Morgan Stanley beats profit estimates as bond trading revenue surges

[January 16, 2020]  (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley <MS.N> beat estimates for quarterly profit by a wide margin on Thursday, powered by strength in its investment management, bond trading and underwriting businesses.

Revenue from sales and trading rose 28% to $3.19 billion. Bond trading sales more than doubled to $1.27 billion from a year earlier when financial markets were roiled by trade and global growth concerns.

Revenue from investment banking, which includes advising on deals and helping corporations raise money, rose 11.2%, buoyed by higher bond and equity underwriting.

"We delivered strong quarterly earnings across all of our businesses ... This consistent performance met all of our stated performance targets," Chief Executive James Gorman said in a statement.

Under Gorman, Morgan Stanley has been hitting key financial targets consistently for some time, which suggests he may announce new targets soon, according to analysts.

Shares of Morgan Stanley rose about 2% in trading before the bell.

Investment management revenue nearly doubled to $1.36 billion, with overall net revenue rising by 27% to $10.86 billion.

The bank said earnings attributable to common shareholders rose to $2.09 billion, or $1.30 per share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31, from $1.36 billion, or 80 cents per share, a year ago. (https://reut.rs/37b9508)

Analysts had expected a profit of 99 cents per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

(Reporting by Abhishek Manikandan in Bengaluru and Elizabeth Dilts in New York; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

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