Merrill Lynch continued its recovery in the third quarter with a healthy rise in profits but the bank remains dependent on cost-cutting with revenues still declining.

Merrill returned a third quarter profit of $579m (€589m), up 22% from the same period a year ago. It is the second quarter of rising profits. But revenues fell 15% and David Komansky, chief executive, said that he does not expect revenues to rise by year-end.