Profits leap 33% at JPMorgan

Wall Street banking giant JPMorgan Chase exceeded expectations today by revealing first-quarter profits jumped 33% as chairman and chief executive Jamie Dimon spoke of “positive signs” that the world’s largest economy is “healthy and getting stronger”.

The largest US bank, which has faced intense scrutiny and criticism for the so-called “London Whale” trading debacle last year that left it nursing a massive loss in excess of $6 billion (£3.9 billion), said net income for the first three months of this year had climbed to a record $6.5 billion against $4.9 billion in the corresponding period last year.

However, JPMorgan’s revenues were slightly short of market hopes, coming in at $25.8 billion. Analysts had expected around $600 million more in revenues.

“We are seeing positive signs that the economy is healthy and getting stronger. Housing prices continued to improve and new home purchases are also starting to come back,” Dimon said. “We also saw strong performance in our credit-card portfolio, with net charge-offs remaining near historic lows, another sign that consumers are healthier and more confident.”

The bank, which is reportedly lobbying shareholders to vote against a non-binding proposal at its annual meeting next month that calls for Dimon to be stripped of his role as chairman, rewarded investors with plans to raise its second-quarter dividend to $0.38 per share, up from the present $0.30 per share.