JPMorgan Results Show Active Mobile Customers Up 12 Pct YoY

JPMorgan posted second-quarter earnings on Tuesday (July 16) that showed strength in consumer-facing operations and double-digit gains in mobile customers, reflecting continued traction across digital banking efforts.

Revenues were up 4 percent year on year to $29.6 billion, better than the $28.9 billion expected. Absent a boot from tax benefits that lifted earnings by 23 cents, adjusted earnings were $2.59, better than the $2.50 the Street had expected.

In tandem with other financial sector firms that reported uneven results from non-consumer segments, JPMorgan said fixed-income trading garnered $3.7 billion in revenue, up 7 percent year on year and better than the Street had expected. Equity trading was down 12 percent.

Beyond those numbers, the company will look to spend money on technology and even new branches as it targets to “spend to win,” as CEO Jamie Dimon noted on the post-earnings conference call with analysts. He said consumer spending remains strong, though the lingering trade war with China has led to dampened business expectations.

A look at the branch activity showed a 2 percent decline to a count of 4,970 at the end of the latest period, as measured year over year.

The company said active digital customers were up 6 percent year over year and 1 percent sequentially to just over 51,000, and active mobile customers were up 12 percent year on year to more than 35,300. Management has said the bank has seen more than two million accounts opened through digital means.

In terms of the consumer, supplemental materials provided by the bank alongside earnings showed that credit card loans were up 8 percent year on year to $157.6 billion. Other consumer lending, excluding credit cards, was down 6 percent year on year to $352 billion. And drilling down to unit contributions, consumer and community banking revenues were up 1 percent to $13.8 billion. Within that segment, card income was $1.2 billion, up 8 percent sequentially. The provision for credit losses gained 1 percent to $1.1 billion.

Card sales volume gained 11 percent from the year-ago period to $192.5 billion.