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Morgan, Fleet top Street
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April 14, 1999: 3:24 p.m. ET
Banks' profits boosted by strong lending, trading, credit-card business
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Two of the nation's biggest financial-services companies, J.P. Morgan and Fleet Financial Group, reported higher first-quarter profits Wednesday that beat forecasts on Wall Street.
The earnings, the latest from brokers and other financial-services firms to top forecasts, sent J.P. Morgan stock soaring and sparked a rally in the Dow Jones industrial average, which climbed 102 points to 10,497 in late afternoon trading, which would be its third straight record. J.P. Morgan is one of the 30 stocks in the Dow.
Several smaller banks also reported profits ahead of or in line with analysts' estimates.
J.P. Morgan, the fifth-largest U.S. bank, said net income jumped 153 percent to $600 million, or $3.01 a diluted share, soundly beating forecasts of $1.73 a share, according to First Call, which tracks analysts' earnings estimates.
The report sent Morgan's stock soaring 9-11/16 to 139, a 7.5 percent gain that accounted for 43 points of the Dow's gain.
"It was phenomenal," Brown Brothers Harriman banking analyst Katrina Blecher said of Morgan's report, noting strong financial markets and investment banking results drove its profits in the quarter.
New York-based J.P. Morgan said revenue from trading for its own account jumped 26 percent to $1.1 billion while investment banking revenue jumped 13 percent to $390 million. Overall, profits rose 64 percent excluding a restructuring charge that depressed year-ago results.
Fleet Financial, the No. 8 bank that announced a $16 billion merger with BankBoston last month, said its net income rose 36 percent to a record $438 million, or 72 cents a diluted share, in the quarter. Analysts had forecast profit of 69 cents a share, according to First Call.
Fleet cited strength in its credit-card, brokerage and commercial banking businesses. Its acquisition of Sanwa Business Credit, a leasing and lending company, was completed Feb. 1 and contributed to the higher profits, the company said.
Elsewhere, No. 11 U.S. Bancorp said profit excluding one-time charges rose 5 percent to $369 million, or 51 cents a diluted share, from a year earlier, matching forecasts. Including one-time merger charges that depressed results in both periods, net income increased 12 percent, the Minneapolis-based bank said.
Wachovia Corp., the No. 15 bank, said net income grew 24 percent to $243 million, or $1.18 a diluted share, in line with forecasts of $1.18, according to First Call. Wachovia is based in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Fleet Financial stock rose 7/8 to 43-15/16, U.S. Bancorp fell 11/16 to 36-7/16 and Wachovia rose 5/8 to 85-15/16. 
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