The third quarter of 2003 will go down in history for JP Morgan Partners, the embattled private equity division of the Wall Street bank. After repeated losses from investments in the telecoms and technology sectors, the division has recorded a quarterly profit – its first since JP Morgan's merger with Chase three years ago.

The $22bn (€19bn) business, headed by Jeffrey Walker, JP Morgan's vice-chairman, recorded a profit of $10m in the period. But executives are not bragging because the result follows losses of $1.1bn in the past two years.