JPMorgan Chase & Co's quarterly profit fell 76 per cent as it wrote down underperforming loans and set aside more money to cover credit losses after it acquired the banking operations of failed thrift Washington Mutual in September.
JPMorgan posted a fourth-quarter net profit of $702 million, or 7 cents per share, down from $3 billion, or 86 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 0.9 per cent to $17.2 billion from $17.4 billion.
The fourth quarter was the first to include results from Washington Mutual.
The acquisition of WaMu, the largest US bank to fail, ratcheted up JPMorgan's exposure to consumer credit.
Chief Executive Jamie Dimon had warned investors several times in the fourth quarter about the effects of a deepening recession and rising unemployment on the bank's large consumer business.
Shares of JPMorgan have fallen 17.9 per cent so far this year, compared with a 19.2 per cent decline in the KBW Bank Index.
In 2008, JPMorgan stock slumped 27.8 per cent in 2008, compared with the index's 50 per cent decline.
Reuters
