Three of America’s biggest banks have set aside a combined $28bn for current and future loan losses, pushing Wells Fargo to a quarterly loss and hitting profits at JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup as lenders count the cost of the coronavirus crisis.
Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan, which reported a record $10.5bn of loan loss provisions in the quarter, said charges could rise if the economy worsened. “We don’t know what the future is going to hold. This is not a normal recession,” he said, adding that the bank was “prepared for the worst-case scenario”.
The bumper loan losses drove JPMorgan’s earnings down 51 per cent year on year to $4.7bn, and Citigroup’s down 73 per cent to $1.3bn.