JPMorgan Chase said second-quarter profit fell 1.4%, beating analysts' estimates as fixed-income trading revenue and loan growth jumped.
Net income dropped to $6.2 billion, or $1.55 a share, from $6.29 billion, or $1.54 a share, a year earlier, the New York-based company said Thursday.
Revenue climbed 2.8% to $25.2 billion. That figure included $3.96 billion from fixed-income trading, a 35% increase, and $1.6 billion from equity trading, up 1.5%.
JPMorgan kicks off earnings season for U.S. banks, and may offer insight into the industry's prospects for trading and advisory operations after the U.K.'s surprise vote last month to leave the European Union. While JPMorgan executives have said trading rebounded in April and May, that was before the referendum roiled markets and pushed out expectations for additional U.S. interest-rate increases to at least next year. The delay would extend a post-financial-crisis era of low rates that's forced banks to rely on expense cuts to cope with stagnant revenue.
Bank stocks plummeted after the vote and yields on 10-year Treasury notes fell to a record, draining financial firms of interest income. JPMorgan, which lost about 10 percent in the two days after the June 23 referendum, has since recovered most of that decline.
Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo are scheduled to report results Friday, while Bank of America, Goldman Sachs Group and Morgan Stanley are due next week. Analysts estimate the industry will post its fourth-straight profit decline in the second quarter, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The group saw profits fall 12% on a year-over-year basis in the first quarter.
