Big investment banks have worst start to year since 2006
LONDON (Reuters) - The world's largest investment banks have had their worst start to a year since 2006, according to the latest data published by industry analyst Coalition on Thursday.
In the first six months of 2019 investment banks reported revenues of $76.8 billion, down 11% on the prior year and the lowest first-half performance for 13 years.
Revenues fell across the board, with the deepest decline in equities trading, down 17% to $22.1 billion.
Fixed income, currencies and commodities revenues fell 9%, while investment bank advisory was down 8%.
The banks' profitability also suffered, with operating margins sliding 500 basis points to 31%, their lowest level for four years.
Several major banks have cut jobs in their investment banking divisions in response to weak results, including Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE.>, HSBC <HSBA.L>, Societe Generale <SOGN.PA> and Citigroup <C.N>.
Deutsche Bank plans to make the deepest cuts after announcing 18,000 jobs cuts in July, with the bulk in investment banking.
Coalition tracks Bank of America Merrill Lynch <BAC.N>, Barclays <BARC.L>, BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA>, Citi, Credit Suisse <CSGN.S>, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs <GS.N>, HSBC, JP Morgan <JPM.N>, Morgan Stanley <MS.N>, Societe Generale and UBS <UBSG.S>.
(Reporting by Iain Withers. Editing by Jane Merriman)
