Investment bank and brokerage Morgan Stanley today said first-quarter earnings rose 60 per cent on improved trading and banking results.
The world number two investment bank by market value said income from continuing operations rose to a record $2.56 billion, or $2.40 a share, in the quarter, ended February 28th, from $1.60 billion, or $1.51 a share, a year earlier.
Net revenue rose 29 per cent to a record $11.0 billion. Analysts' average earnings forecast was $1.88 a share, excluding special items, on revenue of $9.4 billion.
Net income, which includes all special gains or losses, was a record $2.67 billion, or $2.51 a share.
Though Wall Street firms delivered a third year of record profit in 2006, investors in recent weeks sold down bank shares amid worries about an economic slowdown and spreading woes in the subprime mortgage business.
Morgan Stanley has come under pressure because it owns the Discover credit card business and acquired subprime lender Saxon Capital last year.
Morgan Stanley shares are down 6.6 per cent this year, compared with a 4.1 per cent decline in the AMEX Securities Broker-Dealer Index. The shares closed at $76.11 in yesterday's trade on the New York Stock Exchange.