Compared to the same time last year, credit volume is up 17% at JPMorgan, while it is down 0.3% at Wells. This follows the bank's partial withdrawal from its real estate lending business - a withdrawal required by the regulator as part of the asset cap program, but a welcome one since it took place just before the economic downturn.
On the other hand, despite a record spread between deposit and loan rates, deposits fell by just 0.5% at Wells, compared with 4% at JPMorgan. Revenues and profits were stable in all four divisions - consumer, commercial, corporate & investment banking and wealth management - and the volume of defaulted loans remained at very low levels.
As a result, consolidated profit rose by 72%, despite a slight increase in provisions. Wells, like its peers, is reaping the full benefits of a record net interest margin. This fortunate combination of circumstances - a record spread between the cost of the deposits the bank remunerates and the rate of the loans it grants - has earned the bank a very good quarter, although it would be very dangerous to extrapolate.
Customers will be demanding a fair return on their deposits, while the likelihood of a recession poses a clear risk to lending activities. On this subject, both Wells and JPMorgan are keeping a low profile, while Citi's management is not hesitating to sound the alarm.
Wells continues to lag behind JPMorgan in terms of profitability and solvency. This undoubtedly justifies its discount in the eyes of the market: Wells is valued at x1.1 on tangible equity, compared with x2 for the bank headed by Jamie Dimon.
Both banks are continuing their share buyback programs - $1.5 billion this quarter for Wells, $2 billion for JPMorgan - even if proportionally the former devotes a larger share of its profits to them.
Wells continues to trade at a tangible equity multiple well below its ten-year average. It's true that the bank's reputation has been badly damaged by the scandal of its predatory business practices.
Its troubles with the regulator continued until the end of last year, when the bank was fined a further $3.7 billion.