Profit rises 18 percent

Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2004 | 9:03 a.m.

Morgan Stanley, the second-biggest U.S. securities firm, said fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 18 percent as the company earned more from trading stocks and advising on takeovers.

Net income in the three months ending in November rose to $1.2 billion, or $1.09 a share, from $1 billion, or 92 cents, a year earlier, the New York-based company today said. Revenue rose 7 percent to $5.4 billion from a year ago.

Chief Executive Philip J. Purcell, 61, led the firm to the top among equity underwriters in the year and captured more mergers advisory work, including $122 billion worth of completed deals in the fourth quarter, according to Bloomberg data. Fourth-quarter revenue in the brokerage business, the third- biggest on Wall Street with more than 10,000 financial consultants, fell 7 percent and pre-tax income plunged 67 percent in part because of an accounting change.

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