Morgan Stanley slips to £595m

WALL Street powerhouse Morgan Stanley's first-quarter profit slumped 21%, the sixth consecutive quarterly fall, because of a continued slide in merger and acquisition business and an industrywide equity trading slump.

The giant said it earned $848m (£595m), or 76 cents a share, in the fiscal first quarter, beating average analysts' estimates by about seven cents a share but down from the 94 cents recorded a year ago. Rising income from the popular Discover credit card helped offset a sharp decline in net revenue from M&A advisory fees and brokerage revenue.

The shares rose slightly after the news, in part because there were no plans to cut more than the 1,400 jobs already announced. 'We expect business will be stronger in the second half than the first half,' said chief financial officer Steve Crawford. Brokerage industry profits overall are expected to decline 35% in the first quarter compared with a year ago.