Merrill Lynch posted a first-quarter profit rise of almost 95 per cent today amid debt market activity and strength in investment banking operations.
The world's biggest securities firm, based in New York, reported that first-quarter net income surged to $1.25 billion, or $1.22 per share, from $643 million, or 67 cents per share, a year earlier. Net revenue jumped 27 per cent, to $6.1 billion.
Analysts on average expected Merrill to earn $1.06 per share, according to data from Reuters Research. Shares of Merrill rose to $60.45 on INET in pre-market trade, up from a close of $59.73 on Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.
Merrill's stock price has increased by about 55 per cent over the past year. The results mark Merrill's fourth consecutive quarter of earnings over $1 billion.
Merrill said net revenue in its Global Markets and Investment Banking unit rose 32 per cent from last year, to $3.2 billion. Revenue from principal transactions, which include trades made for the firm's own account, was essentially equal to last year's figure, at $1.05 billion, but nearly triple the previous quarter's level.
Net revenue at Merrill's vast brokerage unit rose 19 per cent from a year earlier, to $2.5 billion.