JPMorgan quarterly profit falls 6.7 percent

REUTERS - JPMorgan Chase & Co , the biggest U.S. bank by assets, reported a 6.7 percent drop in quarterly profit as costs to cover possible sour loans to troubled shale oil companies rose and revenue from trading and investment banking declined.

The bank's net income fell to $5.52 billion in the first quarter ended March 31, from $5.91 billion a year earlier. On a per-share basis, earnings fell to $1.35 from $1.45.

Analysts had expected earnings of $1.26 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It was not immediately clear if the results reported on Wednesday were comparable. (http://bit.ly/1S9NNDF)

JPMorgan is the first U.S. bank to report results since the Federal Reserve's decision in December to raise interest rates by 0.25 percentage points, the first hike in nearly a decade.

 

Bank of America Corp and Wells Fargo & Co , the second and third-biggest U.S. banks, report on Thursday.

(Reporting by Sweta Singh in Bengaluru)