US banking giant JP Morgan Chase kicked off a bumper results season for Wall Street giants today after more than doubling profits in 2009.
Today's figures revealed pay, bonuses and benefits across the bank as a whole rose 18% to $26.9 billion.
JP Morgan - one of the strongest banks through the crisis - posted net profits of $11.7 billion for the year - up from $5.6 billion in 2008. The figures were better than analysts had expected.
The performance comes a day after US President Obama launched plans to claw back $90 billion for US taxpayers over ten years in return for support given during the financial crisis.
Profits for the fourth quarter of 2009 more than quadrupled from a year earlier to €3.27 billion. Revenues rose to $25.2 billion from $19.1 billion in Q4 2008.
The results highlight a return to health in the banking sector after a year of crisis, but were expected to fuel public resentment over hefty profits and pay at firms bailed out by the US government at a time when much of the US economy continues to struggle.
Chairman and chief executive Jamie Dimon said he was 'gratified' by the results but said they fell short of the company's earnings potential. He said the bank remained cautious about the outlook as the labour market and house prices remained weak.
JPMorgan said its investment banking arm posted a profit of $1.9 billion for Q4, rebounding from a loss a year earlier. Another big profit driver was corporate and private equity, with $1.2 billion.
But its retail banking including mortgage lending lost $399m and credit card operations lost $306m.
