Earnings: JPMorgan, Schwab, Knight and more

In a day of mostly negative earnings news, JPMorgan Chase & Co. posted a small write-down, while profit at Northern Trust Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. slipped.
Charles Schwab Corp. and Knight Capital Group Inc. posted gains.
JP Morgan Chase & Co. said forth-quarter profit fell 34% after the company posted a $1.3 billion write-down on subprime mortgages.
The New York-based financial services company posted net income of $2.97 billion, or 86 cents per share, short of the $4.52 billion, or $1.29 cents per share, recorded a year earlier.
Following the write-down, the banked upped its provisions for loan losses by $2.54 billion, higher than the $1.79 billion added during the third quarter and the $1.13 billion added in the year-ago quarter.
Investment banking profit fell 88% and profit in the card services’ segment dropped 15%.
On a positive note, commercial banking profit rose 13%, treasury and security services increased 65% and the asset management business rose 29%.
The bank said assets under management rose 18% to $1.2 trillion.
Charles Schwab Corp. reported a 34% drop in fourth quarter net income, due to the sale of its U.S. Trust unit to Bank of America Corp.
The San Francisco-based brokerage and custodian said fourth-quarter net income fell to $308 million, or 26 cents per share, compared to $467 million, or 37 cents per share during the year-ago period.
Excluding the sale, income from continuing operations was $305 million, or 26 cents per share, up 36% from the year-ago period, when the company posted a profit of $224 million, or 18 cents per share.
Clients opened 809,000 brokerage accounts in 2007, up 24% to 7 million.
Total client assets increased 17% to $1.4 trillion in 2007, with new assets increasing 92% to $160 billion.
Wells Fargo’s fourth quarter profit fell 38%, dragged down by falling home values and growing losses from home equity loans.
The San Francisco-based financial services company said fourth quarter profit fell to $1.36 billion, or 41 cents per share, down from $2.18 billion, or 64 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
Fourth-quarter net charge-offs — or loans it doesn’t expect to be repaid — totaled $1.21 billion, up 67% from the year-ago period and 36% from the third quarter.
In addition, the company said it set aside a $1.4 billion reserve for expected losses in its home equity loan portfolio.
Northern Trust’s profit slumped 27% in the fourth quarter after the company sat aside $100 million to pay for an antitrust lawsuit.
The Chicago-based asset management and trust company posted fourth-quarter net income of $125 million, or 55 cents per share, compared with $170.8 million, or 77 cents per share during the year-ago period.
Trust, investment and other servicing fees increased 19% from the previous year.
Assets under management grew 9% to $757.2 billion, while assets under custody rose 17% to $4.1 trillion.
On the positive side, Knight Capital Group said its fourth-quarter earnings increased 5%, as recent market volatility bolstered trading activity.
The Jersey City, N.J.-based financial services company said net income increased to $49.6 million, or 52 cents per share, up from $47.4 million, or 45 cents per share, in the year ago period.