A woman walks past teller machines at a Wells Fargo bank in San Francisco in this October 10, 2013 file photo (REUTERS / Robert Galbraith)
New York: Strong trading results in the first quarter drove profits higher at JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, which also got a boost from a decline in funds set aside for bad energy loans, the banks reported.
But in the wake of its fake accounts scandal, Wells Fargo's net income was flat, also reflecting the bank's smaller presence in trading and investment banking, which buoyed results for the other two banks.
"The momentum we saw across many of our businesses towards the end of last year carried into the first quarter, resulting in significantly better overall performance than a year ago," Citigroup chief executive Michael Corbat said.
JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon said the results reflected the fact US consumers and businesses were "healthy overall."
At Citigroup, net income for the quarter ending March 31 rose 16.8 percent from the same three-month period last year to $4.1bn. At JPMorgan net income for the quarter ending March 31 was $6.5bn, also up 16.8 percent. At Wells Fargo, net income came in at $5.5bn, the same as the year-ago level.
JPMorgan cited higher debt and equity underwriting fees and gains in trading revenues tied to fixed income and the trading of other products. Citigroup also pointed to strength in investment banking and trading.
