Financial Analysis Of JP Morgan Chase And Co

Discussion

Discuss aboutt he Financial Analysis of JP Morgan Chase and Co.

JP Morgan Chase & Company is the holding company and it operates under the Chase and Morgan brands and is one of the leading financial institution institutions in the world. It is one of the oldest institutions, which dates back to 1799. It is the largest bank in the United States, is world’s sixth bank in terms of value of net assets, and has net assets of worth $ 2.4 trillion The Company made a record in terms of net income of $ 24.4 million on revenue of $ 96.9 million (JPMorgan Chase & Co 2016). The company has employees of over 235000 and has millions of customers ranging from small businesses to the leading corporate clients and to the government. The company has been capable of building the irreplaceable client franchise over the long term. The satisfaction of the customer and their loyalty toward this investment banking company is highest in the industry. There was a steep rise in the customer satisfaction since 2010. The company has made a remarkable amount of investment in system of Anti money laundering. The company has delivered a record result for the last few years. The strengthened leadership position and the maintained franchise helped in gaining the market share. The company continued to deliver the value to the shareholder and the book value of the share is on the ever rise since 2004, though some uncertainty and regulatory and legal cost has led to lower price earning lower than that of competitors. The company is continuing to build the business by investing in technology, product and infrastructure and by increasing the branches all over the world. The company is capable of managing the risks so that it is able to survive in any scenario through management of the risks and techniques of testing the stress. The company intends to become a long-term investor (Burnell 2013).

Impact of strategic decisions made by the senior management on the financial health of the company

The senior management of the JP Morgan Chase & Co has been optimistic about the growth of the company and the strategic decisions made by them have a potential for growth. When the competitors are cutting down the investment in sales, investment banks and trading, but the JP Morgan is investing in the same and this is because as on the global level the need for trading is increasing. Despite the higher cost, the company is making fair profits. As the clients now a day’s needs the services in a broader way in all the class of assets and it has the scale of the profits. The company is making investment in sales, trading is in technology, this would help in accessing the trade in a safer, faster and cheaper way, and it is able to adjust to the updated regulations. Also investing in such thing would help to educate the people about the economy, company, securities, this would in turn make it easier for the corporate to sell off their securities, and this would make them explore, invest and grow (Cheng et al. 2013). The decision of making continuous investment in E trading has made the  company to be the first one in delivering the FX trading Investment in FX business has enable them to process the trade of an average of nearly 500000 each day and this has propelled them to emerge as the leader in the market. The market share of the cash equity has gone straight up from 70% to 97% in the span of two years.

Evaluating the financial performance of the company using different techniques

The senior management also introduced a strategic over the counter derivatives. Processing the trade through this particular platform has led to the 50% reduction in the cost per trade in the time span of four years and the volume of the portfolio has increased by 30%. Derivate notional worth $ 2.2 trillion is settled on a daily basis through this platform. This has led to a greater efficiency in operations, which act as a driver to lower the costs and ultimately the cash outflow, and this creates happy customers. JP Morgan Chase & Co is continuing its business of mortgage and it is because of the brand, which thinks that it is capable of building the quality and mortgage business that are not volatile and it helps in building the long-term relationship with the customers seeking mortgage. The strategizing the product set to 13 from 37 and dramatic reductions of originations of federal housing administration and this particular strategy has helped to foreclosure inventory by more than 80% (Lee et al. 2015). The exclusion of the company form the business of foreclosure has reduced the cost and difficulties. The scenario of stronger local currencies and weak demand from external would create a drag on the growth rate and so in the major markets, the company remained relatively less overweight and this was for Japan.

On the other hand, the company underweight to UK equities tends to have unusual foreign exposure. Though it cannot be completely said that the US economy would be credible and would prosper and it is not affected by the world but the growth would stay strong. This strategy of management has been able to make the financial statements favorable as most of the strategies have led to cost reduction and increased investment and growth. Also the strategy of the company in lending against the good form of collateral and they did 10 billion type of this lending and they could easily manage the risks (Tien et al. 2013).

The financial performance of the company is evaluated with various tools and application of technique. Here, the analyzing of the data is to be done using the ratio analysis and vertical analysis. Various ratios provide a deep insight to the outsiders regarding the financial performance. The comparison is made to one of the competitors and here the company to be compared is Wells Fargo & Co and it is one of the competitors of JP Morgan.

