Usa, crisi, concentrazione, finanza
+ Die Welt 090718, Nonostante la crisi – Le grandi banche riprendono a fare miliardi
● Solo due vincitori stanno riemergendo da una manciata di titani della finanza che controllavano il settore.
● Gli aiuti statali finalizzati a fermare il collasso, hanno anche preparato il terreno ad una ristretta concentrazione del potere finanziario.
Goldman Sachs e JPMorgan hanno entrambe beneficiato di aiuti per miliardi di dollari dai contribuenti e di finanziamenti governativi a basso costo per superare i gruppi bancari concorrenti che ancora lottano per la sopravvivenza.
53 le banche regionali e piccole fallite quest’anno.
Goldman Sachs e JPMorgan potrebbero predominare sì ma in un quadro ancora fragile; JP Morgan ha avuto un forte calo nel settore consumatori; ha dovuto accantonare riserve per oltre $30MD in previsione di future perdite (non copertura carte di credito e perdite per ipoteche etc.)
Se viene approvato il nuovo regolamento, le banche avranno nuovi limiti all’ammontare dei capitali che possono scambiare.
JPMorgan ha approfittato della chiusura di banche più deboli per ampliare la propria quota di mercato nel settore ipotecario e al minuto (lo scorso autunno ha acquisito Washington Mutual (bancario al minuto), e Bear Stearns a marzo 2008 con l’aiuto governativo; ora spera nel fallimento di CIT Group, che eroga prestiti a molte piccole imprese.
JPMorgan è divenuta uno dei maggiori attori della finanza grazie agli aiuti governativi, che ora il suo CEO mostra di disprezzare, sollecitando assieme a Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley ed altri a restituirli al governo al più presto.
JPMorgan si sta fortemente ristrutturando, dopo anni di cattiva gestione e incapacità a assimilare una serie di grandi acquisizioni, con il nuovo CEO, Dimon, ha tagliato costi e consolidato il bilancio.
Sta organizzando battaglie a Washington, su regolamenti più rigidi per i derivati, settore dove riesce ad avere profitti, essendone uno dei principali agenti; e sulla creazione di una nuova agenzia per la tutela dei consumatori, che con regolamenti più rigidi metterebbe a rischio la profittabilità nel settore ipoteche e banche di credito.
● Secondo trimestre 2009: dopo Goldman Sachs e JPMorgan Chase (ognuna con un utile netto di $2,72 MD), anche Bank of America (BofA) e Citigroup superano le attese.
Per Citigroup gli utili di $6,7 MD (al netto delle imposte) derivano soprattutto dalla vendita di Smith Barney ad una joint venture con Morgan Stanley; al netto (restituiti $1,3 MD alloStato) un utile di $3 MD, pari a 49 cent per azione contro una perdita prevista di 37 cent per azione. Nel primo trimestre Citigroup registrava ancora una perdita di quasi $2,6MD; aveva avuto crediti governativi per $45 MD e garanzie oltre $300 MD.
Bank of America, la maggiore banca americana, ha incassato un utile netto nel secondo trimestre di $2,42 MD, 33 cent per azione contro i 28 attesi. Gli utili sono ancora il 24,8% inferiori a quelli del secondo trimestre 2008, $3,22 MD; utili che derivano dal settore Investmentbanking (come già per Goldman Sachs e JPMorgan Chase); un gennaio su pressioni del governo BofA aveva acquisito MerrillLynch, in difficoltà per la crisi;
BofA ha versato $713mn come dividendi di azioni privilegiate al governo, da cui aveva avuto aiuti per $45 MD, compresi i $20MD nell’acquisizione di Merrill Lynch.
July 17, 2009
By GRAHAM BOWLEY
– A new order is emerging on Wall Street after the worst crisis since the Great Depression — one in which just a couple of victors are starting to tower over the handful of financial titans that used to dominate the industry.
– On Thursday, JPMorgan Chase became the latest big bank to announce stellar second-quarter earnings. Its $2.7 billion profit, after record gains for Goldman Sachs, underscores how the government’s effort to halt a collapse has also set the stage for a narrowing concentration of financial power.
