JPMorgan profits fall 19pc

US banking giant JPMorgan Chase as reported a sharp fall in profits at the start of 2014, which it blamed on declines in its mortgage business. The bank said net income in the three months to the end of March was $5.3 billion (£3.1 billion) - a fall of 19 per cent compared with a year earlier. Profits from its mortgage business stood at $114 million, down $559 million from last year. The figures mark the second successive quarterly fall in profits at the bank. Profits from its corporate and investment banking division stood at $2 billion, down from $2.6 billion just three months earlier, according to a news agency.