April 16 (Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co., hours after saying the credit-market crisis is almost over, made plans to raise $6 billion in its biggest offering of perpetual preferred stock, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The non-cumulative securities priced to yield 419 basis points more than U.S. Treasuries due in 2018 and pay a fixed rate of 7.9 percent for 10 years. If not called, the debt will begin to float at 347 basis points more than the three-month London interbank offered rate, a borrowing benchmark, currently set at 2.73 percent. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

JPMorgan is raising capital as a sagging labor market and economy hurt its clients' ability to pay credit cards and consumer loans on time. Banks and brokerages have raised $163 billion from public and private investors since July as losses on subprime-linked securities surged to $255 billion.

New York-based JPMorgan, the third-biggest bank in the U.S., has posted about $10 billion of asset writedowns and credit losses since the start of the subprime-mortgage turmoil early last year. The bank said it set aside $1.1 billion in the first three months of 2008 for future home-equity loan defaults, after boosting those provisions by $395 million in the fourth quarter.

Writedowns have reduced JPMorgan's Tier 1 capital ratio, which regulators monitor to assess a bank's ability to absorb loan losses, to 8.3 percent from 8.4 percent. That compares with ratios of 7.5 percent at Wachovia Corp. and 7.1 percent at Citigroup Inc. as of Dec. 31.

The minimum for a ``well-capitalized'' rating from regulators is 6 percent. The assets are calculated by weighing each type relative to its chance of default.

Net Income Drop

JPMorgan today said net income dropped 50 percent to $2.37 billion, or 68 cents a share, from $4.79 billion, or $1.34 a share, a year earlier.

Joseph Evangelisti, a JPMorgan spokesman, declined to comment about the preferred stock sale.

JPMorgan's depositary shares are rated Aa2, the third- highest ranking, by Moody's Investors Service and one step lower at AA- by Standard & Poor's.

Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, 52, said on a conference call with reporters that the credit-market crisis is more than halfway finished as financial firms reduce leverage, and may be as much as 80 percent over.

``That side is working itself out,'' Dimon said. ``That doesn't mean the recession won't get worse or better.''

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the fourth-largest securities firm, sold $4 billion of preferred shares on April 1 that pay a coupon of 7.25 percent and are convertible to stock when Lehman shares reach $49.87. Citigroup, which has reported subprime losses of $24 billion and raised more than $30 billion in capital since November, pays 8.13 percent for preferred stock it sold in January. Bank of America Corp. is paying 8 percent on perpetual preferred shares sold the same month.

To contact the reporters on this story: Bryan Keogh in New York at bkeogh4@bloomberg.net; Yalman Onaran in New York at yonaran@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 16, 2008 18:55 EDT