JPMorgan Q2 profit soars 76% to $4.8 bn

JPMorgan Chase & Co saw its profit surging 78 per cent to $4.79 billion for the quarter ended June, as the banking major kept aside less money to cover loan losses.

The Wall Street major, which tackled the financial meltdown without any quarterly losses, had a profit of $2.72 billion in the same period a year ago.

"Our net income increased to $4.8 billion, including the benefit from a $1.5 billion reduction of loan loss reserves... Partially offset by a charge of $550 million for the UK bonus tax," JPMorgan Chase's Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon said in a statement today.

The company also witnessed good showing in other businesses, including the wholesale segment.

However, investment banking operations, the main revenue earner for the group, recorded a six per cent decline in profit at $1.4 billion in the second quarter.

The fall was mainly on account of lower revenue and higher non-interest expense, predominantly offset by a benefit from the provision for credit losses.

"Non-interest expense was $4.5 billion, compared with $4.1 billion in the prior year. Current-quarter results included the impact of the UK bonus tax," the statement added.

In the first half of 2010, JPMorgan loaned or raised capital worth $700 billion for its clients.

Regarding the outlook, Dimon cautioned that challenges and uncertainties remain, that could negatively impact its businesses, clients and markets.

"With a need for global regulatory coordination and hundreds of rules to be written, increased focus is critical in order to implement these reforms in a way that protects consumers and the competitiveness of the US financial system...," he stressed.