Bear Stearns shrugged off concerns over bad debts in the US mortgage market as first-quarter revenues from fixed income trading, the Wall Street bank's biggest division, grew faster than any other business and drove net profits up to $553.7m (€419.4m).

Profits at Bear, which is one of the most active banks in the US mortgage market, climbed 8% in the three months to February from $514.2m in the first quarter last year, despite the fact that costs grew faster than revenues.