Net income for the quarter soared to $14.30 billion or $4.50 per share from last year's $2.87 billion or $0.78 per share in the prior-year quarter.
The provision for credit losses was a net benefit of $4.15 billion, compared to last year's expense of $8.29 billion, driven by net reserve releases of $5.2 billion and $1.1 billion of net charge-offs.
Total net revenue on a reported basis was $32.3 billion. On a managed basis, net revenue was $33.12 billion, up 14 percent from $29.01 billion in the previous year. Wall Street expected revenues of $30.52 billion for the quarter.
Net interest income was $13.0 billion, down 11 percent, driven by the impact of lower rates, partially offset by balance sheet growth.
Non-interest revenue was $20.1 billion, up 39 percent from last year, largely driven by higher CIB Markets revenue higher Investment Banking fees, and the absence of losses in Credit Adjustments and Other.
Noninterest expense was $18.7 billion, up 12 percent, driven by higher volume- and revenue-related expense and continued investments. The expense also included a $550 million contribution to the Firm's Foundation.
Consumer & Business Banking net revenue was $5.64 billion, down 10 percent, predominantly driven by the impact of deposit margin compression, largely offset by growth in deposit balances.
Banking revenue surged 70 percent to $4.51 billion, and markets & securities services revenue grew 37 percent to $10.10 billion from last year.
"We continue to make significant investments in products, people, and technology, all while maintaining credit discipline and a fortress balance sheet. We are fully engaged in trying to help solve some of the world's biggest issues, and we announced a commitment to finance and facilitate $200 billion in 2020 to drive action on climate change and advance sustainable development," Dimon added. ■