Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised $10 billion in a stock sale to cover writedowns and losses after taking on deposits and branches of Washington Mutual Inc., the biggest U.S. savings and loan, for $1.9 billion.

The shares were sold for $40.50, or 6.8 percent less than yesterday's closing price of $43.46. New York-based JPMorgan sold 246.9 million shares, according to a statement today.

JPMorgan, now the largest U.S. bank by deposits, said the capital infusion would offset an estimated $8 billion of credit provisions, writedowns and losses in the third quarter. The WaMu acquisition will force JPMorgan to set aside an additional $2 billion to cover bad loans on the failed thrift's books. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said the deal would boost earnings per share by 50 cents in 2009.

``We want to just maintain the same strong balance sheet and capital ratios going forward as we have in the past,'' Dimon said on a conference call last night.

JPMorgan's third-quarter earnings estimates today were cut by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Credit Suisse Group AG analysts. Goldman analyst William Tanona cut his per-share prediction to a 10 cent loss from 40 cents profit and Credit Suisse's Susan Katzke reduced her loss estimate to 25 cents.

Tanona raised his earnings estimates for the bank in 2009 and 2010. Katzke didn't alter her 2009 profit forecast.

JPMorgan's Tier 1 capital ratio will be 8.3 percent at the end of the month, the company said yesterday, exceeding the 6 percent required by regulators to be considered ``well capitalized.''

Financial Crisis

WaMu is the latest casualty of a financial crisis that drove Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and IndyMac Bancorp Inc. out of business and led to the rushed rescues of Merrill Lynch & Co. and Bear Stearns Cos., which was itself absorbed by JPMorgan. WaMu in March rejected a takeover offer from Dimon that the savings and loan valued at $4 a share.

JPMorgan is adding $176 billion in mortgage-related assets and will write down the value of those securities and other portfolios by $31 billion, the company said. The bank will pay $1.9 billion to the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as part of the deal.

The bank said it may sell another 37 million shares to cover excess demand.

JPMorgan rose $4.78, or 11 percent, to $48.24 at 4:13 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The company's stock was is up 11 percent this year compared with a 17 percent drop in the 24-member KBW Bank Index.

To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Hester in New York at ehester@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 26, 2008 17:15 EDT