The net loss, in the third quarter, was 400 million dollars, or 17 cents per share, against a turnover which stood at 23,9 billion. These are the numbers of JP Morgan. A year ago, the company reported net earnings of $5,7 billion on revenues of $25,9 billion.
This year, legal expenses of 9,2 billion dollars and an extraordinary benefit of 1,6 billion for amounts previously set aside as reserves in view of new losses on non-performing loans weighed heavily. Excluding these items, third-quarter results showed earnings of $5,8 billion or $1,42 a share, down from earnings of $1,60 a year ago but ahead of $1,19 expectations analysts.
“While we recorded a strong underlying performance – commented Dimon in a statement – unfortunately our result was penalized by heavy legal costs. We continue to keep our legal reserves under constant scrutiny, but in this somewhat tense and unpredictable environment and with ongoing requests for fines from various government agencies, we felt it was prudent to significantly increase them. While we believe litigation costs should decline and normalize over time, we believe they could remain volatile for a few more quarters."
