Charles Schwab reported Wednesday second-quarter net income of $126 million, or 9 cents a share, a 29% increase from $98 million, or 7 cents a share, in the second quarter of 2002. The company attributed the increase to improvements in the securities markets, cost controls and a 9% increase in average daily trades of 141,000 throughout the quarter.
However, while Schwab opened 152,000 new accounts for a total of 7.7 million accounts in the period, this was a 4% decrease from a year earlier. Also, the $6.5 billion in new assets was lower than previous quarters.
Schwab has made efforts to diversify its revenue streams, CEO David S. Pottrock said in a statement. He pointed to Schwabs acquisition of State Street Corp.s private asset management group, U.S. Trust, and the launch of Charles Schwab Bank, which provides mortgage and credit services.
Schwab has eliminated nearly 10,000 jobs since year-end 2000, when it had 26,300 employees, Reuters notes. "Bottom line, its a good quarter, not a great quarter," Jeff Harte, an analyst at Sandler ONeill & Partners, told Reuters. "The new assets number was disappointing."
