NEW YORK–The country’s largest bank is reporting record-breaking profits for 2023.
JPMorgan Chase said it, like other financial institutions, benefitted from higher rates during 2023, which goosed its margins. But it also benefitted from the failure of a number of large banks, including Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, in early 2023 that created a crisis of confidence that led depositors to seek out safety, including at JPMorgan, which acquired one of those failed banks, First Republic, which had about $173 billion in loans at the time of acquisition, which is approximately the size of Navy Federal Credit Union.
Overall, JPMorgan reported it earned $49.55 billion for 2023, up 32% from 2022.
A ‘Pound of Flesh’
“Still, the gains slowed in the fourth quarter and that banking crisis came back to take a pound of flesh. JPMorgan and other big banks took charges to cover a special government fee related to the failed banks, curbing their fourth-quarter profits,” noted the Wall Street Journal.
Overall, the bank reported:
- Revenue rose 12% to $38.57 billion
- It earned $24.05 billion in net interest income
- It finished out its most profitable year ever with $9.3 billion in fourth-quarter income
- In the consumer bank, fourth-quarter revenue rose 15%. Profit rose 5% to $4.79 billion. Both numbers were boosted by the acquisition of First Republic
Headcount Reductions at Citi
Meanwhile, another of the nation’s largest banks, Citigroup, has announced plans to cut approximately 20,000 jobs by year-end 2026 as part of a multi-year restructuring plan.
The bank closed 2023 with about 200,000 employees, minus its Mexico operations, which it's spinning off, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Citi posted a loss in its most-recent quarter, with one-time charges hitting its results.