US banking giant JPMorgan Chase has reported better-than-expected earnings.
The bank announced on Thursday it had made net profit of $US2.1 billion in the first quarter of 2009.
In a statement the company said it earned more than $US2 billion this quarter "despite extremely high credit costs."
The figure was slightly down from 2008 figures for the same period, but was better than most market analysts had predicted.
First quarter earnings per share were 40 US cents, higher than an expected 30 US cents.