Merrill Lynch posts modest earnings rise

Wall Street brokerage Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. saw its second quarter profits rise 6 percent from a year ago on strong stock performance and fixed-income trading, the company reported Tuesday.

For the quarter ending July 1, Merrill Lynch earned $1.14 billion, or $1.14 per share, compared with $1.07 billion, or $1.05 per share, in the second quarter of 2004. Revenues rose 20.3 percent to $6.32 billion from $5.25 billion last year.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had expected earnings of $1.08 per share on revenues of $5.76 billion.

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Despite a difficult quarter for the stock market, Merrill Lynch's revenues from its equity markets division rose 30 percent year-over-year, though much of that was derived from equity financing and cash from a private equity holding.

Unlike other Wall Street firms, which were caught flat-footed by a volatile bond market, Merrill Lynch's debt markets division_ which manages bonds, credit and commodities _ also saw a 30 percent jump in revenues due to trading of credit products like mortgages as well as contributions from Merrill Lynch's new commodity trading efforts.

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Investment banking revenues rose 21 percent for the quarter as Merrill Lynch boosted its corporate bond underwriting, though equity underwriting and stock offering fees fell.

The company also eked out modest gains in its private client division and its asset management businesses, which were affected by the volatile stock and bond markets during the quarter.