Morgan Stanley quarterly profit drops 59 percent

(Reuters) - Morgan Stanley Group Inc reported a 58.8 percent slide in quarterly profit on Thursday, as the bank took a one-time provision of about $1.2 billion for the new U.S. tax law.

Net income fell to $686 million or 29 cents per share in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from $1.67 billion or 81 cents per share, last year.

Excluding the one-off charge and other items, Morgan Stanley's adjusted profit was $1.68 billion, or 84 cents per share.

Analysts on average were looking for 77 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It was not immediately clear if the numbers were comparable.

 

(Reporting By Aparajita Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr)