U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase (JPM) reported that its second-quarter profit fell 28% and
announced that it is temporarily suspending its share repurchase program.
JPMorgan, which is the world’s biggest bank with $4 trillion U.S. of assets under management,
blamed the profit decline on $428 million U.S. of reserves it set aside to cover bad loans.
The lender reported earnings per share of $2.76 U.S. compared to $2.88 U.S. per share that
was expected by analysts. Revenues for the second quarter came in at $31.63 billion U.S.
versus $31.95 billion U.S. expected on Wall Street.
JPMorgan’s profit declined 28% from a year earlier to $8.65 billion U.S., due largely to the loan
reserve build up. A year earlier, the bank benefited from a reserve release of $3 billion U.S.
In releasing its financial results, JPMorgan also said that it is “temporarily” suspending its stock
buyback program to help it achieve regulatory capital requirements. Last month, the bank was
forced to freeze its dividend at current levels while other U.S. banks boosted their quarterly
payouts to shareholders.
Analysts have begun lowering their forecasts for the U.S. banking sector on growing concerns
about an economic recession, and stocks of most big banks have fallen to 52-week lows in
recent weeks.
Shares of JPMorgan Chase have declined 30% this year to trade at $111.91 U.S.