Launching Q2 earnings season, moments ago JPM reported Q2 an adjusted record Net Income of $7.03 billion and EPS of $1.82, which however included an 11 cent legal benefit, beating expectations $1.57 and 27 cents higher than a year ago, on “managed” revenue of $26.4BN, beating consensus expectations of $25.1BN.

JPM reported average core loans up 8% Y/Y with net interest income also 8% higher to $12.5bn, “primarily driven by the net impact of rising rates and loan growth” even as average NIM missed.

Commenting on the result, Jamie Dimon said: “We continued to post very solid results against a stable-to-improving global economic backdrop. The U.S. consumer remains healthy, evidenced in our strong underlying performance in Consumer & Community Banking. Loans and deposits continue to grow strongly, and card sales and merchant processing volumes were up double digits, reflecting our consistent investment in the business. In the Corporate & Investment Bank, we maintained our leadership in Banking, while Markets revenue was down amid lower volatility and client activity.”

Dimon concluded:“We are also pleased to announce increases to our capital return plans while continuing to invest in our businesses for long-term profitability – reflecting the financial strength of our company and the significant capital and liquidity improvements we have made over the past several years.”

Some other headline data:

JPM also reported that its provision for credit losses in Q2 was $1.22BN, below the $1.33BN expected as loan consumer reserves were $9.2BN in Q2, up $252MM to $9.2BN while wholesale reserves declined by $241MM to $5.3BN.