Profits at America’s banks are sky-high

THE GOOD old days seem to be returning to America. Now that nearly 200m vaccine doses have been administered, people are gathering in bars, restaurants and shops. The days are warmer and longer. And banks are making returns on equity of 20% once more.It has been a while since Wall Street has been able to present the kind of stellar results that America's banks announced to their investors on April 14th. JPMorgan Chase posted record revenues in the first quarter; those at Goldman Sachs were twice the level in the first quarter of 2020. Profits at Bank of America doubled on the year; those at Citigroup tripled. Returns on tangible common equity, a measure of profits relative to capital, leapt to 20% at Citigroup, 29% at JPMorgan and 33% at Goldman. Not since before the global financial crisis, more than a decade ago, have the banks’ shareholders been so flush (see chart).