Ten big investment banks accounted for 43%...

Ten big investment banks accounted for 43% of the securities industry’s first-quarter profit, indicating that the impact of the October market crash still is being felt by most U.S. firms, the Securities Industry Assn. said in a survey. The industry posted a pre-tax profit of $1.1 billion in the first quarter, compared to a $2.1-billion loss in the fourth quarter of 1987 and a $2-billion pre-tax profit for all of last year, the trade group said. Big investment banks constituting 2.5% of the New York Stock Exchange member firms accounted for more than 43% of the industry-wide profit, while just 23% of the NYSE firms accounted for 61% of the profit. The figures indicated the ripples from the October crash still were being felt mostly by the retail sector, where the bulk of the nation’s securities firms are focused, but firms concentrating in investment banking and trading continued to do well, SIA said.