Morgan’s Profit Falls Less Than Forecast

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. said fiscal second-quarter profit fell 36% to $930 million, or 82 cents a share, as a slump in stocks slowed underwriting, mergers and equity trading. Net revenue fell 15% to $6.05 billion.

The earnings beat Wall Street forecasts by 3 cents, largely because of gains in fixed-income trading, analysts said. Morgan’s shares rose $5.60, or 9%, to $64.95 on the Big Board.

Net income at the firm’s securities unit, which includes retail brokerage, trading, research and investment banking, fell 42% to $635 million. Investment-banking revenue plunged 42% to $801 million.

Morgan Stanley returned 19.1% on shareholders’ equity in the quarter, the lowest return for the company since the third quarter of 1998.