JPMorgan posts 34% profit drop

JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Wednesday that its fourth-quarter profit fell 34% after its exposure to sub-prime mortgages devalued its portfolio by $1.3 billion.

Chief Executive Jamie Dimon also attributed the profit decline at the nation’s third-largest bank by market capitalization to worse-than-expected results in home equity loans.

Net income fell to $2.97 billion, or 86 cents a share, in the October-December period, from $4.53 billion, or $1.26, in the same period a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, had predicted higher earnings of 93 cents a share.

But investors seemed relieved that the bank stayed in the black. The company’s shares rose $2.26, or 5.8%, to $41.43.