The head of US banking giant JP Morgan harboured hopes of a "strong recovery" today after the group posted a 54% profits hike for the first three months of 2010.
The bank’s net profits of 3.3 billion US dollars (£2.1 billion) were led by its investment banking arm - sparking a return to bumper payouts at the division.
After cutting investment banking payouts to just 549 million dollars (£355 million) for the last quarter of 2009 amid intense scrutiny over pay, compensation costs roared back to 2.93 billion dollars (£1.9 billion) for the latest quarter.
The strong overall profits came despite 3.7 billion dollars (£2.4 billion) in provisions for losses on consumer loans as borrowers struggled in the aftermath of recession.
But chief executive Jamie Dimon said bad debts at the bank were stabilising and gave an upbeat view of prospects for the rest of the year.
He said: "While the economy still faces challenges, there have been clear and broad-based improvements in underlying trends.
"We believe these improvements will continue and are hopeful they will gather momentum, resulting in a strong recovery."
The company has around 15,000 staff in the UK.