“One theme here is that Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan really have emerged as the winners, as the last of the survivors,” said Robert Reich, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who was secretary of labor in the Clinton administration.
– Both banks now stand astride post-bailout Wall Street, having benefited from billions of dollars in taxpayer support and cheap government financing to climb over banks that continue to struggle. They are capitalizing on the turmoil in financial markets and their rivals’ weakness to pull in billions in trading profits.
For the most part, the worst of the financial crisis seems to be over. Yet other large banks, including Citigroup and Bank of America, are still struggling to return to health. Both are expected to report a more profitable quarter on Friday, but a spate of management changes and looming losses from credit cards and commercial real estate have thwarted a stronger recovery.
– And then there are the legions of regional and small banks that are falling in greater numbers across the country. While many have racked up large losses, they stand to bleed more red ink if the recession wears on. Fifty-three have failed this year, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is girding for scores to follow.
– Uncertainties over the economy mean that Goldman and JPMorgan may be enjoying a fragile dominance, industry experts said. JPMorgan reported big declines in its consumer business on Thursday, and it has set aside more than $30 billion to cover future losses from surging credit card charge-offs and mortgage and home equity losses.
“Nobody is through this until unemployment turns around,” said Moshe Orenbuch, a Credit Suisse banking analyst.
– And if regulation being considered in Washington is passed, banks would face new limits on the amount of their own capital they may trade. That could limit the profits that banks like Goldman and JPMorgan make from their trading businesses, and level the playing field, experts say.
Other former Wall Street stars like Morgan Stanley, which was hurt more by the crisis and has avoided taking big risks in the new era, may also rebound and begin to take on old rivals.
– But for now, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are surging. “The stronger players are positioned to take advantage of the crisis and they will dominate clearly in the near term,” said James Reichbach, the head of Deloitte’s United States financial practice.
– JPMorgan’s renewed strength, like Goldman’s, comes as it vaults ahead of longtime rivals, especially in investment banking, including bond and equity trading, and underwriting debt to help companies issue shares and bonds. Traders took advantage of big market swings and less competition to post big gains in fixed-income and equities.
Michael J. Cavanagh, the chief financial officer at JPMorgan, said its profit and fees from this business were “a record for us in a quarter and a record for anybody at any firm in any quarter.” The bank, he added, was “so very proud of those results.”
– It has also profited from the demise of weaker banks to enlarge its market share in mortgages and retail banking. On Tuesday, as the CIT Group, a lender to many small businesses, negotiated with the government to avoid collapse, JPMorgan signaled that it was watching.
– “It would be an opportunity for us in these states if CIT was unable to continue lending to borrowers,” Tom Kelly, a spokesman at Chase, was quoted by Dow Jones Newswires as saying.
– And revenue from the retail bank Washington Mutual, which JPMorgan acquired last fall, is starting to help earnings. Morgan is also profiting from its government-assisted purchase of Bear Stearns last year. JPMorgan is now No. 1 globally in equity and debt capital markets, according to Dealogic.
– Amid the surge, Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan’s chief executive, has cemented his status as one of America’s most powerful and outspoken bankers. He has vocally distanced himself from the government’s financial support, calling the $25 billion in taxpayer money the bank received in December a “scarlet letter” and pushing with Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and others to repay the money swiftly. Those three banks repaid the money last month.
– Yet JPMorgan’s transformation into one of the industry’s strongest players is underpinned by the shelter it received from the government: The bank used the money as a cushion until it was able to raise new capital. “There is no doubt all of us benefited from the government help — all of us,” said a senior executive at another Wall Street bank.
– A spokesman for JPMorgan said the bank accepted aid at the request of the government but would not comment beyond that.
– Few banks have undergone such a turnaround. Only a few years ago, JPMorgan was struggling after years of poor management and a failure to digest a series of big acquisitions. But under Mr. Dimon, it cut costs and strengthened its balance sheet.
– The payoff began last year. With the industry teetering on the verge of collapse, JPMorgan snapped up Bear Stearns in March 2008 and Washington Mutual last fall in two government-assisted transactions. Clients say that its growing dominance has given it more leverage to charge for lending and other services.
