LONDON: JPMorgan Chase & Co, the biggest US bank by assets, reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit as gains in net interest income offset a slowdown in trading revenue.

The bank recorded a $2.4 billion charge to cover a new one-time repatriation tax on income it has kept abroad and to adjust the value of its deferred tax assets and liabilities.

The sweeping changes in the tax law enacted by President Donald Trump are expected to mean short-term pain but long-term gain for large US banks that do business worldwide.

“The enactment of tax reform in the fourth quarter is a significant positive outcome for the country. US companies will be more competitive globally, which will ultimately benefit all Americans,” Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said in a statement.

Net profit, adjusted to exclude the tax charge and other one-time items, was $6.7 billion, or $1.76 per share, for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31. (http://bit.ly/2AR7AUe) Analysts had expected earnings of $1.69 per share on average, according to Thomson Reuters.

Net revenue rose 4.6 per cent to $25.45 billion, beating the estimate of $25.15 billion.

Net interest income rose 11 per cent to $13.4 billion on higher interest rates and loan growth. Markets revenue, however, fell 22 per cent to $4.43 billion.

Net income, reported under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and including the tax charge, declined to $4.23 billion, or $1.07 per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from $6.73 billion, or $1.71 per share, a year earlier. BlackRock Inc on Friday reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit, as investors flooded into the world’s biggest asset manager’s exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

The company’s profit was boosted by a $1.2 billion gain related to the recent enactment of the US tax laws, and the company also raised its quarterly cash dividend by 15 percent.

Booming markets drove demand for index-tracking ETFs in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, and helped push the assets BlackRock oversees past $6 trillion.

Reuters