Underwriting shines but OTC charge hurts JP Morgan bottom line

Fourth-quarter $1.5bn hit on derivatives and structured products cuts corporate and investment banking profits in half, as US bank kicks off Wall Street earnings season

JP Morgan's equity underwriting business continued a fine run of form in the fourth quarter with a 65% jump in year-on-year revenues. The performance was a bright spot for the corporate and investment banking business, which saw 2013 profit growth all but wiped out by an accounting adjustment.

Equity underwriting and trading had both posted double-digit percentage revenue gains in the third quarter versus the prior-year period, but while revenues dipped 2% on the trading side of the business in the final three months of the year, underwriting continued to shine.

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