Various ratios are used in analyzing the financial performance:

Return on assets is obtained by dividing the net income of the company by the value of assets.

The return on asset ratio for JP Morgan for the three consecutive years continues to rise and it was 1.039 in the year 2015 as compared to .845 and .74 in the year 2014 and 2013. The ratio increased and this shows that the company has been efficient in utilizing its asset to generate earning. The ratios for Wells are quite high when compared to JP Morgan, though the ratio has decreased over the years from 1.43 in the year 2013 to 1.28 in the year 2015 (JP Morgan Chase & Co, 2015). It is not good signal, as the company is not efficiently utilizing its current assets. However, the ratio is high in comparison to JP Morgan (JPMorgan Chase & Co 2016).

Graph 1:Return on assets ratio

(Source: Created by Author)

The ratio is increasing for both the companies but the ratio for JP Morgan is quite less than Wells and Fargo for the consecutive three years.

Return on equity shows to the investors of the company that whether their investment is managed efficiently managed by the company and how their funds is utilized and how much return it has been able to generate for the shareholders. This ratio is calculated by using the following formula:

ROE= Net income/ Shareholders equity

The return on equity for JP Morgan is increasing over the years and it has increased to .094 in the year 2015 from .0846 in the year 2013. The ratio for Wells has decreased in the year 2015 but was more or less stable in the previous years. It is .118 in the year 2015 compared to.125 in the year 2014 and .128 in the year 2013 (JPMorgan Chase & Co 2016).

Graph 2: return on equity ratio

Source 🙁 created by author)

But when the return is compared between the companies, Wels is able to provide higher return to their investors than JP Morgan.

Current ratio helps in measuring whether the company is able to meet the short term or long-term obligations with the help of using its current assets. Current ratio is obtained using the formula:

CR= current assets/ current liabilities

The current ratio of JP Morgan for the year 2015 and 2014 is 2.029 and 2.475 respectively and it is 1.829 in the year 2013. However, the ratio has decreased in the current year but still it is more than 1, so it is regarded as appropriate and the business does not have any long standing dues. On the other hand for the Wells , the ratio for the year 2015 stands at 1.69 and it is 1.85 for the year 2014 and 1.9424 for the year 2013. The current ratio is falling over the years and it is desirable and is in the range. It indicates that the company is efficient in using the current assets.

Graph 3: current ratio

Source: created by author

When it is compared to JP Morgan, the ratio is at better position for Wells and JP Morgan has higher ratio, which indicates that the company liquidity is safe, but it might have problem of long-term inventory.

Efficiency ratios show how much the bank is paying on the operating expenses and shows how efficient bank is turning its resources into revenue. The lower the ratio the better it is for bank. If the ratio is high it would indicate that the revenue is decreasing or cost is increasing. It is obtained by using the following formula:

Efficiency ratio = Expenses/ revenue

The efficiency ratio of JP Morgan for the year 2015 is .6308 as compared to .6422 in the year 2014 and it is .729 in the year 2013. It can be seen that the efficiency ratio has gone down for JP Morgan. The ratio has decreased over the year and it is a good sign. The same ratios for Wells Fargo & Co for the year 2015 and 2014 is .580 and .5813 respectively and it is .5829 for the year 2013, so it can be seen that the ratio for Wells is stable for the three consecutive year. However, when the ratios are compared with the JP Morgan, the ratio is quite low. So it is said that the efficiency of the Wells and Fargo Co is better than that of JP Morgan (DeAngelo and Stulz 2015). Efficiency ratio has been falling for JP Morgan but it is stable for Wells and Cargo, however the ratio is lower than JP Morgan.

Graph 4: efficiency ratio

Source: (created by author)

The financial health of a bank is measured by using the capital ratio. It shows the riskiness of a bank and depicts the vulnerability of the bank balance sheet when it is exposed to unexpected bad loans. Here we need to calculate the tier 1 capital ratio. The component of capital ratio includes equity capital and disclosed reserves (Tran 2013). In addition, risk weighted asset is also needs to be calculated. The formula for calculating capital ratio is given by

Capital ratio= tier 1 capital/ Total risk weighted assets

The capital ratio has increased from the year 2013. The ratio stands at .000171 in the year 2015 as compared to .00015 in the year 2013 and .00014 in the year 2014.  The companies, which does not have adequate capital ratio, are exempted from paying dividends and any management fees. The capital ratio for Wells has increased in the year 2015 as compared to 2013. The ratio stands at 7.27 in year 2013 and it again fell to 5.87 in the year 2014 and then has risen to 8.5 in the year 2015.  So it can be said that both the companies are well capitalized and if there is any insolvent, then it shows how well the company can stand financial distress (Olalekan and Adeyinka 2013).

