Investing.com - Wall Street investment bank Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) reported stronger than expected fourth quarter earnings ahead of Tuesday’s opening bell, sending its shares higher in pre-market trade.
Morgan Stanley said adjusted earnings per share came in at 81 cents in the final three months of last year, beating expectations for earnings of 65 cents per share and up from 39 cents in the same period a year earlier.
For the current quarter, net income applicable to Morgan Stanley was $1.7 billion compared with income of $908 million for the same period a year ago.
The bank’s fourth quarter adjusted revenue totaled $9.02 billion, above forecasts for revenue of $8.47 billion and compared to revenue of $7.7 billion in the year-ago period.
Compensation expense of $4.1 billion increased from $3.7 billion a year ago primarily driven by higher revenues. Non-compensation expenses of $2.7 billion compared with $2.6 billion a year ago.
Institutional Securities net revenues were $4.6 billion reflecting strong results across our Sales and Trading franchise and continued strength in M&A advisory.
Wealth Management net revenues were $4.0 billion and pre-tax margin was 22%. Fee-based asset flows for the quarter were $17.1 billion.
Investment Management reported net revenues of $500 million with assets under management or supervision of $417 billion.
James P. Gorman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, " Our quarterly results reflect consistent strong performance, while our annual results show meaningful earnings growth over 2015."
Immediately after the earnings announcement, Morgan Stanley shares rose 48 cents, or 1.1%, in trading prior to the opening bell to $44.28 from a closing price of $43.81 on Friday.