Morgan Stanley Profit Better Than Expected

Morgan Stanley said fiscal fourth-quarter earnings fell 28% to $870 million, or 78 cents a share, because of the weak investment banking and stock sales climate. But results far exceeded the 66 cents analysts expected, according to Thomson Financial/First Call.

Revenue for the period ended Nov. 30 fell 17% to $4.6 billion.

Like other brokerages, Morgan Stanley was hurt by a steep loss in fees from its lucrative business arranging mergers and acquisitions and underwriting new stock issues.

Company executives said they expect a difficult business climate in the first half of 2002, but that sour market conditions may have stabilized.

“I think we feel the trends have bottomed and are probably going to go up from here,” said Stephen Crawford, chief financial officer. Morgan Stanley rose $2.23 to $55.79 on the NYSE.