Deals
Wall Street Deal Surge Cushions First-Half Trading Slump
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For Wall Street’s biggest banks, the calm markets that are sapping trading revenue are proving to be a boon for dealmaking and stock underwriting, helping to limit profit declines so far this year.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. saw their combined revenue from investment banking rise 6.7 percent to $9.17 billion in the first half of 2014, led by gains in equity underwriting and advising on mergers. By contrast, revenue from trading, while beating analysts’ estimates, slid 14 percent to $26.4 billion, the worst start to a year since the 2008 financial crisis.