JP Morgan Chase's first-quarter profits rise 67%

Good performances by credit card and investment banking divisions mean £2bn in pay and bonuses for investment bank st

* Dominic Rushe in New York
* guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 13 April 2011 18.17 BST

A bounce-back in its credit card and investment banking business has helped JP Morgan Chase to beat analysts' profit forecasts and award $3.3bn (£2bn) in pay and bonuses to its investment bank employees, up 13% from $2.9bn a year earlier and the highest payout in two years.

JP Morgan announced first-quarter earnings of $5.6bn, a 67% rise compared with $3.3bn in the equivalent period of 2010. But revenues fell 8% to $25.8bn from $28.2bn for the equivalent quarter a year ago, dragged down in part by continuing problems in the housing market.

Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive officer, said that "extraordinarily high losses" had been running at $4bn a year in home lending. "Rest assured, we are fully engaged in fixing our problems and addressing our mistakes from the past," he added.

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