JPMorgan Chase Q4 profit soars to $3.3 bn

Banking major JPMorgan Chase & Co today reported a nearly five-fold jump in profit to $3.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009, fuelled by strong performance by its investment banking segment.

The bank's net income had stood at $702 million in the fourth quarter of 2008, a company statement said.

Its net revenue increased to $25.23 billion in the fourth quarter from $19.10 billion in the same period previous year.

"We are gratified that we generated earnings of $3.3 billion for the fourth quarter and nearly $12 billion for the year. Though these results showed improvement, we acknowledge that they fell short of both an adequate return on capital and the firm's earnings potential," JPMorgan Chase Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said.

The investment banking division's net income stood at $1.9 billion, an increase of $4.3 billion from the prior year. The results reflected significantly higher net revenue, a benefit from the provision for credit losses, and lower non-interest expense, the statement added.

"We benefited from the diversity of our leading franchises as demonstrated by the continued earnings strength of our Investment Bank, Commercial Banking, Asset Management and Retail Banking franchises," Dimon added.

JPMorgan Chase is the one of the few financial entities which managed to best survive the financial crisis.

For the full year of 2009, JPMorgan Chase's net income rose to $11.7 billion from $5.6 billion in 2008.

"Throughout this period of financial turbulence, our employees have never lost focus on what a bank should do... Through their tremendous efforts, we have been able to protect our company and keep it healthy and vibrant, while doing our part to support global financial system and helping countries where we do business," Dimon added.