– After aggressively lobbying to repay its taxpayer money, Mr. Dimon has also been driving a hard bargain over the repurchase of warrants the government received from the bank last autumn in exchange for taxpayer support. JPMorgan is now planning to let the Treasury Department auction off the warrants to private investors after the two sides failed to agree on a price.
– Mr. Dimon is also gearing up for a series of battles in Washington. One is over tighter regulations for derivatives, a business where the bank generates lucrative fees as one of the industry’s largest players.
– Another is the creation of a new consumer protection agency, which could threaten the profitability of the bank’s mortgage and credit card businesses if it introduces tougher regulations.
JPMorgan’s stock has risen 20 percent since early March. It closed Thursday at $35.76.
Eric Dash and David Jolly contributed reporting.
17. Juli 2009, 15:52 Uhr
– Die zu den großen Verlierern der Finanzkrise zählende Citigroup ist nach sechs Verlustquartalen überraschend in die Gewinnzone zurückgekehrt. Und auch die Bank of America verbuchte einen Gewinn in Milliardenhöhe. Doch steigende Arbeitslosenzahlen und hohes Kreditausfall-Risiko machen den Geldhäusern übel zu schaffen.
Die großen US-Banken überraschen trotz Krise mit hohen Gewinnen im zweiten Quartal. Nach Goldman Sachs und JPMorgan Chase übertrafen auch Bank of America und Citigroup die Erwartungen. Während allerdings bei den Konkurrenten das in der Finanzkrise in Verruf gekommene Investmentbanking wieder auf Hochtouren läuft, beruht der Gewinn bei der Citigroup vor allem auf dem Verkauf der Vermögensverwaltung Smith Barney an ein Gemeinschaftsunternehmen mit Morgan Stanley.
– Die größte Bank der Vereinigten Staaten, die Bank of America, erzielte im zweiten Quartal ein Nettoergebnis von 2,42 Milliarden Dollar. Mit 33 Cent pro Aktie übertraf sie die Erwartungen der Analysten von 28 Cent pro Anteilsschein. Allerdings lag der Gewinn um 24,8 Prozent unter dem Wert von 3,22 Milliarden Dollar im zweiten Quartal 2008.
– Wie zuvor schon Goldman Sachs und JPMorgan Chase führte die Bank of America den Gewinn vor allem auf gute Erträge aus dem Investmentbanking zurück. Die BofA hatte im Januar auf Druck der US-Regierung die Investmentbank Merrill Lynch übernommen, die in der Finanzmarktkrise in Schwierigkeiten geraten war.
Dividendenzahlung an den Staat belastet Ergebnis
– Belastet wurde das Ergebnis der BofA durch die Zahlung von 713 Millionen Dollar an Vorzugsdividende an die US-Regierung. Das Geldhaus hat Staatshilfen von 45 Milliarden Dollar erhalten, einschließlich 20 Milliarden bei der Übernahme von Merrill Lynch.
– Die Citigroup erzielte allein aus dem Verkauf von Smith Barney einen Nachsteuergewinn von 6,7 Milliarden Dollar. Unter dem Strich blieb ein ausgewiesener Gewinn von 3 Milliarden Dollar oder 49 Cent pro Aktie. Analysten hatten einen Verlust von 37 Cent pro Anteilschein vorausgesagt.
– Auch bei Citigroup belastete die Dividendenzahlung von fast 1,3 Milliarden Dollar an den Staat das Ergebnis. Im Vorjahresquartal hatte die einstmals größte US-Bank noch einen Verlust von fast 2,6 Milliarden Dollar berichtet. Citigroup wurde von der US-Regierung mit Notkrediten von 45 Milliarden Dollar sowie Garantien über 300 Milliarden Dollar durch die Krise gebracht.
– Goldman Sachs und JPMorgan hatten in dieser Woche bereits ihre Quartalsergebnisse vorgelegt. Beide Geldhäuser erzielten einen Nettogewinn von jeweils 2,72 Milliarden Dollar.
Alle Banken leiden weiterhin unter gestiegenen Kreditausfällen. Bank of America setzte die Risikovorsorge auf 13,4 Milliarden Dollar, Citigroup bezifferte die Vorsorge mit 12,7 Milliarden Dollar.