JP Morgan saw revenue from its fixed income markets operation plummet by 23% in the fourth quarter of 2014, compared to Q4 2013 because of lower income from credit and securitised products and the sale of two business units.
In the company’s fourth quarter results of 2014, released today, the bank said fixed income revenue fell from US$3.3 billion in the last three months of 2013 to US$2.5 billion in the last three months of 2014.
The sale of its physical commodities and global special opportunities group businesses accounted for 9% of the fall. Excluding sales costs and associated restructuring costs, the bank still saw a 14% fall in revenue for the division.
Mercuria paid US$3.5 billion for JPM’s physical commodities business in March of last year, transporting the business overnight to the top tier of the oils and metals trading league.
Net revenue for the markets and investor services division after adjustments stood at US$7.4 billion for the quarter, compared to US$6.2 billion for the same quarter in 2013 – a rise of 20%.
Chairman and chief executive officer Jamie Dimon, who was cleared of throat cancer in December, said the Corporate & Investment Bank had maintained its “number one position in global IB fees in 2014”.
However, he did concede that the Markets division “remained somewhat challenged.”
JP Morgan is the first of the global banks to report this earnings season, with Citi, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs all expected to report later this week.
Read more about the performance of JP Morgan’s custody and securities services businesses at our sister site Global Custodian.