Legal Costs Cut Into Profit for JP Morgan

Down 7 percent

JPMorgan Chase kicked off bank earnings season Tuesday, reporting it earned $5.3 billion in the last three months of 2013, as settling its role in the Bernard Madoff scandal and other legal woes slashed profits at the world's largest bank.

New York-based JP Morgan's revenue was $24 billion, down 1% from last year. Profit was down about 7%. Adjusted profit of $1.40 a share beat the average analyst estimate of $1.35 a share, as compiled by Thomson Reuters. The bank earned $5.69 billion, or $1.39 a share, a year earlier.