Investing.com - JP Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), the largest U.S. bank, reported stronger-than-expected first quarter earnings and revenue ahead of Tuesday’s opening bell, sending its shares higher in pre-market trade.
JP Morgan said adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.45 in the first quarter, above expectations for adjusted earnings of $1.41 per share.
Net income was $5.9 billion, up $645 million, or 12%, from the prior year predominantly driven by higher revenue from fixed-income trading.
The bank’s revenue totaled $24.8 billion in the first three months of 2015, beating estimates for revenue of $24.5 billion.
According to the report, first quarter results were affected by a $487 million, or $0.13 cents per share, write-off for legal expenses, in the wake of government probes into alleged wrongdoing.
The Board intends to increase the quarterly common stock dividend in the second quarter of 2015 from the current $0.40 per share to $0.44 per share.
Traders will now turn their attention to the bank’s conference call due to start at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.
Following the release of the report, JPM shares rose 1.34% in pre-market trade to trade at $62.90 from Monday's closing price of 62.07.
Meanwhile, the outlook for U.S. equity markets was downbeat. The Dow futures pointed to a drop of 0.15%, the S&P 500 futures shed 0.15%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures slumped 0.15%.