JPMorgan Chase & Co., the biggest U.S. bank, said fourth-quarter profit rose 10 percent as expenses from litigation and employee compensation shrank.
Net income rose to $5.43 billion, or $1.32 a share, from $4.93 billion, or $1.19, a year earlier, according to a statement Thursday from New York-based JPMorgan. Earnings were $1.40 a share excluding litigation costs and accounting adjustments, beating the $1.27 average estimate of 29 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Wall Street firms are under pressure to cut costs as revenue from fixed-income trading slumps. JPMorgan Chief Financial Officer Marianne Lake said last month that the period had been quiet for bond and equity markets, adding that the Federal Reserve's Dec. 16 interest-rate increase could provide a boost in 2016. The company had only $99 million in litigation costs after a $318 million benefit from a legal settlement. That compared with $990 million in the fourth quarter of 2014.
Revenue rose 1 percent to $22.9 billion in the fourth quarter. Non-interest expenses fell 7 percent to $14.3 billion.
Citigroup Inc., the third-biggest U.S. bank by assets, and Wells Fargo & Co., the top U.S. mortgage lender, are scheduled to report results Friday. Bank of America Corp., Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will report next week.
