Morgan Stanley has announced a 70 per cent growth in first-quarter profits. Net income exceeded analysts’ expectations and grew to $2.67 billion or $2.51 per share from 1.57 billion or $1.48 per share recorded for the same period last year.
Key factors in driving the growth have been identified as a threefold rise in investment gains, a 35 per cent rise in revenue from trading and 25 per cent growth in advisory fees.
“This strong performance was in large part the result of effective, disciplined risk-taking by our team in institutional securities, which helped deliver record results across our sales and trading businesses,” says chief executive John Mack.