Debt Capital Markets provided a rare bright spot in an otherwise miserable first quarter for investment banks, with revenues from underwriting bond issues holding up as fees from other asset classes slumped.

DCM contributed $5.2bn to the banks' coffers in the first three months of the year, which equates to 28.5% of the industry's total fees from investment banking, according to preliminary three month data from Thomson Reuters. DCM has accounted for a quarterly average of 22.9% since 2006.