Morgan Stanley's fixed income trading business is answering chief executive James Gorman's call for more consistency, after revenues in the final three months of 2016 matched the previous quarter's mark and helped profits at the institutional securities division easily top $1 billion for the third straight quarter.

The bank's institutional securities unit - comprising fixed income and equities sales and trading, M&A advisory and underwriting - endured a tough start to 2016 when first-quarter profits fell short of $1 billion for the first time in five years.