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» VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 9 JPMORGAN Q3 EARNINGS INCREASE 22 PERCENT YEAR-OVER-YEAR JPMorgan Chase, announced that its 2015 third-quarter net income reached $6.8 billion, or $1.68 a share, up 22 percent year- over-year, according to the bank's earnings statement released last month. According to the company, net revenue fell 6.4 percent year-over-year to $23.5 billion, driven by lower CIB markets revenue including business simplification and lower mortgage banking revenue. As lower investment securities balances and lower trading net interest income were mostly offset by loan growth, net interest income declined 1 percent from last year to $11.2 billion and was up 2 percent from last quarter, driven by higher loan yields and balances. Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO at JPMorgan noted that the company had "decent" results this quarter. "We saw the impact of a challenging global environment and continued low rates reflected in the wholesale businesses' results, while the consumer businesses benefited from favorable trends and credit quality," he said. "Overall, our risk management discipline and diversified platforms across the businesses are serving us well." e statement showed noninterest expense was driven down 3 percent to $15.4 billion in the third quarter by lower CIB expense related to compensation and business simplification, but slightly offset by higher legal expenses. JPMorgan's credit losses declined 10 percent to $682 million due to lower net charge-offs, which were largely offset by lower reserve releases. e bank was also credited $2.2 billion after tax audits were resolved and deferred taxes were released. "We continue to focus on our commitments, optimize our balance sheet and manage our expenses. We are also building the businesses for the future, dedicating resources to controls, cybersecurity and technology," Dimon said. Mortgage banking net income with the company rose 29 percent year-over-year to $602 million, while net revenue fell 23 percent to $1.6 billion due to lower net servicing revenue and no non-recurring gain last year. Noninterest expense was $1.1 billion for the third quarter, declining 13 percent due to mortgage efficiencies, the statement said. Credit losses provisions were $534 million, a huge leap compared to a benefit of $19 million last year. JPMorgan explained this was driven by a larger reduction in the allowance for loan losses, reflecting improvement in home prices and delinquencies. e third quarter provision reflected an allowance reduction of $575 million, of which $375 million was related to the purchased credit- impaired portfolio and $200 million was related to the non credit-impaired portfolio. "Our position of strength allows us to make significant investments to transform the businesses we operate, deliver better experiences to our customers and clients, gain share and be positioned to be a long-term winner," Dimon concluded. SUNTRUST, COMERICA OFFER A MIXED BAG IN Q3 RESULTS SunTrust and Comerica earned mixed reviews after reporting year-over-year profit declines in the third quarter, according to the banks' earnings statements. Still, analysts expecting less from each lender reacted favorably to both reports. Dallas-based Comerica reported net income of $136 million, or 74 cents per share, in the third quarter of 2015—a 12 percent drop from year-ago earnings of $154 million, or 82 cents per share. Comerica managed to best analyst estimates of earnings in the 70 cent-per-share range. While Comerica CEO and Chairman Ralph Babb celebrated growth in average loans, which rose by $1.8 billion, or 4 percent, Comerica felt the sting of higher technology and regulatory costs, as well as negative migration in loans related to energy. Overall, Babb said credit quality remains strong, but Comerica did increase its allowances for loan losses from $592 million in the third- quarter of 2014 to $622 million in the most recent period. Meanwhile, allowances for credit losses on lending-related transactions edged down from $50 million in the second quarter to $48 million in the most recent period—while still rising from $43 million a year earlier. In addition, net charge-offs—an indication that a bank no longer expects to collect from a debtor—increased by $5 million to $23 million, or 0.19 percent of average loans in 3Q— compared to $18 million, or 0.15 percent in the second quarter. SunTrust also delivered a few pleasant surprises, reporting net income of $519 million, or $1 per share. Analysts expected a much lower profit of roughly 84 cents per share. Still, SunTrust reported an 8 percent drop in earnings from the third-quarter of 2014, when the bank reported a profit of $563 million, or $1.06 per share. "SunTrust delivered solid earnings performance in the third quarter, driven by continued loan and deposit growth, improved efficiency, and strong asset quality trends," said William H. Rogers, Jr., chairman and CEO of SunTrust Banks, Inc. "Our fundamentals are strong and, despite the challenging operating environment, I am confident in our ability to deliver further value to our clients and shareholders as we continue to execute against our key strategies." SunTrust noted average loan balances remain stable, and the firm reported growth in both the mortgage and consumer direct loan product lines. ose areas of growth were offset by pay downs in commercial loans and lower consumer indirect loans. Overall loan quality also improved with nonperforming SunTrust loans declining 4 percent from the previous quarter and net charge-offs in the third quarter declining to $71 million, down from $128 million a year earlier. The percentage of home sales that were all-cash transactions in July 2015, a decline of more than three percentage points from July 2014 (34.2 percent) and the lowest level in nine years. Source: CoreLogic STAT INSIGHT 30.8%

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