JP Morgan Chase suffered a 53% fall in operating earnings at its investment bank in 2002, a drop it attributed to more than half a billion dollars of severance-related payments, lower revenues and higher credit costs.

The US bank saw earnings from the division fall to $1.37bn (€1.28bn) from $2.92bn in 2001. This came despite a strong improvement in revenues from the investment bank in the fourth quarter, when it brought in $3.3bn, up 36% on the third quarter of 2002 and up 7% on the fourth quarter of 2001.