By Sean Farrell
Date: Thursday 16 Apr 2020
LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Morgan Stanley's profit fell by almost 30% in the first quarter as the Wall Street investment bank suffered from the economic effects of the Covid-19 emergency.
Net income for the three months to the end of March fell 29% to $1.7bn (£1.4bn) from $2.4bn a year earlier, missing analyst estimates. Net revenue fell 8% to $9.5bn.
Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had on average expected net income of $2.8bn. The bank was hit by "notable" charges of $610m on loans held for sale and a $388m credit loss provision at its institutional securities division.
Investment banking revenue fell 1% as advisory income dropped to $362m from $406m with corporate dealmaking on hold. Sales and trading revenue boomed, rising 30% to $4.9bn as clients tried to keep up with volatile markets caused by the Covid-19 crisis. Wealth management revenue fell to $4bn from $4.4bn.
Morgan Stanley said it a prolonged economic crisis would harm its operating results and the attainment of its financial targets. The results round off a traumatic reporting period for the US's biggest banks, which have set aside more than $25bn for expected credit losses with the American economy heading for a severe recession.
Morgan Stanley's chief executive James Gorman, who contracted Covid-19 but has now recovered, said: "Over the past two months, we have witnessed more market volatility, uncertainty and anxiety as a result of the devastating Covid-19 than at any time since the financial crisis. While it's too early to predict how this will unfold, Morgan Stanley navigated the quarter well given the conditions."
Email this article to a friend
or share it with one of these popular networks:
Currency | US Dollars |
Share Price | $ 104.11 |
Change Today | $ -0.49 |
% Change | -0.47 % |
52 Week High | $106.96 |
52 Week Low | $70.40 |
Volume | 3,113,293 |
Shares Issued | 1,646.00m |
Market Cap | $171,365m |
Beta | 0.88 |
RiskGrade | 150 |
Strong Buy | 4 |
Buy | 4 |
Neutral | 13 |
Sell | 1 |
Strong Sell | 0 |
Total | 22 |
Time | Volume / Share Price |
16:00 | 100 @ $104.12 |
16:00 | 617,860 @ $104.11 |
15:59 | 100 @ $104.12 |
15:59 | 628 @ $104.11 |
15:59 | 300 @ $104.11 |
You are here: research