Morgan Stanley profit beats as bond trading surges; shares jump 4%

[October 17, 2019]  (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley <MS.N> beat estimates for quarterly profit on Thursday, buoyed by higher revenue from bond trading and M&A advisory fees, sending its shares up 4% in premarket trading.

The results wrapped up earnings for the big U.S. banks, which largely beat subdued expectations in a quarter that was overshadowed by trade tensions and worries of an economic slowdown that forced the U.S. Federal Reserve to cut interest rates twice.

"We delivered strong quarterly earnings despite the typical summer slowdown and volatile markets," Chief Executive Officer James Gorman said in a statement.

Net income attributable to the company rose marginally to $2.17 billion, or $1.27 per share, in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, from $2.11 billion, or $1.17 per share, a year ago.

Net revenue inched up to $10 billion from $9.9 billion.

Analysts were expecting a profit of $1.11 per share on revenue of $9.6 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Overall sales and trading revenue rose 10% to $3.45 billion.

Revenue from investment banking, which includes advising on deals and helping corporations raise money, rose 4.3% to $1.64 billion.

(Reporting by Anirban Sen in Bangalore and Elizabeth Dilts Marshall in New York; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

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