JPMorgan Chase net falls, but shares rise

By Jonathan Stempel and Joseph A. Giannone

NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research), said on Wednesday quarterly profit fell 50 percent, but the third-largest U.S. bank was able to skirt the massive losses that have crippled many rivals, and its shares rose as much as 5 percent.

The bank set aside $4.42 billion for loan losses, and took about $2.6 billion of write-downs tied to mortgages, loans to fund corporate buyouts, and tight credit markets. Nevertheless, its problems paled compared to those at Citigroup Inc (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research), UBS AG (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) and Merrill Lynch & Co (MER.N: Quote, Profile, Research).

"Overall, we feel pretty good about where we are," JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said on a conference call with analysts.

Net income in the first quarter fell to $2.37 billion, or 68 cents per share, from $4.79 billion, or $1.34, a year earlier. Profit included a $955 million gain from a stake in credit card network Visa Inc (V.N: Quote, Profile, Research), which went public last month.

Profit topped the average analyst forecast of 64 cents per share according to Thomson First Call, which excluded the Visa gain. Reuters Estimates, which included Visa, said the average estimate was 71 cents.

Net revenue fell 11 percent to $16.89 billion, meeting expectations.

"JPMorgan did relatively well in a very difficult operating environment," Sandler O'Neill analyst Jeff Harte said.

Citigroup, the largest U.S. bank, may post a quarterly loss close to $5 billion on Friday, analysts on average expect.