Other technique used is the vertical analysis of both the companies and then comparing it with each other.

The total revenue for JP Morgan was $93543 million in the year 2015 and it was $95112 million in the year 2014. The revenue was $97637 million in the year 2013. Total revenue has decreased over the year for this company. The total revenue for Wels and Fargo was $ 86057 million in the year 2015 as compared to $ 84347 million in the year 2014.  Here, it can be seen that though the revenue for Wells and Fargo has increased over the years but the revenue for JP Morgan is quite higher than that of Wells and Fargo.

The total annualized return for the shareholder for Wells and Fargo is higher than that of JP Morgan. The 5 year annualized return for JP Morgan is 12.1% and it 14.7% for Wells and Fargo. The 10 year annualized, return stands at 8.5% for Wells and Fargo as compared to 7.9% for JP Morgan (Jpmorganchase.com 2016). The Wells and Fargo has been ranked number one in when it comes to giving return to the shareholders and JP Morgan has been ranked at number 2 ( Wells and Fargo Co  2015).

Wells and Fargo has generated $ 22.9 billion of net income in the year and the earning per share stands at $ 4.12. The net income for JP is $ 24442 million in the year. Therefore, the net income generation for the JP Morgan is higher than Wells and Fargo.

The equity capital for Wells and Fargo has increased up to $ 193.9 million in the year 2015 as compared to the previous year when the equity capital is $ 8.6 billion and the pre provision profit of $ 36.1 billion in the year 2015 and it is $ 34529 million in the same year for JP Morgan. JP Morgan has an equity capital of $247.6 billion in the year 2015.  The tier 1 equity ratio was 10.44$ for Wells Fargo as compared to JP Morgan where the ratio stands at 10.1%.

Cash flows from the operating activities

The operating cash flow activities of JP Morgan chase & co. in the year 2015 was seen as a result of the decrease in the trading assets mainly due to the client driven market-making activities. This resulted in lower levels of debt and equity securities. More amount of cash flow activity was recorded due to decreased amount of client receivables and increased amount net proceeds due to loan sales activities. The polynomial trend line shows the decreasing trend of the cash flows from the operating activities. Although the cash flows went up from $ 36,593 to $ 73466, this shows the possibility of increasing cash flow in future (Jpmorganchase.com. 2016). 

The a major part of the cash flows from the operating activities of Wells and Fargo resulted due to sale proceeds on mortgages originated as a result of sale. Wells and Fargo also reported net income before non-controlling interest of $ 23276. The net change in the trading assets also contributes to the cash flows from the operating activities. The polynomial trend line shows the decreasing trend of the cash flows from the operating activities, the clear difference is seen in a linear decreasing trend over the years. This shows that the company needs to significantly its cash flow from the operating activities (Wells and Fargo Co 2015).

Cash flows from the operating activities
	2013	2014	2015
JP Morgan chase & co.	$      107,953	$      36,593	$     73,466
Wells and Fargo	$       57,641	$      17,529	$     14,772

The cash flows from the investing activities for JP Morgan chase & co.  is seen to be highest in the financial year of 2015. This was a net result due to the lower deposits with the bank for reducing the wholesale non-operating deposits. This positive increase was also due to the net proceeds from the pay downs, sale and purchase of the investment securities and maturities. The partial offsetting of the net inflows was shifted from the investment securities to amounts incurred due to the consumer’s wholesale loans. The polynomial trend line shows rrhe increasing pattern of the cash flows from the investing activities over the years (Jpmorganchase.com. 2016).

The significant amount of the cash flows from the investing activities in case of Wells and Fargo is seen due to the purchases and the credit from the banking subsidiaries and the net principle collected from it. The polynomial trend line clearly suggests the degrading investing decisions made by the company from the year 2013 to 2015 (Wells and Fargo Co 2015).

