JPMorgan was the first major US bank to report its figures from the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2011, in the second week in January 2012. It began what turned into a dismal reporting session. JPMorgan's investment bank profits fell 52% to $726m on a 30% drop in revenue. The bank, which ranked fourth in Thomson Reuters' global equity and equity-related league table and first in the US, saw equity underwriting fees plunge by 65%.
Equity bankers had been expecting the worst. Last year global equity capital markets (ECM) activity was down by 28% and the fourth quarter was the slowest three-month period since the height of the financial crisis in the first quarter of 2009. Global initial public offerings (IPO) volume was down by 40% on the year before, and follow-ons were down by 22%. According to estimates from US-based consultancy Freeman Consulting, fees from ECM transactions during the year were down by 23% on 2010.
