Morgan Stanley net falls 83% on charge

US investment bank Morgan Stanley on Wednesday said third-quarter profit fell 83 per cent as a $1 billion charge from the sale of its aircraft-leasing business and severance costs offset increases in banking and trading activity.

Net income fell to $144 million, or 13 cents, in the quarter ended August 31, from $837 million, or 76 cents, in the year-earlier period.

Excluding the charge and other one-time items, Morgan Stanley’s results were much improved, as income from continuing operations rose 36 per cent to $1.17 billion, or $1.09 a share. Net revenue rose 29 per cent to $6.95 billion, the highest level since the second quarter of 2000.

Analysts, on average, expected the securities and credit card company to earn $1.05 a share on revenue of $6.3 billion, according to Reuters Estimates. Shares of New York-based Morgan Stanley fell 0.67 per cent to $52.05 in pre-market trading on the Inet electronic trading system.