Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) reported its first-quarter earnings before opening bell, posting $984 million in profits, compared with $94 million in losses during the same quarter a year ago. Per-share profits were reported as 49 cents, in comparison to a 6-cent loss in the same quarter a year ago.
Revenue increased by 18 percent to $8.16 billion, excluding debt valuation, the bank’s revenue was $8.48 billion. A consensus of analysts polled by Bloomberg indicated expectations of 56 cents earnings per share on revenue of $8.3 billion.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)’s Global Wealth Management posted a 5.4 percent increase in net revenue, jumping to $3.47 billion in net revenue.
“In Global Wealth Management, our operating pre-tax profit was the highest in our history, and we look forward to completing the acquisition of the remaining 35 percent of our wealth management joint venture once we have obtained full regulatory approval,” said Chairman and CEO James P. Gorman in a statement.
The bank’s Institutional Securities division’s revenue increased 30 percent from the same quarter a year ago and 32 percent from the previous quarter, rising to $4.09 billion. Asset Management’s net revenue was $645 million during the quarter, a 21 percent increase from the same quarter a year ago. The bank said that increase was driven by higher results from its Traditional Asset Management Business, as well as Merchant Banking and Real Estate Investing gains.
The bank’s Tier 1 Basel 1 capital ratio was about 13.9 percent, and its Tier 1 common ratio was about 11.5 percent as of March 31.
The bank also declared a quarterly dividend of 5 cents per common share, which will be paid on May 15 to common shareholders of record on April 30.
As of the moment of this writing, shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) were down 1.26 percent in pre-market trading.