Cash flows from the investing activities
	2013	2014	2015
JP Morgan chase & co.	$    (150,501)	$  (165,636)	$    106,980
Wells and Fargo	$    (153,492)	$  (128,380)	$  (107,235)

The decrease in the cash flows from the financing activities for JP Morgan chase & co.  in the year 2015 was a result of the deposits of the customers, long-term borrowings, preferred and the common stocks of the company. The cash outflows were also a result of the decreasing level of the commercial paper for the purpose of the discontinuation of the cash management. The cash provided by the several types of the financing activities in the year 2013 and 2014 was a result of the higher consumer deposits and wholesale deposits. The polynomial trend line shows the fluctuating cash flows of JP Morgan chase & co.  over the years (Jpmorganchase.com. 2016)..

The cash flows from the financing activities was seen as a result of Wells and Fargo from the deposits. The deposits were further observed to decrease from $ 89133 in the year 2014 to $ 54867 in the year 2015. The increase in the short-term borrowings contributes to the growth of the cash flows from the financing activities. This was particularly observed to be highn in the year 2015. The polynomial trend line shows the constant net cash flows of Wells and Fargo over the years .(Wells and Fargo Co 2015).          

Cash flows from the financing activities
	2013	2014	2015
JP Morgan chase & co.	$       28,324	$    118,228	$  (187,511)
Wells and Fargo	$       93,910	$    110,503	$     92,003

From the above analysis conducted, it can be shown that the JP Morgan does not stand at a better position when compared to its competitors in terms of all the parameters considered here though the net income generated by JP Morgan is higher than that of Wells and Fargo. It can be seen that the capital ratio for both the companies is well above the requirement of Basel III but the point is not regarding the meeting of higher capital ratio. The return on equity for JP Morgan is lower than its competitor. The high requirement of the capital is creating a down pressure on the equity and this would limit the ability of the company in generating adequate to the shareholders. Therefore, the company needs to boost the rerun on equity by lowering down its requirement of capital. JP Morgan needs to implement some shareholder friendly tools into their business. The company needs to keep an eye on emerging competitors. The company has the opportunities to deliver good value to the shareholders and generate a growth rate, which would be long-term say if the five-year term is considered. The company also needs to efficiently utilize its assets so that the return is higher in the coming years. In order to improve the financial performance, the company should also be able to manage the receivables, which would help in improving the working capital and enhancing the productivity with the limited resources. Therefore, the company has concern of capital and the return, which it is offering to the shareholders. This would be possible if the company would lower down the requirement of the capital. The company needs to make optimum use of capital and other resources available. In addition, it needs to implement some of the methods of cost efficiencies so that the control costs are reduced. The equity securities should be invested for the capital appreciation to provide the long-term investment growth for the investors. The plan of asset allocation also needs to be reviewed. The company can effectively use the option of giving the dividend in equal parts and buyback of shares for the capital, which have been returned to the shareholders in the coming years.

Conclusion:

After conducting the analysis of the financial performance of both the companies, it can be concluded that when it comes to providing a good return to the shareholders, JP Morgan stands far behind the Wells and Fargo. The reason behind this was higher requirement of capital, lower interest rates and increasing cost of control. JP Morgan is still able to generate profits in the event of worse scenario and its profits are higher than its mentioned competitors are. The payout ratio is lower for JP Morgan. This leads to the anticipation that the future earnings per share growth would be least in line with the growth of dividend. The adoption of share repurchase program by the company would be apt as the valuation of the company is comparatively lower. The share repurchase program would fuel some growth in the per share if it is used in larger amounts and at lower price. Using this overall business would grow in the range of 4%-5% and would be able to generate earnings per share growth rate of 6% annually. The company can use its additional profits for creating growth. The financial strength of the company would increase if it makes use of leftover funds. By going through the recommendation, it is concluded that the company has ample of opportunities to improve its financial performance when compared to its competitors. The return offered to the shareholders would also increase if the company properly or say efficiently utilizes the available resources. The company has outperformed its competitors in several other parameters such as profits, which can be used for enhancing its performance. The company does not have any retained earnings and one of the reasons behind the lower capital ratio as compared to its competitor is retained earnings. The company needs to retain the earning. Therefore, JP Morgan may outperform its competitor if the capital lower its requirement of capital and makes an optimum utilization of the available resources. In addition, the other things to be consider for growth is the advancement in the system of Information technology, which would be able to enhance the development opportunities of the company.

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