J.P. Morgan beats expectations in the first quarter

J.P. Morgan yesterday reported first-quarter net income of $2.1 billion, slightly down on the $2.4 billion in the same period last year, resulting in an earnings per share EPS of $0.40 versus $0.67 in the first quarter of 2008. The results follow a 2008 full-year profit of $5.6 billion, translating into an EPS of $1.37.

Overall, it was good news for the US bank with EPS beating consensus estimates of $0.32 a share and revenues reaching $26.9 billion, up on the consensus prediction of $22.95 billion.

At the end of the first quarter, the bank's tier-1 capital ratio was 11.3%, or 9.2% when excluding money from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program Tarp. The...